Are LMS analytics enough to evaluate training programs? 

How are the training programs impacting my employees and my organisation? A question asked by every L&D professional these days. 

To get aligned with the digital economy, companies are investing heavily in their L&D programs more than before and measuring the ROI (return on investment) of learning programs has become a necessary action. 

Many companies rely on LMS data alone to evaluate their training programs. Are they right in doing so? Or evaluating the impact of a learning program needs more than the data captured on LMS. 

Role of LMS in L&D 

LMS is effective to simplify the process of learning. Content on LMS can be cut into small and informative pieces of knowledge that can be easily digested by learners. With LMS, training can be personalized to ensure that employees are receiving relevant content. And learning courses can be made engaging with gamification. LMS engines can find what content learners prefer. How much are they scoring on their tests? How they are progressing. But it can’t calculate how the learning impacted the learner’s behavior. It can’t measure whether the training programs have met the business KPIs. The data and stats collected from LMS aren’t enough to measure the ROI of training programs. 

So how to measure the effectiveness of training programs beyond LMS analytics?  

Methods to evaluate the impact of training programs

The most common method is Kirkpatrick and Phillips model.  

You can also apply the 80:20 rule to evaluate training programs. 

Investigate what 20% of training is producing 80% of the desired results. What training methods and material help learners to understand the subject easily? Is it a deck or a video or a game that is impacting learners more? And suppose a learner has achieved 80% on an assessment. Does it mean that they have reached a level of knowledge that is enough to do their job? But what about the remaining 20% that they couldn’t answer? Is it safe to ignore the fact that they lack 20% knowledge?  

To know more about how to measure ROI using Kirkpatrick & Phillip’s model and 80:20 rule, download this whitepaper. 

The above methods will help you to gather performance data of your learning programs for tangible KPIs. For intangible KPIs you can observe: 

Employee satisfaction: How the training programs have changed the attitude of learners. Are they satisfied with their job roles? Have the grievances and complaints been reduced? Are they more committed to their company? Has their stress reduced? 

Employee turnover: Has the employee turnover reduced? Are they getting promoted to the next level? 

Leadership: How the learners are making decisions? Have they become more responsible? How is communication between the employees? 

Customer service: Has the customer service improved? Is there any drop in customer complaints and an increase in customer satisfaction? 

So, is there no role of LMS in evaluating learning programs or making them better? 

You can analyze the LMS data and compare it against the set goals. And considering the previous performance of your learners, you can find out the weak spots and modify your learning programs to bridge the skill gaps. The LMS data will also help you to sharpen the learning process so that it meets your learner’s expectations and organisation’s goals. Your learning programs will also become personalized and relevant. You can spot a training lesson that has a very low level of engagement. You can either delete it or make it more engaging by adding some gamification or a real-world simulation. 

In short, you can use the data as fuel to create effective learning experiences in LMS. 

Conclusion: 

Measuring the ROI of training programs has become a must for all companies. Some L&D professionals rely only on LMS data to study the impact of their training programs. LMS analytics can show the progression of learners, but it can’t reveal whether the training is creating an impact on learners and organisation. This blog shares a few methods to measure the ROI of learning programs and find out whether the training is meeting the overall business goals.