Learner analysis is about studying the dynamics affecting a learner’s ability to understand, memorise, and put to use the training they receive. This achieved by studying the data generated by learners daily. The data is as simple as what learning courses are most viewed or courses with the highest completion rates. Or, it is as complex as, where was the learning looking when going through a course? What applications were distracting them? What applications do they use when going through their training? All of this data is then analysed and processed to make the training function simpler.
As an L&D, corporate trainer, or HR, what is it that your focus should really be on? Is focusing on the profitability of your organization a primary task? Here, profits are definitely important. But, it is secondary. Since, your job is to ensure human capital development, and that leads to profits.
Which brings us to the question—what primarily aids human capital development?
It is through your ability to understand learners’ behavior patterns and fine-tuning the training approach that you can develop your organization’s human capital.
Why is learner analysis important?
As L&D professionals, it is time to take a scientific approach towards training as compared to ad hoc training practices that do not yield positive results. After all, isn’t that what an L&D team really has to do? To understand the underlying habits of learners and fine tune it? How else can you scientifically understand what your learners like and fine tune—if it isn’t for learner analysis and behavioral studies?
Learner analysis at an organization-wide level is important, and collecting the data to perform the analysis aids in the development of human capital. Hence, these are some of the most fundamental things an L&D has to focus on, and the answers needed to solve organization-wide questions will arise from here.
In the field of learner behavior analysis, people have gone as far as to understand what time of the day do most of their employees access the LMS! Is it the mornings? Is it the afternoons? Do they even access it at all? Knowing the answers to such questions helps in developing a scientific approach to training. It isn’t ad hoc anymore, and the data used is true and reliable, allowing you to approach the problem with maximum probability of success. Isn’t that better than shooting in the dark?
2019 should be about the year of scientific approaches, and as L&D professionals whose primary focus is to ensure employee development, understanding your learners is very important. Bringing us to the next part of the problem—how do you collect the needed data?
Collecting learner data using traditional practices requires excessive efforts and dedication. Especially when the same is achieved in a much simpler way with less time and efforts involved, leaving the L&D team with more time and ability to devise solutions.
Luckily, the eLearning space has always strived to push forward the boundaries of progression. As L&D professionals, there are many tools at your disposal. From learning management systems with an xAPI to intelligent tutoring systems with the eye-tracking feature, there are a myriad of tools available.
In most cases (90%), the information needed is simple.
Most organizations do not need an LMS with xAPI or eye-tracking. At such a basic level, even a modern LMS can solve most of your L&D woes, as long as it can track and recover the information you need. And what information do you really need? Again, in most cases, it is as simple as:
- Completion rates of courses and which ones they are
- Who the most pro-active learners in your organization are
- What your learners want to learn
- Why they want to learn it
- Where they are facing difficulties
- What their strengths and weaknesses are
- Who is the best fit for a certain task
Access to information and automating training increases your ability to reach out and engage with learners. Hence, shooting in the dark becomes a thing of the past. As, you base decisions on reliable data, making them well planned and informed.
Your training witnesses increased success, and it motivates learners to train as well. Furthermore, these tools are only being improved with time to aid your function of being an L&D professional, a corporate trainer, or someone with the responsibility of improving human capital development, whatever your role is.
However, some L&D professionals still do not acknowledge the importance of learner analysis. In a time where consumer purchase decisions and presidential elections are won based on analysis and fine-tuning of the human psyche using data, learner analysis is important. Think of learning and development as an investment towards improving the human resource, and you are in charge of it. Therefore, collecting information on the internal customers of an organization is as important as collecting information about your customers.
The L&D process is not as straightforward as some other organization-wide functions like sales, operations, finance, HR, and so on. Moreover, the L&D function is about performing with absolute precision, understanding, and reason.
When you talk about the L&D department, you are literally talking about an investment made by an organization towards developing their most vital resource—human resource. And the agents entrusted with fulfilling this are you.
At Abara, we use analytics to improve all our organizational functions. Hence, we know the importance of learner analysis. It allows you to understand your learners’ behavior and helps you fine-tune them on a real-time basis. Abara LMS is a powerful tool. Hence, it generates reports and analytics that you as an L&D can use to determine and fine-tune training. Give it a try, click here m to activate your 30-day free trial. You can also reach us at contact@abaralms.com to know more about the importance of learner analysis.
