Learning & Development

Best Practice

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Industry research, practical tips and

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innovative ideas to help you improve

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and benchmark your learning

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and development strategy.

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Gareth Batterbee
Kaplan’s Learning Methodology Lead

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Welcome
This report provides an overview of the The advice we give is divided into the following areas:

key best practice methods within the What happens before the learner starts their
Before
learning and development community. learning, whether in a classroom or online?

This research draws on telephone and face-to-face interviews with

40-50 training and HR professionals across a range of different
During What goes on in the room or online?

industries.
What’s the follow up and how do we know
While speaking with these professionals we have found that After the training has made a difference?
although they operate in different industries, the challenges they face
are remarkably similar. All are facing the challenge of delivering more
with fewer resources. All would like more engagement from either the We’ve often used “training”, rather than “learning intervention” in the
senior management team or the line managers of their learners. report to make it more readable. Many of the recommendations apply
equally to one-on-one coaching, learning on the job and other methods.
With this report, we intend to provide practical advice for We hope it will prove useful.
L&D practitioners in improving the quality of their product,
the engagement of their learners and the impact of learning
Best regards
in the workplace.

Gareth Batterbee
Kaplan Learning Methodology Lead

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Before
The Headlines

Analysis of training needs is increasingly informal

Competency frameworks are often still struggling to show value

Answering the “why” and “so what” of training is essential

Informal learning needs to be part of the formal plan

Getting line manager and executive engagement is critical for success

Origination of development need What can you do?
The traditional set piece training needs analysis (TNA) has
become much rarer across all types of businesses. Talk to managers Development gaps don’t just appear in the
1 throughout appraisal and you can get a heads up as to likely
the year common themes BEFORE appraisal data is available

If your people know that there will be a time lag

Development needs are more usually identified Manage between formal appraisal and formal development
from one of three sources: 2 expectations they will be more likely to look to their ongoing
informal development

The individual via the annual appraisal round Webinars, YouTube videos, TED.com and other FREE
Have a selection
resources can be useful to point learners towards
3 of good quality
whilst you produce or commission something
The line manager gap fillers
more substantial
 R/L&D through conversations with the business
H
Use programme Ask six months later what they now know would
or analysis of the appraisal round data 4 alumni as a have been useful on their induction/new manager
“hindsight TNA” programme and update it

There were instances of TNAs being carried out using focus Barriers to plugging teams’ skills gaps*
groups and questionnaires, but these were isolated instances and
typically reserved for milestone events (such as induction, new
manager promotion etc).

The challenge arising, as one respondent noted, is that by the

time the data from the appraisal process is collated and analysed £
and budgets signed off, the year can be three or four months in,
leading to a development hiatus.
Lack of time Lack of suitable Budget
training sources
* Source: B2B Marketing’s annual B2B Leaders report.

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Linking to Competence and Value Frameworks
Most businesses we interviewed were still struggling to help staff
understand the real value in competence frameworks. This was either
79% reported
because frameworks were newly implemented, had recently been
redesigned, lacked sufficient detail, were not linked to salary or a noticeable skills gaps in 79%
combination of the four. In those businesses where the framework was
the teams they manage*
established and demonstrated value, the articulation of development
need was made much easier for managers and learners.
* Source: B2B Marketing’s annual B2B Leaders report.

In businesses where competence frameworks were not working, they

were regarded as an unhelpful distraction at best and a complete
waste of time and effort at worst. In this situation it makes clear Identifying the outcome and “bottom line” impact
understanding of the development need and clear articulation of how
learning will apply to the workplace even more vital. Clearly articulating the development need is something that comes
naturally to most L&D professionals...but only because they have learnt
Even if the competence or value frameworks aren’t particularly detailed how to do it. There was a consistent theme of frustration across many
L&D departments can help increase their perceived relevance with the businesses that managers and individuals don’t know what they really
following steps: want and so just present a “training” problem to be “solved”.

Be business partners: help your managers not only articulate

Include a slide at the start of a course with the business needs but also recognise the needs in their staff and have an
values or framework headings to provide context initial conversation to address issues. Offering them coaching
 here possible have learning outcomes for
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in this area is a time and relationship investment which will pay
interventions using the exact wording of the framework
future dividends.

L ink learning outcomes to broad areas of the framework (e.g. Remember to word your L&D communication in language
“these objectives are key to achieving desired performance that regular line managers can understand.
levels in the areas of customer service and team playing”)

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

70:20:10 Impact and Implications Challenge questions for managers and course attendees:

Most of those interviewed were embracing the theory of 70:20:10 in

relation to classroom and on the job learning. However, some were Have you discussed the behaviour/skills gap?
also finding that it can be a double-edged sword when talking to those
controlling the purse strings. Using the theory to bolster line manager What have you done to address it so far?
engagement and blending the classroom with the workplace can also
weaken requests for more budget, particularly in the current Why didn’t it work?
economic climate.
What would you do if there was no L&D department?

70:20:10 plays well to self-directed learning. If it is to work then L&D What specifically is going to change as a result?
teams need to make sure that when new joiners are inducted they are
given guidance on what’s out there to help them learn. Staff also need to How are you going to use your new knowledge/skills to
understand that development won’t just fall in their lap: they need to go improve your performance and that of your team?
and look for it in different places and recognise learning when it happens.

Digital By rights this should lead to more directed development and clear link
Marketing in the learner’s mind to their role. However, in all the organisations
Techniques interviewed the effectiveness is still heavily determined by the
manager’s engagement.

There’s also the significant issue of identifying the best people to

learn from on the job. While, in theory, the 70% should be learning
Main skills best practice, too often the 70% includes elements of poor or worst
gaps* practice, which then needs to be picked up and corrected through
remedial development. This makes it even more critical that your
managers both understand and can demonstrate best practices.

Data Customer Insight

* Source: B2B Marketing’s annual B2B Leaders report.
© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.
Line Manager Engagement How to help your Managers:

There has been a noticeable shift from the days of people development Pre-course
Explain what the course will cover and what the learner
needs to do beforehand (such as gathering feedback).
being regarded solely as the job of the L&D department to now being briefings These can be live or pre-recorded webinar format
seen as integral to the role of the manager. This is clearly a welcome
shift for most L&D teams, as it frees up their time to think more
One pagers covering the key models and terminology of
strategically and engage with the business at a higher level. However, Post course
your courses, including suggested development activities
cheat sheets
this is not without its challenges. to be done by the learner back in their team

Managers are in danger of being the “squeezed middle”. They are Recognise your managers by offering them something in
Manager return, such as short coaching sessions, priority bookings
caught between employees wanting to develop (“send me on a
rewards on other programmes or simply endorsement of their
course”) and the senior management (“we haven’t got the budget, people development skills for an appraisal
you need to develop your people yourself...now where are those sales
figures?”). Those managers who enjoy the people development side of
the role are thriving in this environment, but those who are more task Gaining the ear of the Executive may take time, but there
focused are understandably struggling, as are their teams. are some clear lessons:

Managers are also asking for more by way of coaching, mentoring and
The most successful L&D managers not only ask the
feedback training in order to develop their people most effectively. Make the
Executive what they want to know but also tell them
narrative what successes are happening

Executive Engagement
Number of attendees/drop out statistics, average course
Pick your
ratings, spend per head etc. Also supply anecdotal
Those departments with the ear of the Executive reported the least metrics evidence of success
challenge to budgets and the most frequent appearance of senior
management as sponsors of programmes. Where there was no L&D are in a unique place to have access to people across
Executive engagement, without fail the L&D team were spending time Share all the business silos and can often identify opportunities
knowledge for the business to share knowledge and experience in a
chasing attendees and budgets. cost-effective manner

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

During
The Headlines

Short = good

Informal, self directed learning is increasing

Traditional e-learning is still getting a mixed reception,

often caused by negative association with compliance

Helping the business understand the opportunity cost of

cancellations is vital

Getting the hygiene factors right is even more vital

Training Session Length Recommendations

Whilst there are still some week long programmes (usually

milestone events) the overwhelming move is to face-to-face  hift knowledge input to short sessions (no more than 20
S
sessions of one day maximum, and in some industries preferably minutes) and tell learners how long it will take in advance.
half a day for client facing staff. This allows for more focus in the session on application

 lace more emphasis on the benefits to managers: get specific

P
about how their lives will be easier with better trained staff
There are a number of reasons cited:
Get back to good learning basics with contextualised
 ressure not to be seen as doing non-client
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learning and a good variety of activities in the room to keep
facing work
everyone engaged

Reduced headcounts leading to increasing
Involve clients in your training. For example, if you’re
work pressures
running training in communication skills, get a client there
Managers reluctant to leave the team short handed with the team that serve them. The client sees value, the
team spend time building the relationship in a different
Budget cuts
environment and development time is suddenly client facing
Reduced attention spans

With a shorter time being spent in the classroom there is increasing

pressure to shift content into different delivery formats and for
knowledge transfer to be done on the learner’s own time.

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Informal learning Recommendations

With less budget and fewer people in their teams, L&D functions are being
driven to look to different styles of learning provision. The rise of informal, Go out, spend time with the business and understand what
peer-to-peer learning is bringing opportunities as well as challenges. they need in the moment

Become a hub of contacts, able to connect silos and experts

Opportunities Challenges within and outside the business

Quality assurance: is what they are

Faster reaction to learner needs
sharing right?
 ake sure your Learning Management System (LMS) looks
M
like a regular search engine so as to make it instinctive to use
Reduced need for L&D to drive
Tracking best practice
content Challenge departments to cross-educate and share
their knowledge
L&D as stewards rather than creators
Cross silo networking
of content
Track the benefits, in financial terms if possible, of
Involvement of more of the business Loss of control over the direction of all collaboration
in learning provision learning in the business

As the in work learning environment evolves to mirror the out of work

environment, the role of the L&D team is likely to become increasingly
that of facilitator and learning explorer.

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

E-learning

Many L&D teams are still struggling to work out where and how Some recommendations in the table below consider when to use
e-learning best fits. We found no consistency in terms of which parts e-learning and how to measure its use and/or success.
of a business preferred to use e-learning; it is very much down to
individual choice. When

Webinars (live and pre-recorded) as well as traditional

Things to consider outside of personality include: Global reach e-learning are more cost effective than regional training to
serve an audience in multiple locations and time zones
 ressure of “presenteeism” where client facing staff are
P
nervous about leaving their desks so prefer e-learning
“in situ” Across a range of industries, from professional services
Compliance through to hospitality, e-learning can be useful for generic
I s e-learning seen as work? In many businesses staff compliance training (e.g. anti-money laundering, basic HSE)
are not given the uninterrupted time to do e-learning so
prefer a course away from their desk
E-enabling the knowledge transfer elements of a
Knowledge programme allows more time for the practical application
transfer of the knowledge in the classroom (using e-books,
webinars, Voice Over PowerPoint etc)
Some businesses were giving a firm “no” to formal e-learning: they
thought it costly, complicated, compliance based and resented by
users. Others felt that they should be doing more with e-learning,
but where individual L&D managers had not had a positive personal
experience with the format, they were not pushing an e-learning
agenda. E-learning doubtless has a place, like everything else, but it is
just another tool in the L&D team’s box, rather than the “answer” it has
previously been hailed as.

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Key Considerations The Opportunity Cost of Training

Make sure that your e-learning is easy to find for your Several businesses reported challenges in getting management to
Ease of use learners, easy to access once they find it (one log on understand the impact if staff failed to turn up to training programmes,
screen) and easy to track (for usage stats/CPD records)
and also the wasted value if learning was not followed up back in the
Unless it plays like a computer game most users have an
workplace. The issue was greater for programmes where L&D centrally
Make it short attention span of around 20-30 minutes maximum. Think held the budget: when function heads control costs, the impact of no
media, not training. shows is more apparent and therefore less likely.

Ignore your If your people learn good stuff from it then don’t worry even Some recommendations to help with the issue:
prejudices if it’s not the way you would learn

Learning objectives and attendance rates (i.e. usage rates)

Measure it
should be assessed. Many businesses are paying for Operating an “airline booking” system for courses with
like a regular
central e-learning suites but have no idea of the levels of frequent drop outs, so 14 places are allocated on a 12
course uptake therefore can’t report on cost per user
place course to ensure it is full
Just like any other element of the L&D offering, ask the
Ask for
users for what they thought and what can be done better,  ancellation charges for departments/managers who pull
C
feedback and then share this with the provider and the business
their staff at the last minute

Historically, cost reduction was seen as the biggest driver for most Naming and shaming the worst performing departments/
businesses when considering e-learning. There looks to have been a individuals in the monthly reports to the Executive
marked shift from the time when e-learning was considered a great
 roviding positive feedback to the Executive on those
P
way to deliver cheap training. Instead the emphasis is now on reach,
managers who support their teams’ development
with the recognition that good quality e-learning is a considerable
investment and therefore needs substantial justification, even in the
area of compliance. Businesses are thinking more about the outcome
than the vehicle that delivers it.

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Hygiene factors: Materials, Learning Collateral
and the Classroom Experience

While informal learning and technology based learning are rising,

there is still a clear place for learning where individuals are all in one
place specifically to learn (even if this is not in a traditional classroom).
Recommendations for enhancing this experience are below. Many of
these best practice elements will have been seen before, but still bear
repeating for their proven impact on the learner experience.

Phone/Blackberry/IT device amnesties for sessions

 se of voting pads, Twitter/Facebook pages and

U
tools like Wisembly to engage electronically during the
session (with the obvious IT security caveats)

 iving participants the option of hard or soft copy materials

G
in advance of the session (to reduce the levels of unwanted
workbooks being left in the training room)

 marter takeaways, such as credit card sized key points and

S
coaching reminders, which are more practical than large files

 nriching the learning environment with the usual array of

E
training toys

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

After
The Headlines

Evaluation remains mostly informal

Follow up on learning is line manager dependent

Many departments didn’t have a concrete idea about how the

business measured L&D’s success
There is no real pressure to measure ROI unless it’s for large
milestone programmes
Evaluation

Reaction (“happy”) sheets are still the norm but most are very basic,
only giving a simple score. A simple upgraded version can provide the
L&D department with more information by simply doing the following.
Online response
rates are typically
Ask learners to rate themselves before and after the session
(ask for both at the end of the session) 30-50%
* Source: www.bcs.org

This gives you information not only on whether the learners got value,
but also on the relative shifts they experienced. It also allows you to Whether online or paper, response rates dramatically improve when
see where an individual is at too high a base level for the session, the trainer makes a personal request for the feedback to be completed
which is normally lost in a simple “poor” rating overall. in order to practice continuous improvement.

For those who have moved to online feedback, response rates are Many departments were not doing anything with the feedback sheets,
typically between 30-50%. Ways of increasing the uptake include: perhaps due to the lack of helpful data, other than ensuring that the
course passed a basic threshold of satisfaction. Reasons given for
this lack of activity were split between a genuine lack of resource to
process the feedback sheets and a lack of pressure from the business
Setting aside five minutes at the end of the course but within
to formally evaluate the impact on the day (with the business being
the timetable to complete
happy to deliver messages verbally or vote with their feet). Where the
Linking CPD certification to completion of feedback business does require more formal feedback, it doesn’t need to be a
time consuming chore.

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

 For manual feedback sheets, set up a standard template
that allows for easy transfer of key scores and lets you
produce a report 2 out of 3
Send this report to all key stakeholders: learners who believe they don’t
attended, their line managers and the trainer/facilitator
do enough CPD
Send a summarised report of all training that month to
the Executive
* Source: www.bcs.org

Recommendations for follow up

Learners will see how they rated the course in comparison to their
peers, a great way of benchmarking personal learning. Managers will
get to see how the course was regarded and the trainer/facilitator gets Don’t try and do
1 it for everything
Pick key programmes to start with and build up
to know what to improve, if anything, for next time.

Post training follow up was limited in most businesses to conversations

with line managers/participants on an ad hoc basis. The exception Know what you Be clear from the start about your learning
2 want and what objectives and measure the base line
was in the case of high-profile programmes (usually management you already have performance before the intervention
and leadership content) where participants and line managers were
interviewed three to six months post programme to find out the levels
of behavioural change and impact back in the workplace. Give something Link the follow up with some additional learning
3 in return for input or a content refresh so learners see the
feedback value in attending

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Learning back to the workplace
The common key to successful transfer of learning back to the
Participants report back to the team when they have
workplace across all of the businesses we spoke to was that the
“Show and tell” been on externally run courses, sharing their new
knowledge initial conversation between line manager and participant prior to
attending the course a) had happened, and b) had identified SMART
Meetings with line managers before and after the course outcomes and objectives.
One-on-ones to share development plans and find opportunities for
applying learning

Faculty (Face to face or virtual) with faculty regarding

coaching application of content post course

Online communities of course alumni set up to share

Start a club
ideas and further reading/debate

Learning sets putting their new skills to work on specific

Projects
business impact projects

Participants write postcards or record video messages

for their future self with actions to be taken. These are
Notes to self
sent to the participant two to four weeks post course as
a reminder and call to action.

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Measurement of the L&D Department

Most departments were unable to say how the business measured Key areas for L&D to be driving their importance in the next few years
their success. As L&D professionals who challenge learners to produce are likely to be:
SMART objectives for themselves, this is a strange situation and one
that has potential dangers.
A talent development strategy for the online generation who
If L&D is rightly to be regarded as a specialism then departments are social media savvy but probably less well equipped with
need to work with key stakeholders to understand what their success social skills or emotional intelligence
looks like, how it can be measured and what value they bring to the
business. If not then they run the risk of being seen as a peripheral Facilitating people connection across business units, and
department, which can result in outsourcing, as has happened with championing the improved financial results that this leads to
other support functions.
Developing managers in their increasingly complex and
uncertain roles

Connecting with experts to quickly introduce the technical

expertise the business needs but is missing internally

Working as internal consultants to really understand the key

behaviours required for success in each area of the business

As ever, the best departments are doing some or all of these activities
already but there was significant scope for all departments to make
more noise about their successes.

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Return on Investment (ROI)

The elusive Kirkpatrick Level 4 and links to ROI dominates much of If you are looking to bolster anecdotes with statistics we would
the online discussion on L&D but in the vast majority of businesses recommend the following steps:
we spoke to, there was no pressure from senior management to put a
financial measure on the success of training. Approaches ranged from
the “head in the sand/don’t ask don’t tell” to the robust rebuttal of Decide what your programme objective is and make it SMART
the model as an impractical waste of time and resource. Respondents
cited the real proof was in such metrics as “net recommender” and
Measure your KPIs before rolling out the programme
anecdotes from line managers of improved performance.
Measure the same KPIs after the programme, preferably
with control groups who have not had the same training to
The biggest single challenge in measuring impact and return appears to
determine if improvements can be attributed
be a lack of hard data from BEFORE programmes are launched. If senior
management are putting pressure on to measure ROI then L&D teams must
push to establish the key criteria by which they will be measured. Only
then can training be designed that can hope to have a positive impact. The size of many teams will not permit the control group, but more can
be done to measure performance before. The likelihood is that many
Putting arbitrary financial figures on training effectiveness is not businesses will have this data, the key is asking the smart questions to
recommended. Some useful measures to monitor before and after include: extract it.

Time to complete activities (appraisals, budgets, work

based tasks)

Adherence to key deadlines

Retention rates/sickness rates (amongst learners and
their teams in the case of management training)

Employee satisfaction surveys etc.

© Kaplan 2014. Learning & Development Best Practice Report.

Kaplan’s Practical Insights Programme
Tackling the big questions in education,
learning and assessment.

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