How should you measure your training investment? Our research shows that you may be asking the wrong question. Many organizations are finding it difficult to measure training in a way that provides useful information at an acceptable cost. Our experience and research tell us that most training initiatives consistently fall short for two reasons: 1. They are not fully implemented or executed. 2. They do not show measurable improvements in performance or in business results. These two factors have rightfully created ambiguity and cynicism around training as a strategic investment. After all, why would an organization want to invest in processes without clearly understanding how improvements will impact their business? There are clearly some disconnects between learning and results. While many companies philosophically believe in “investing in people” through skill building, most are content with allowing the results to “take care of themselves.” The probability of this approach having a tangible business impact is slim. We believe that every learning investment must be managed appropriately if you expect a benefit. Without managing the learning process to ensure that training translates into performance and results, there may be little or no benefit for either the individual or the company. For organizations and employees to realize the full value of training, they must connect two common “disconnects” that occur between learning and business results. Based on Kirkpatrick’s four level Summative Evaluation, the LSA Learning Maturity Continuum™ below shows five levels of measurement, and how, if learning and application are not effectively linked, true learning and business results can not be achieved nor measured. The Disconnects 1. Adoption Disconnect. The first disconnect is one of adoption. Adoption is the linchpin between Learning (level II) and Application (Level III) shown to the right. While many are improving their ability to ensure that participants can exhibit the specific skills in a training environment, few do what it takes to ensure that those skills will be transferred and applied on-the-job. This “Adoption Disconnect” inhibits learning from producing performance improvement. While improving key skills, knowledge, and abilities may provide some benefit to the individual, experience tells us that it is only truly valuable to a team or organization if those skills are transferred to on-the-job performance. This means that organizations must invest in and plan for what happens before, during and after their learning interventions in order to improve organizational performance. 2. Alignment Disconnect. The second disconnect is one of alignment. This is the key connection between Application (Level III) and Results (Level IV). Even if training participants are able to apply new skills and change their on-the-job performance, success is unsatisfactory if the new performance results are not aligned with what the business is trying to accomplish. While this may sound obvious, we continue to find organizations that press ahead with learning and development initiatives that have no clear link to business priorities. This usually occurs due to a lack of rigor in analyzing business priorities, performance objectives, and root causes as part of the design phase for a training initiative. This lack of alignment and adoption is exactly what causes training, and often Human Resources, to be out of step with the critical initiatives of a business. We believe this lack of alignment is also behind the recent trend toward increased learning analytics and the desire to more effectively measure the return on human capital. In our conversations with Executives, Human Resource Professionals, and Line Managers, they tell us that they need to measure learning initiatives to justify budgets, approaches, and opportunity costs. We believe, however, that most companies would be better served by focusing their resources not on measuring, but on managing and fully implementing their learning initiatives in alignment with their key strategic priorities. Two Steps to Connect the Disconnects™ of Alignment and Adoption In order to “Connect the Disconnects™” necessary to transform learning into improved on-the-job performance and real business results, we recommend two key steps – starting with alignment. 1. Alignment: Begin with the business objectives in mind We believe in a deep and fast analysis of business priorities and performance objectives to ensure that training initiatives target key results. While ”deep and fast” may seem contradictory, we know that in today’s competitive landscape an effective analysis needs to be: I. Timely enough to keep pace with the rate of change within an organization. II. Deep enough so that it identifies the few key levers needed to achieve the specific desired results. When training initiatives have a clear line of sight to guiding business objectives, teams are able to move fast, learn, and adapt their approaches to produce defined results. The more actions are aligned with critical business drivers, the greater the impact. This is especially true if the organization views “training” as just one of many arrows in their solution quiver. Unfortunately, many organizations either spend their time and money attempting to measure results of a process that has not been properly managed or executed in the first place or they “push out” training events linked to “competencies” that have minimum impact on job performance and business results. Alignment, the key connection between Application (Level III) and Results (Level IV), creates the foundation for skills to transfer to on-the-job performance and eventually manifest themselves in tangible business results. Without this alignment, organizations can only hope that their investments make sense. This feeling of “guessing” is what drives companies to decrease their investments in learning or to increase their attempts to measure ROI. Once you have clarity around the strategic priorities, success metrics, and alignment, it is time to fully manage and implement the learning solution in conjunction with other interventions – in other words “finish what you start.” That brings us to step #2 – Adoption. 2. Adoption: Support individuals and teams through the learning transformation To be successful, each learning initiative must employ internal and external levers that enable the successful application of learned skills to job- specific tasks. Once the appropriate success levers are selected and aligned with the learning development process, the adoption and mastery of new skills should be facilitated using the 5Ri™ Methodology. Through this methodology, skills are adopted, transferred, and successfully applied through the 5R™’s: I. Relevance: How does the skill development apply directly to an individual’s role and the group’s purpose? II. Resources: How are the necessary time, information, tools, technology, supporting processes, and structures being made available to produce the desired result? III. Reinforcement: How is your environment supporting (incentives, consequences, recognition, etc.) the application of the new skills? IV. Renewal: How is the organization ensuring continuous improvement through coaching, mentoring, follow-up, and refreshers? V. Review: How are you evaluating the efficacy of the intervention at individual and group levels? These five critical elements should be identified, managed, and adjusted before, during, and after each learning initiative to ensure adoption, transfer, and performance. This combination of clarity and systemic support helps to transform learning into improved on-the-job performance and real business results – the real ROI of learning initiatives. This approach places learning (as needed, just in time) within project teams, business initiatives, and projects instead of just inside a classroom or on a computer screen. Learning should be integrated as a part of your job – not outside of your job. When we ask executives why they are not fully managing or implementing their learning solutions, they provide three consistent answers. 1. First, it takes time and effort. 2. Second, they are not sure how to do it. 3. Third, even if they knew how to do it, they may not have the skills required to get it done. While we appreciate the obstacles, we know what it takes to create focus, clarity, and dedication to achieve a true competitive advantage through people. Conclusion In summary, because everyone has limited capital and resources, we believe that you will have the best return on investment if you focus on helping people achieve the critical few priorities of the business and on fully implementing solutions before you worry about complicated metrics that are usually based just upon people’s perceptions. There is little benefit to measuring a “flawed and shallow” implementation. We recommend that you focus, instead, on proper execution before investing in measuring something that has never quite lived up to expectations due to a lack of clear direction and strategic alignment. The far more valuable question becomes “How do you manage and fully execute your training investment to get the results required by your business plan?”

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Learn more about Transfer of Training Visit us at: www.lsaglobal.com Copyright © 2008 Learning Alliance Corporation DBA LSA Global All Rights Reserved.

The online lead generation market is fast moving, and increasingly sophisticated. By failing to keep pace, you can find yourself with a mountain of bad quality leads, low conversion rates, and a high cost-per-acquisition. In plain English, this means wasting money and failing to connect with the best prospective customers for your business. Many companies struggle with how to improve the quality of their leads and achieve the optimal financial performance. Lead scoring is a proven technique that helps buyers improve conversion and buy better leads; at the same time, scoring leads helps sellers identify the best customer for a given lead. But to understand lead scoring, we first need to understand the its benefits. First, lead scoring improves the efficiency of working the leads. Second, it improves the mix of leads. Traditional Approaches Before lead scoring was widely adopted, lead buyers had to utilize other means – such as lead verification checks and call center agents – to qualify leads. These services aim to confirm which leads are reachable and whether the person associated with a lead is qualified or interested in buying. Lead buyers needed to perform these checks because sellers often prioritized quantity over quality. Even a high quality online lead generator would rather sell 1000 leads at $10 than 100 leads at $50, provided the cost per acquisition stays the same. Therein lies the problem. Lead buyers are focused on sales targets. If it takes 1000 leads to get 100 customers, the buyer cannot afford to buy fewer leads and risk sales declining to 20. Cost per acquisition is a secondary concern, addressed only after sales targets are attained, if at all. Lead Scoring Creates Value So how do you avoid this pitfall? Take an incremental approach. Identify your best converting leads, based on cost-per-acquisition (or even lifetime value that includes cost-per-acquisition) and other attributes including behavioral, demographic, and source information. Using this technique, a lead buyer can segment leads and score by performance. A smart lead buyer who works closely with lead sellers will share the details of the best performing leads so the lead seller can target more prospects just like them. Meanwhile the lead buyer can alter re-marketing techniques to improve the efficiency of its conversion programs. Lead scoring By adopting a lead-scoring approach, one online university reduced its cost-per-acquisition by approximately $200. Conversions increased, and therefore sales improved without purchasing additional leads. The university scores all leads and uses a web-based portal to publish conversion data. Each lead seller can view its specific performance data and compare it against the average of all sources/sellers. The university identifies the type of lead (e.g., geography, degree type, demographic information) so that a lead source can target more good leads and perhaps sell the non-performing leads where they are a better match. By introducing a real-time score where a lead generator knows if the lead is a good fit for a client, the lead generator can operationalize the program. Beyond Real Time Scoring When lead scoring is integrated into the lead generation process, the knowledge gained from the score can be used to create predictive analytics across the enterprise. An effective lead scoring program will help your company: 1. predict churn (and thereby reduce loss of customers); 2. prioritize valued customers, in order to provide those customers with enhanced customer service and boost retention and spending; and 3. optimize media buying to generate even better leads. Lead scoring for online lead generation is just the tip of the iceberg. What’s holding you back?

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Government contract factoring, and sometimes purchase order funding, can be the financing option that is the difference between a business turning down a contract or fulfilling profitable opportunities. Are financing options like factoring and purchase order funding viable for government contracts? With most instances the answer is yes, government contract factoring is an option!

We recently started using BaseCamp, the project-management website from 37Signals. We love our Excel spreadsheets and to-do lists, but it was finally time to move to something a bit more, well, cohesive.

Working for a small business or startup typically means getting focused – and that’s a good thing!