Benefits of SaaS for Small Business

Check out this recent entry at Bizcloud where they discuss the Benefits of SaaS for Small Business.

e-Learning Success: Benchmarking and Measurement

Thanks for taking the time to stop by my site. I'm new to blogging, so bear with me.

This will be the first in a series of articles on best practices that I have learned while working with hundreds of companies to implement e-learning programs.

I work mainly with smaller and mid-sized organizations, helping them to plan and implement e-learning programs. Many of them are also taking their first attempt at formalized training. What I've found is that people spend a lot of time determining what systems, courses, bells and whistles they want, but not enough time charting the path to success.

So where does that path start? Well, It starts at the beginning, and in the past.

Now those of you that know me, may think I've seen one too many LOST episodes, but your first task is to figure out specifically why you need e-learning, where your path started.

What signs led you to believe that you need additional training? Was it decreasing revenues? Lower sales? Lost too many good employees? Tie your training plans to organizational metrics tat you are trying to impact. If your president says "Go find e-learning," you'll have to ask why.

First, you need to identify the metrics you are trying to impact. You also need to take the time to measure the current benchmarks. You HAVE to know where they start to know if you are winning.

Common benchmarks my clients have used are sales revenues, customer and employee retention, turnover or promotability. Another great option is using employee performance review metrics to measure the success of learning interventions.

Next, you'll need take the time to identify the cost or savings associated with fixing, or not fixing the problem. In a business case, you can use these figures to show examples of returns for moving the needle. After Implementation, you can track these figures monthly. I recommend finding somebody really good with Excel to create a spreadsheet for you.

Keep in mind that you must take into consideration the reality that other things impact the same metrics, so don't overpromise specific improvements, but realize that any positive impact will be a success.

The last step, which is the most important for keeping your program running, is to keep measuring and reporting the results. These results, along with employee surveys and other data will help you to keep an eye on your successes and challenges, and to identify any changes that may be needed. Remember that this is a liquid process, and you need to continually look for ways to improve it.

Feel free to e-mail me anytime to share ideas, or to discuss specific situations. You an reach me at tbraning@yahoo.com or on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/tombraning.

Happy learning!
Tom