Boosting Business Agility

Boosting Business Agility

Towards Maturity 2011-12 Benchmark

Full Report


© Towards Maturity CIC 2011

About this research

This study is the fifth in a longitudinal research series looking at the trends in the implementation

and impact of learning technologies in the workplace. The research is published in a suite of reports:

Boosting Business Agility - Towards Maturity 2011-12 benchmark: Executive Summary

Boosting Business Agility - Towards Maturity 2011-12 benchmark: Full report

Towards Maturity 2011-12 benchmark: Longitudinal trends – data tables

The full suite of reports can be downloaded for free at www.towardsmaturity.org/2011benchmark.

Previous Towards Maturity Benchmarks can be downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/TMbenchmark

Acknowledgements

The 2011 benchmark research has been made possible thanks to the funding support of 16 Towards

Maturity Ambassadors, who share our passion for ensuring that independent research and advice is

freely available. See Annex D for details of the Towards Maturity Ambassadors.

Find out more about our Ambassadors at www.towardsmaturity.org/ambassadors

We also thank all those organisations who have kindly agreed that we can quote them by name in

the report.

Research team: Genny Dixon, Laura Overton

A copy of this report can be downloaded at www.towardsmaturity.org/2011benchmark

© Copyright Towards Maturity CIC 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilised in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior authorisation

http://www.towardsmaturity.org/2011benchmark

http://tinyurl.com/TMbenchmark

http://www.towardsmaturity.org/ambassadors




Foreword by Craig McCoy

Much has changed in the 18 years that I have been working as an HR

Director. For those working in the field of HR and learning, the

opportunities to improve organisational performance have never been

greater; but neither have the challenges, as the pace of change

accelerates around us.

No-one is immune. Even market leaders and established service

providers have to constantly re-evaluate their service offering, marketing

strategies and processes in order to become more agile, productive, and

competitive. The world of business is changing fast and the pressure on

time means that business managers are demanding shorter, faster

learning interventions. In an increasingly unpredictable economic climate, the HR function has an

important role to play in helping businesses become increasingly agile. But to do this, we need to be

able to rapidly evolve our own service offering, using tools, technologies and the experiences of

those around us to enable constant innovation and change.

This is why I welcome the independent Towards Maturity Benchmark, which has consolidated the

experiences of over 1,800 organisations (Bupa included) over the last 8 years. It cuts through the

hype to show how real organisations are using both established and new learning technologies in

such a way that those of us serious about improving performance and business agility would be

foolish to ignore.

At Bupa, like most organisations today, we need to evolve our skills base to survive. This means

adopting new skills from other sectors and disciplines, as well as being creative in the ways that we

build the skills of our talented workforce. Our job is to make more people, more effective, more

quickly and in order to do that the HR function has to grow up to become more commercial. There is

no getting away from it, there are only 2 options: we can either change or stagnate!

The Towards Maturity 2011-12 study illustrates a number of areas

that we still have to take action on if we are to avoid becoming

irrelevant within the organisations that we serve.

Firstly it is time to move up the value curve. If HR is looking to

establish a credible relationship with the business, we can’t afford

to ignore the tangible business benefits illustrated by this report.

Investment in innovative learning approaches facilitates business

agility and can support business generation, improve customer

service and increase organisational efficiency. But to achieve these

results we have to work in partnership with business, and this study has a challenge for business

people as well: take a second look at what your HR and L&D teams can do for you today! Really good

L&D practitioners can make a substantial difference to your bottom line so it is important not to

frame your view of what learning can achieve on your past experiences alone – look beyond that,

expect innovation and actively engage with your HR teams to achieve so much more.

If HR is looking to

establish a credible

relationship with the

business, we can’t afford

to ignore the tangible

business benefits

illustrated by this report



Secondly, we are reminded that technology-enabled learning is not just about ‘tick in the box

compliance’ – it has a critical role in building customer service excellence and leadership resilience. It

is also clear that L&D still has a way to go to grasp the full potential of technology as an enabler to

make our learning proposition different. We can no longer ignore the broader context of how people

learn. This is not just about Generation Y: the way everyone acquires knowledge, increasingly

through technology, is changing. HR and learning professionals need to help make jobs more

effective, by creating a knowledge environment that encourages sharing and ensures that

information, contacts and networks are accessible to all. This role is not just ’nice to have’, it is

critical for business success.

We are all in the market for talent: to attract, retain and develop the best people that we can.

To do this, I believe it is critical for all organisations to aspire to become industry leaders. Most

organisations have a change agenda and L&D has a critical role to

play in supporting and driving that change. But in order to do this

we also have to adapt, so it is critical that we rapidly become

confident in new approaches to today’s skills challenges.

This is not a time to remain introspective, with our point of

reference internally focussed. We need to look to our external

networks, communities and external benchmarks to tap into a rich

source of new ideas and innovation necessary for our success in the

future.

If you are looking for proven approaches to boost business agility within your organisation, I

thoroughly recommend the 2011-12 Towards Maturity Benchmark as a great place to start.

Craig McCoy

HR Director, Bupa Health and Wellbeing

Towards Maturity Supporters- The 2011 study remains current and vendor neutral thanks to the independent experts, magazine publishers and event organisers, industry communities and membership bodies who make up Towards Maturity Supporters. Our supporters feed into the benchmark process, providing insights on future trends and practices that should be investigated within the study. TM Supporters share the goal of providing independent advice and services to stimulate effective learning innovation. They include:

Find out more about what our supporters think about the Towards Maturity Benchmark at www.towardsmaturity.org/supporters

We can no longer ignore

the broader context of how

people learn.

The way everyone acquires

knowledge, increasingly

through technology, is

changing.

http://www.towardsmaturity.org/supporters



Table of Contents

1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 7

1.1 8 years of benchmarks – the story so far ................................................................................ 7

1.2 Methodology and participant demographics .......................................................................... 8

2 Adding value ....................................................................................................................... 12

2.1 Shifting budgets ..................................................................................................................... 12

2.2 Drivers for investment in learning technologies ................................................................... 13

2.3 Enabling business agility ........................................................................................................ 16

2.4 Bottom line benefits .............................................................................................................. 19

2.5 Improving results through maturity ...................................................................................... 22

3 Building skills ...................................................................................................................... 25

3.1 A quick overview of learning technology adoption ............................................................... 25

3.2 Evolving content strategies ................................................................................................... 26

3.3 Delivery strategies ................................................................................................................. 30

3.4 Engaging learners and improving talent ............................................................................... 34

3.5 Working with external training providers ............................................................................. 36

4 Harnessing technology to improve performance .................................................................. 38

4.1 Adopting social learning ........................................................................................................ 38

4.2 Barriers to uptake of social media......................................................................................... 40

4.3 Promoting a performance culture ......................................................................................... 41

5 Building confidence in new approaches to learning .............................................................. 44

5.1 Overcoming reluctance to change ........................................................................................ 44

5.2 Improving business partnerships .......................................................................................... 47

5.3 Managing change .................................................................................................................. 48

5.4 Developing the skills of the learning professionals ............................................................... 49

6 Taking action ...................................................................................................................... 53

Annexes ..................................................................................................................................... 55

Annex A - Survey design and participant demographics ................................................................... 55

Annex B - Sample of participating organisations .............................................................................. 59

Annex C – The Towards Maturity Model ........................................................................................... 61

Annex D - Towards Maturity Ambassador Programme ................................................................... 63

Annex E – About Towards Maturity .................................................................................................. 65



List of Figures

Figure 1 Industries represented by survey respondents ............................................................................................................ 9

Figure 2 Distribution of survey respondents in terms of perceived maturity .......................................................................... 10

Figure 3 Length of time using learning technologies related to perception of maturity .......................................................... 11

Figure 4 Maturity related to the Towards Maturity Index quartile ......................................................................................... 11

Figure 5 Training budgets varied by sector .............................................................................................................................. 13

Figure 6 Skills that are most likely to be e-enabled .................................................................................................................. 14

Figure 7 Percentage of all organisations e-enabling skills compared with 2008 ...................................................................... 15

Figure 8 Drivers for investment increase year on year ............................................................................................................. 16

Figure 9 Audience groups that are using learning technologies .............................................................................................. 17

Figure 10 Benefits achieved by those seeking them ................................................................................................................ 23

Figure 11 Index measures of benefits related to e-learning maturity ...................................................................................... 24

Figure 12 Relative usage of different learning technologies .................................................................................................... 25

Figure 13 Trends in the use of video in learning and development ......................................................................................... 27

Figure 14 Source of e-learning content varies with maturity ................................................................................................... 30

Figure 15 Maturity alters the way in which content is combined ............................................................................................ 31

Figure 16 The rise in live online learning .................................................................................................................................. 32

Figure 17 Different learning methods supported by live online learning ................................................................................. 32

Figure 18 Trends in use of mobile devices ............................................................................................................................... 33

Figure 19 Locations where learners can access technology-enabled learning ......................................................................... 34

Figure 20 The extent to which learning technologies support talent management ................................................................ 35

Figure 21 Media supporting the sharing of good practice ....................................................................................................... 39

Figure 22 Uses and benefits of social networks in workplace learning .................................................................................... 39

Figure 23 Use of 3rd party social networks .............................................................................................................................. 40

Figure 24 Barriers to use of social networks in workplace learning ......................................................................................... 41

Figure 25 Fostering a performance culture .............................................................................................................................. 42

Figure 26 L&D skills and confidence with new media .............................................................................................................. 45

Figure 27 Barrier perception decreasing with maturity ........................................................................................................... 46

Figure 28 Communication tactics of top performers ............................................................................................................... 49

Figure 29 Size and location of benchmark participant organisations ....................................................................................... 57

Figure 30 Industry sector and job roles of benchmark respondents ........................................................................................ 57

Figure 31 Relative maturity of different sectors ...................................................................................................................... 58

Figure 32 Length of time using learning technologies related to the TM Index ....................................................................... 58

Figure 33 Towards Maturity workstreams ............................................................................................................................... 62

List of Tables

Table 1 Benefits relating to learning administration ................................................................................................................ 21

Table 2 Benefits of developing content in-house ..................................................................................................................... 28

Table 3 Challenges reported when bringing content development in house........................................................................... 28

Table 4 Costs of creating e-learning content ............................................................................................................................ 28

Table 5 Barriers relating to e-learning content ........................................................................................................................ 29

Table 6 Integrating e-enabled learning with the classroom ..................................................................................................... 30

Table 7 Accessing content beyond the firewall ........................................................................................................................ 31

Table 8 Usage of tools to support talent management ............................................................................................................ 35

Table 9 Learning supports career development ....................................................................................................................... 36

Table 10 How performance varies with learner engagement .................................................................................................. 36

Table 11 Demographics of survey respondents ....................................................................................................................... 56

Table 12 Distribution of survey respondents ........................................................................................................................... 57



1 Introduction

Learning technologies are an established part of the armoury for organisations

looking to move ahead despite ongoing economic uncertainty. The 2011-12

Towards Maturity benchmark draws on data from over 600 organisations.

1.1 8 years of benchmarks – the story so far

The fundamental question that has fuelled Towards Maturity research with over

1800 respondents over the last 8 years is:

What are successful organisations doing to deliver business results with learning

technologies and how can we learn from them?

Over the past 3 years the economic climate has forced organisations to revisit

learning strategies. The business priority for skills as a strategy for growth has

been raised by both the Institute of Directors and the Confederation of British

Industry. Poor skills are shackling the economy - 47% of employers say that their

staff lack skills to do their job. This fact impacts business through increased

workload for other staff (reported by 61%), curtailed growth (58%), higher

operational costs (32%), compromised quality (34%), lost orders (25%), and stifled

innovation (33%).1

Because of this 41% of business directors plan to increase investment in skills

(according to the CBI’s Ready to Grow report) but two thirds are looking for more

targeted and more cost effective training2.

It is no wonder that the use of technology in learning is now mainstream, with

78% of organisations now using some form of e-learning (and over half planning

to increase their use in the next 12 months).3 However, over the years, our

research has demonstrated that the benefits hoped for from technology enabled

learning are not always realised. Those that are more mature in their use of

learning technologies are realising significant benefits measured in terms of:

Increased business benefit – in terms of speed to competency and

responsiveness to business demand

Increased learning efficiency – in terms of cost savings, time savings and

volume of learning delivered.

1 IOD Shackled by the Skills Crunch -

http://www.iod.com/MainWebSite/Resources/Document/shackled_by_the_skills_crunch_1012.pdf 2 CBI Ready to Grow report

3 CIPD - Focus on eLearning report June 2011 http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/survey-

reports/focus-e-learning.aspx

“The majority of our L&D

delivery staff are either from

a clinical background or long

established 'classroom'

trainers. This has really

helped focus on some areas

and relationships we need to

improve on if we are to

successfully progress learning

technologies.” (Betsi

Cadwaladr University Health

Board)

http://www.iod.com/MainWebSite/Resources/Document/shackled_by_the_skills_crunch_1012.pdf

http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/survey-reports/focus-e-learning.aspx

http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/survey-reports/focus-e-learning.aspx

Boosting Business Agility: Introduction


Through our previous research we have been able to identify 6 workstreams of

implementation behaviours that characterise maturity and directly link to the

successful outcomes of learning technology implementation. (See Annex C for a

description of the TM model and the Towards Maturity Index or TMI.)

Organisations in the top quartile of these maturity workstreams (as measured by

the Towards Maturity Index) have consistently reported better business results

and fewer barriers to implementation.

They are also more likely to report that they are able to adapt rapidly to change.

The 2011-12 Towards Maturity Benchmark builds on previous research to provide

an in-depth long-term study into the implementation of learning technologies in

workplace learning. This year we continue to investigate the impact of maturity

on business results, efficiency and talent development. We also focus on one

aspect of business impact in more detail – business agility: the ability to respond

rapidly to change.

The 2011-12 Benchmark report aims to provide a robust evidence base that

supports more effective implementation of innovative learning. The report aims

to help organisations:

– Deliver value – Eliminate risk – Increase business engagement – Build confidence in new approaches – Share effective practices and – Save time and cost

1.2 Methodology and participant demographics

1.2.1 Survey methodology

Individuals with responsibility for implementing learning technologies in the

workplace were invited to participate in a two-part online review during June and

July 2011.

The first part surveyed skills, technologies, benefits and barriers to e-learning; the

second part was a benchmark review against 124 action statements of

implementation good practice. These action statements are the building blocks of

the Towards Maturity Model and provide the basis for determining the

organisation’s Towards Maturity Index.

The survey was widely distributed via a number of channels and partners to those

already with an interest in using learning technologies. The assumption was that

all respondents have already started on their ‘e-learning journey’. Participants

were invited to complete the review via a traditional online survey or via the

“Thanks - it was worth the

time taken to go through

the questions to reflect on

how far we've come and

how far there still is to go!”

(Hanover Housing

Association)

The Towards Maturity Model



Towards Maturity Benchmark Centre. All participants who completed received

immediate feedback in September via the Towards Maturity Benchmark Centre in

the form of a personalised benchmark report. This highlighted their current

strengths and weaknesses against a number of Key Performance Indicators and

the effective practices outlined in the Towards Maturity Model.4

1.2.2 Demographics of benchmark respondents

A total of 767 respondents from 643 organisations commenced the survey, with

488 completing all sections. Participating organisations included AXA UK,

Barclaycard, Barnados, Boots UK, BT plc, Cable&Wireless Worldwide, Christian

Aid, E.ON AG, Eversheds LLP, IKEA of Sweden, Lloyds Banking Group, Nestlé,

NSPCC, Pearson International, Shell, The Rugby Football League, Tesco Stores Ltd,

Toyota Motor Europe NV SA , Vodafone, 33 councils and over 20 hospitals and

NHS trusts. A sample of participating organisations is listed in Annex C.

The number of respondents was 50% higher than the previous year. Whilst over

100 had taken part in the review in 2010 and over 50 had also taken part in 2008,

the large numbers of new organisations taking part each year ensures that the

longitudinal study reflects trends across a wide range of organisations.

Respondents were more evenly distributed between industry sectors than in

previous studies and were spread across private (57%), public (30%) and not-for-

profit sector (13%) organisations. The highest numbers of responses were from

the Finance, IT/telecoms and Voluntary sectors, but there were also high numbers

from Health/Social care, Professional and Technical, Local and Central

Government and Manufacturing5. There were fewer responses than in previous

years from those engaged in commercial training or from small educational

consulting companies reducing any unintentional bias towards those who are

themselves ‘suppliers’ of e-learning solutions.

Figure 1 Industries represented by survey respondents

4 Delegates were benchmarked against the current TM Benchmarks established in the

2010-11 report. New implementation benchmarks from the 2011-12 study will be set in January 2012. Further information on the Towards Maturity Benchmark Centre can be found at www.towardsmaturity.org/mybenchmark. 5 17 individual sector benchmarking reports will be available from January 2012

“This has been a very

interesting process to go

through and has given me

some ideas for the future

however, as always,

working in a charity

sometimes really impacts

on what can realistically be

achieved.” (Addaction)

http://www.towardsmaturity.org/mybenchmark

Boosting Business Agility: Introduction


Two-thirds of respondents were from the UK, with 19% from other European

countries6. The 2011 benchmark also attracted 15% respondents from around the

world (See Annex A and B).

Organisation size varied, ranging from micro businesses with fewer than 10

employees, to large multi-nationals operating globally from a number of locations

worldwide. Collectively, these organisations employ at least 2m employees.

Responses came from those working within their own organisation (78%) and

those supporting external organisations (22%). Two-thirds were L&D professionals

reporting either to HR/L&D central or within a line of business, and two-thirds had

responsibility for learning strategy and management as all or part of their job role.

1.2.3 Maturity

Respondents were invited to self-assess their ‘e-learning maturity’ on a five point

scale7. The spread reflected a similar pattern of perceived maturity to previous

years although a greater proportion of novice users responded than in 2010.

Figure 2 Distribution of survey respondents in terms of perceived maturity

(2010 proportions shown in grey text)

67% of respondents have now been using learning technologies for 3 years or

more and many consider them to be well established or embedded within

organisational practice. Whilst maturity relates in part to time, there are a

significant number that still consider themselves ‘novice’ users even after over 3

years of use (Figure 3).

When we use the TMI as an indicator of maturity, calculated from respondents’

level of agreement with 124 good practice statements within the 6 areas of the

Towards Maturity Model, we find that 70% of those in the top quartile of TMI

describe themselves as either ‘established’ or ‘embedded’ users.

6 Specific trend analysis for Europe can be found at www.towardsmaturity.org

7 See Annex A for definitions

12% (7%)

19% (20%)

31% (39%)

22% (23%)

16% (12%)

Novice

Sporadic

Developing

Established

Embedded

http://www.towardsmaturity.org/



Figure 3 Length of time using learning technologies related to perception of maturity

The pattern shown in Figure 4 is not surprising, as we would not expect those that

are new to e-learning to be realising the same level of benefits as those with

considerable experience. However, there are still over 10% of established or

embedded users in the bottom quartile for TMI that are still not achieving the

benefits promised!

Figure 4 Maturity related to the Towards Maturity Index quartile

1.2.4 A note on longitudinal trends

Through this study we have been able to track longitudinal trends since 2006.

However, it is apparent that 2010 presented some anomalies with inflated figures

– perhaps due to the greater proportion of e-mature or ‘supplier’ organisations

that took part. In this report, we therefore compare some of the 2011 data with

2008 figures.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Novice Sporadic Developing Established Embedded

0 - 1 years

1 - 3 years

4 - 6 years

6 - 10 years

10 years plus

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

TMI Bottom Quartile

TMI Quartile 3 TMI Quartile 2 TMI Top Quartile

Embedded Established Developing Sporadic NoviceN=764

Boosting Business Agility: Adding Value


2 Adding value

In addition to supporting the delivery of business critical skills, learning

technologies are now adding value by helping organisations become more agile

and deliver significant efficiency savings. However, investment in technology

alone is no guarantee for success as many are yet to realise the benefits they

seek.

In a time of economic uncertainty, business priorities are all about agility – how

they can adapt rapidly (and cost effectively) to the changing external

environment. This agility is critical for growth, survival and the ultimate

satisfaction and loyalty of customers and service users. To date, the priorities

from the L&D team perspective are more likely to be related to improving the

efficiency, reach and quality of the learning interventions themselves. However, in

2011, in order to help their organisations adapt faster to change, we see that

benchmark participants are starting to look beyond the efficiency agenda as a

driver for investment.

In this section, we look at what has been happening to budgets over the last few

years, the key drivers for ongoing investment in learning technologies, the

benefits that are being realised as a result, and consider how maturity can help

organisations achieve a better return on their expectations.

2.1 Shifting budgets

An estimated 18% of overall training budget is being spent on technologies. This

has fallen slightly in the last 12 months, despite predictions a year ago by 65% of

organisations that the proportion would increase. Over 65% of respondents

continue to predict greater use of technology in the next two years as they see e-

learning as a cheaper alternative to traditional modes of delivery and a way of

reaching a wider audience. One example being the increased use of live online

webinars and meetings to cut down on travel costs.

The up-front costs of purchasing new IT solutions can make technology options

appear more expensive, which can slow adoption or delay development.

Economic pressures have also encouraged organisations to sharpen their focus,

look for ‘quick wins’ and to develop their own content in-house.

Overall, training budgets have not fallen as much as feared in the last 2 years:

26% reported an increase (but only 17% had expected an increase)

38% reported they stayed the same (40% predicted this)

36% reported a decrease (42% predicted a decrease)

Top 10 drivers in 2011

89% Increase access to learning

85% increase flexibility

84% Improve quality

83% Reduce training costs

82% Extend reach of training

80% Achieve greater

consistency

79% Improve induction

79% Increase sharing of good

practice

79% Reduce time away from job

78% Help implement new

processes/products

On average, 18% of overall training

budget is allocated to

learning technologies



Sectors differ markedly, with 58% public sector organisations reporting a decrease

in their training budget and only 12% reporting an increase. Budgets have

increased most in the private sector, with 34% reporting an increase.

Figure 5 Training budgets varied by sector Compared with last year Forecast for 2 years time

There is some optimism that overall training budgets will be fairly stable for the

next 2 years:

29% predict an increase

41% predict they will remain the same

30% predict a decrease

However, again, there is greater pessimism in the public sector with 58%

forecasting further decrease in their budget.

(It should be noted that the survey was conducted in June/July 2011 at a time

when the public sector in particular was reeling from announcements about

changes to pension arrangements.)

2.2 Drivers for investment in learning technologies

We look at the drivers for investment under five main headings:

o Developing business critical skills o Enabling business agility o Improving customer satisfaction o Managing talent and o Increasing learning efficiency – without loss of quality

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Increase Stay the same Decrease

Not-for-profit Private Public

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Increase Stay the same Decrease

Not-for-profit Private Public

“We have to negotiate best

value for money”

“We are more careful about spend, but look for a Return on Expectations rather than on Investment”

“It is more difficult to gain

approval for spend on

technologies”

“There are severe constraints

on spending on delivery but

also an increased awareness

/ acceptance of potential

savings.”

“The increased demand for training with less budget has driven the use of learning technologies” (Surrey County Council)



2.2.1 Developing business critical skills

Developing skills remains a top priority for business and this continues to drive

investment in learning technologies. Historically the subjects most likely to be e-

enabled were related to compliance and IT, but now technology is being applied

to every subject, including management, leadership and customer sales / service

skills8.

Figure 6 illustrates the wide range of skills currently being e-enabled in some way

in 2011.

Figure 6 Skills that are most likely to be e-enabled

In 2011, we find that the subjects most likely to be e-enabled have not changed

from the previous year9. These are also the skills areas that organisations new to

e-learning are likely to focus on first10:

1. IT user (55%)

2. Health and safety (53%)

3. Induction (52%)

4. Industry specific regulatory/compliance skills (49%)

5. Company specific skills (48%)

More skills are being e-enabled in 2011 than in 2008 (Figure 7) with the exception

of IT user skills where the number of organisations e-enabling IT user skills has

fallen from 59% in 2008 to 55% in 2011 (interesting given that 30% still note that

poor learner IT skills are a significant barrier to further implementation success!).

The skills that have seen the biggest increase in use of learning technologies in the

last 2 years are the business critical areas. These are leadership and management,

customer service and the ‘soft’ skills of communications, team working and

problem solving.

8 Top 3 business critical skills gaps identified by the IOD Shackled by the Skills Crunch

report 2010 9 See Boosting Business Agility: Longitudinal Trends 2011-12 for full data tables

10 Full In focus report on top skills for getting started due 2012

http://tinyurl.com/TMINFOCUS

Top 10 e-enabled skills

55% IT user skills

53% Health and safety

51% Induction

49% Industry specific

compliance

48% Company specific training

46% IT professional skills

46% CSR (eg equality &

diversity)

45% Improving own learning

and performance

42% Leadership and

management

36% Customer service

“We are beginning to provide

online learning opportunities

to our 100,000 volunteers -

we are just piloting our first

online learning module on

the topic of mentoring skills,

with a view to developing

further online learning for

volunteers. In terms of HR,

some learning is provided

online - mainly diversity

training.” (Girlguiding UK)




Figure 7 Percentage of all organisations e-enabling skills compared with 2008

Overall, the most mature organisations (those in the top quartile of TMI) will e-

enable 3 times as many subjects as those who are in the bottom quartile. The

most mature organisations are also one third again more likely to be using

technology to address these priority areas than others. They are also twice as

likely to e-enable foreign language training and basic skills training as the sample

average.

2.2.2 Future predictions – e-enabled skills

All respondents are planning to use more technology in every skills area in the

next 2 years, addressing both the rapidly evolving demand for greater skills and

reflecting the increased confidence in learning technologies. Whilst the skills most

likely to be e-enabled will not change, those increasing the fastest are those that

are the most important skills for business:

1 L&D skills (improving respondents own learning and performance – up

25% to 70% by 2013

2 Customer handling/service – up 24% to 60%

3 Leadership and management – up 24% to 66%

The good news is that by 2013, 70% expect to use technology to support L&D

skills.

Currently only 45% are using technology to improve their own learning and

performance. Given that L&D skills are currently the top barrier to change, this

growth by 2013 may be a little too late!

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Foreign language

Basic skills

Sales & marketing

Problem solving

Team working

Office/admin

Communications

Customer service

IT professional

CSR

Leadership & management

Company specific

Industry specific

Induction

Health & safety

General IT user

2008

2011

TMI top quartile

organisations are

one-third again more likely to e-enable

leadership, customer

service and soft skills

than average



2.3 Enabling business agility

In the next 3 sections, we shall take a closer look at the other drivers behind

investment in learning technologies, but the one that has jumped the furthest in

the last 12 months is improving business agility. 77% of organisations now believe

that learning technologies will help them respond faster to changing business

conditions, an increase of 11% from 2010.

Specifically organisations believe that learning technologies can help:

77% to reduce time to competency

77% to release new products faster

76% to support organisational change

69% to increase the speed of roll-out of new IT systems

Figure 8 illustrates how business goals relating to agility are becoming more

prominent each year.

Figure 8 Drivers for investment increase year on year

2.3.1 Delivering customer satisfaction

Regardless of sector, all organisations are looking to improve the experience and

loyalty of their customers and service users. Enhancing customer loyalty has

become an increasing priority since last year:

o 77% are using learning technologies to help improve customer

satisfaction (increased by 11%)

o 70% are looking to maintain their public image (increased by 11%)

This is being achieved by increasing the sales and product knowledge skills of sales

and customer service staff but a significant number are also using learning

technologies to extend their training offering to customers and suppliers:

42% are using learning technologies to help train their customers

13% are training their supply chain

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2004 N=290

2006 N=212

2008 N=261

2010 N=377

2011 N=523

Help implement new products

Help implement IT systems

Support organisational change

“Increase profitability and

market share”

“Improve new senior

manager retention rate”

(Mott MacDonald Group

Ltd)

77% believe that


will help them

respond faster to

changing business

conditions



2.3.2 Managing talent

3 out of 4 organisations are also looking for bottom line benefits in increased

productivity, but helping staff be more productive in their current job is only one

side of the coin. 7 out of 10 organisations also focus on using learning

technologies to improve talent management (69%) – the opportunity to attract,

develop and keep great people – across the board. They recognise the

opportunities that learning technologies offer to shift responsibility for learning

and development away from a central HR function into the line of business.

On average, some 57% of the respondents’ workforce is using learning

technologies – unchanged from last year – and they are supporting staff at all

levels of the organisation (Figure 8). Two audience groups are more likely to be

using e-learning than last year: Directors and senior managers (62% up from 56%)

and apprentices (44% up from 38%).11

Figure 9 Audience groups that are using learning technologies

79% of organisations now use learning technologies to improve the induction

process. Induction is one of the first to be e-enabled (along side compliance

training), and an area where benefits are most likely to be achieved.

However, there are a number of other drivers that are as important in managing

and attracting great talent:

75% seek to develop a better qualified workforce

75% seek to improve their compliance with industry rules and regulations

77% seek for e-enabled learning to contribute to improvements in employee

engagement scores and

78% seek improvements in staff satisfaction

There is also a drive to use learning technologies to ensure that knowledge is

shared across the business:

Increase the ongoing sharing of good practice (79%)

Increase employee engagement (78%)

11

See Longitudinal trends paper for more information on changes in audience levels

79% believe that


will help them share

good practice across

the business



2.3.3 Increasing training efficiency

The top 4 drivers for investment remain the same as in 2010, despite a much

larger sample and a greater proportion of ‘novice’ users, with over 4 out of 5

continuing to look for improved access (89%), flexibility (85%), quality of learning

(84%) and cost efficiency (83%).

This research was largely drawn from responses by L&D professionals, so it is not

surprising to find that they are looking to learning technologies to drive greater

efficiencies in training without compromising on quality. Those in different job

roles however, emphasise different drivers. For example, training staff and those

with responsibility for setting learning strategy and management are primarily

looking for increasing access and flexibility, whereas technologists focus more on

sharing good practice and responding rapidly to changing business conditions.

Improving learning administration and management has dropped from 4th to 24th

in importance as a driver; ensuring compliance has dropped from 14th to 22nd

place. These benefits are still sought by as many organisations as before but other

benefits are now seen as more important!

Organisations are also looking to learning technologies to increase Return on

Investment (77%) and increasingly, to deliver business benefit and a Return on

Expectation. However, we find that only:

19% of organisations actually know the opportunity cost of the various

ways in which their learners learn

19% collect financial data when learning technologies are involved and

14% are actually calculating the ROI of their learning programmes

In the following sections we report on the percentage of organisations that are

realising the benefits that they are looking for. In a number of areas we asked

organisations to quantify the level of benefits that they are looking for.12 However

we found that the numbers of organisations that are actually measuring and

quantifying the benefits of their learning technologies are low. For example:

Only 48% organisations were able to estimate their cost savings, with 10%

estimating that they actually spent more

62% estimated their study time savings with 5% responding that study

time increased and

64% estimated delivery time with 7% responding that it had increased

However, in 2011, the sample included greater numbers of novice users than in

previous years, and where they are relatively new to e-learning, organisations

may not yet have the data to quantify the benefits.

12

These figures are not directly comparable with 2010 as we asked respondents to provide actual estimates of efficiency savings rather than respond on a relative scale. Fewer were able to respond but those that did provided considerably higher figures than the 2010 report.



2.4 Bottom line benefits

Learning technologies are delivering benefits across a range of areas. 7 out of 10

organisations surveyed report achieving one or more benefits, with 1 in 5

reporting benefits across the full range.

Given the wide range of organisations participating in this study it is impossible to

investigate the full range of business benefits and approaches to measuring and

reporting effectiveness on a case by case basis. Through our Evidence for Change

programme, Towards Maturity report on a wide range of specific case studies that

have delivered and measured bottom line benefits13.

2.4.1 The bottom line – business agility

Learning technologies are helping companies become more fleet of foot and

adapt more rapidly to business demands. The proportion of respondents that

achieved the following benefits of those that seek them is:

- 39% have achieved the improvement in induction training they seek

- 48% report faster roll out of new IT applications

- 39% report improvement in ability to change products and processes

- 33% report they can now response faster to business change

- 25% report an improvement in time to competency

2.4.2 The bottom line – customer engagement

Three out of ten organisations agreed that learning technologies contribute to

improvements in productivity, the same proportion also agreed that their

managers within the business reported additional business benefits as a result of

13

Specific examples available at http://tinyurl.com/TMevidence

Organisations are

reporting a 35%

reduction in time to

proven competency

The quantified benefits highlighted in the green boxes

below are based on a minimum of 150 responses.

Where the benefits have been quantified by respondents, they report:

35% reduction in time to competency

32% ability to change procedures/products

32% increase in speed of rollout of new IT applications Organisations are

reporting an overall

20% improvement in

customer

satisfaction

Top 10 benefits achieved

50% Industry specific compliance

48% Help implement IT systems

48% Increase access

45% Increase flexibility

44% Reduce time away from job

42% Extend reach of training

41% Reduce training costs

39% Improve induction

39% Help implement new products and processes

38% Deliver greater volume of learning

http://tinyurl.com/TMevidence



the e-enabled learning solutions rolled out. In a study of this scope it is difficult to

pinpoint the exact benefits that organisations are looking for.

However with respect to customer engagement and growth:

- 32% agree that they improve customer satisfaction

- 17% agree that they have significantly increased organisational revenue

2.4.3 The bottom line - talent management

Organisations also report using learning technologies to improve talent

management and succession planning:

- 20% report an improvement in overall talent management

- 23% report they have achieved more ongoing sharing of good practice

- 22% report they have achieved better employee engagement

2.4.4 The bottom line - efficiency without compromise

Efficiency is one of the leading drivers for investing in learning technologies, but

they also offer new ways to manage, reach and engage learners. For those that

are measuring success in terms of learner numbers and course completions, they

offer reliable ways to prove compliance and remove some of the inconsistencies

that can occur across large scale programmes. Coupled with these efficiency

benefits are improvements in the quality and consistency of the learner

experience and the motivation and retention of learners.

Efficiency:

- 62% report that they are able to deliver learning faster

- 48% report that they now provide greater access to learning

- 44% report a reduction in the time learners spend away from their job

42% report they have extended the reach of their training

“As a result we saw more

volunteers accessing skills

training” (Girlguiding UK)

“We had an immediate

diagnostic of the capability

of our salesforce” (Janssen)

“We established a

consistent global learning

strategy”


20% improvement in customer satisfaction

Where the benefits have been quantified by respondents, there are also measurable improvements in terms of:

23% improvement in overall staff satisfaction

18% increase in qualifications gained by staff



- 41% report a reduction in their training costs

- 38% report they are delivering a greater volume of training

Without compromise:

- 45% report greater flexibility of delivery

- 38% report the quality of learning has improved

- 35% report greater consistency of the learner experience

Respondents estimated a three-fold increase in the volume of training being

delivered as a result of implementing learning technologies, with some 26% of

formal learning now e-enabled.

Whilst learning management systems have enabled better tracking and

monitoring of learners, only 1 in 3 organisations seeking this benefit actually

manage to achieve it.

Table 1 Benefits relating to learning administration

% citing as Driver

% achieving Benefit

Improve learning management and administration 73% 28%

Improve monitoring of impact measures 74% 22%

Increasing return on investment 77% 21%

2.4.5 What this could mean for your business

Given that some 57% of our sample is using learning technologies and they are

seeing an average improvement of:

Where the benefits have been quantified by respondents, there are also

measurable improvements in terms of:

46% improvement in efficiency in demonstrating compliance

34% increase in the proportion of staff on L&D programmes

In absolute terms, they also can boost the cost-effectiveness of training

solutions, delivering an average:

26% savings in the cost of training

31% reduction in study time

39% reduction in delivery time



o 35% in time to competency

o 32% in their ability to change procedures and processes or roll out new IT

systems or products and

o 20% customer satisfaction

What is the potential effect this could have on business or organisational success?

Reducing the time it takes to bring new staff up to full competency for

their job role by 35% could shorten their induction programme for

example, from 3 months to 2 months.

Gaining an extra 20% of customer satisfaction could reduce complaints by

one-fifth, or increase the likelihood that they will return for 20% more

repeat business or give 20% more recommendations for your product or

service.

Savings from reducing the delivery time by the 43% or more achieved in

top quartile organisations alone can be significant.

For example, a one-hour face-to-face course for Equality and Diversity training

delivered to 3000 staff in a health authority moved to a shorter online course of

34 minutes could give a saving of £100,000 in payroll, administration and

accommodation costs14.

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills estimate the Gross Value Added

per person employed in the UK by sector as £38,500 and that 30% of employees

received training in the last 13 weeks (2009 data).

With 30% of our sample reporting that learning technologies contributed to

improvements in productivity across the organisation, the benefit to the overall

the UK economy must be substantial. With 57% of the workforce currently using

e-learning, rising to 76% by 2013, there is considerable potential for the future.

However, these financial benefits do not have to mean compromise in other

areas. The introduction of technology will not only improve revenues and save

money, but will also have the potential to offer a consistent, high quality learning

experience.

2.5 Improving results through maturity

Whilst many organisations expect a wide range of benefits, relatively few are

actually achieving them. Some benefits are harder to achieve than others.

When we look at which benefits are the most likely to be achieved, it becomes

apparent that the easiest to achieve are:

1. Help implement new IT systems (achieved by 69% of those seeking it)

14

Data from Skills for Health

Other benefits achieved:

“Commitment, innovation”

“Meet and exceed

offerings of competition”

“Cost savings, increased

support for staff and

students”

“Knowledge generation

and sharing”



0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

TMI Quartile 4

TMI Quartile 3

TMI Quartile 2

TMI Top Quartile

Average benefits achieved27 benefits = 100%

2. Compliance with company and legal requirements (67%)

These are also the most likely benefits to be reported by novice organisations,

with 34% reporting improved compliance.

A further group of benefits are all achieved by over half of those seeking them:

3. Reduce time away from the job (56% seeking this benefit achieve it)

4. Increase access to learning (53%)

5. Increase flexibility of learning delivery (53%)

6. Deliver a greater volume of learning (51%)

Figure 10 Benefits achieved by those seeking them

(Listed in order of proportion of those seeking benefit who actually achieve it)

Much more difficult to achieve are:

- Improving talent management (only 29% seeking this benefit, achieve it)

- Increasing employee engagement (28%)

- Increasing return on investment (28%)

What emerges from this study is that those organisations that are in the top

quartile for the Towards Maturity Index are:

- Achieving a greater number of benefits overall

- More likely to achieve the benefits they seek and

- Consistently report greater percentage improvement across all indicators

Those in the TMI top quartile are at least three times as likely to report the

following benefits as those in the bottom quartile:

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Reduce training costs

Help implement new processes or new products

Maintain public image of a progressive and innovative organisation

Improve induction training

Deliver learning in the greater volume demanded by the business

Extend the reach of training

Increase flexibility in providing staff training

Increase access to learning

Reduce time away from the job

Comply with new regulations and legal requirements

Help implement new IT systems

Benefit achieved Benefit desired



4 x more qualifications achieved by their staff

3 x faster rollout of new IT systems

3 x higher levels of staff satisfaction

They also report more than twice as high an improvement in:

Customer satisfaction

Their ability to change procedures and products

Within this report, we have constructed 4 business indicators that we can review:

- Overall business impact (linked to factors related to overall business

productivity , revenue and customer satisfaction)

- Business agility (linked to factors related to speed)

- Training efficiency – (linked to savings in time, cost and improved reach)

- Talent Management – (linked to staff development and engagement)

Figure 11 highlights how those business indexes change with maturity. Efficiency

is something that is quickly achieved by many (there is not much difference

between the top and bottom quartile of maturity for this measure), but the story

doesn’t stop there. Top quartile organisations are 2 – 3 times more likely to be

reporting business critical results in the areas of agility, talent management and

overall business impact.

Figure 11 Index measures of benefits related to e-learning maturity

What are the mature organisations doing differently that is giving them such a

boost? During the remainder of the report – look out for this sign where we will

be digging deeper into the activity areas within the Towards Maturity Model

where they are making a tangible difference.

Mature organisations

are over twice as

likely to report that

they are more agile,

influencing business

impact and improving

opportunities for

talent management



3 Building skills

Technology is driving solutions closer to the workplace with 4 out of 10 top

technologies in use today facilitating on-demand learning to improve job

performance. Content still remains king but content strategies are adapting to

reflect the workplace context. Mature organisations use technology both to

support their long-term skills strategy and to encourage a ‘performance culture’.

3.1 A quick overview of learning technology adoption

This chapter explores how we are using learning technologies to support formal

skills strategies and their more informal workplace performance support.

Figure 12 Relative usage of different learning technologies

We see from Figure 12, that the learning technologies used by the greatest

number of organisations in 2011 are the traditional tools of online courses,

surveys, learning management systems to support stand-alone learning and live

online environments for group learning. These, typically, are associated with

traditional e-learning solutions designed to support formal/non-formal learning15.

They help to drive efficiency by automating the traditional role of learning and

development. Under the control of the Learning department, these tools allow

the creation of shorter bite-sized learning interventions. They help provide ‘just in

case’ learning that helps prepare staff for the future, but are limited in catering

for the needs of the moment.

However, having tracked the usage of different learning technologies since 2003,

we can see these traditional tools being joined by technologies that support wider

sharing, which put the control of content into the hands of staff and learning into

the heart of the workplace. This is starting to reflect thinking in the way in which

the majority of workplace learning occurs - in context whilst actually ‘doing the

job’.

15

Clive Shepherd ‘New Learning Architect’, 2011

Top 10 technologies in use in 2011

80% e-learning courses

77% Live online learning –

including Virtual meetings,

Virtual classrooms and

video-conferencing

77% Surveys and questionnaires

71% Learning Management

Systems

68% Online assessment

61% Video-based content

54% Enterprise wide

information services

54% Open education resources

47% Learning portals

46% Communities of Practice

“The main shift for us is

going from ‘content is king’

to ‘context is king’ to finally

‘collaboration is king’”

“… a dramatic shift from

F2F to on-demand.”

“.. a slow shift to

collaborative, online

learning” (Chichester

College)

Boosting Business Agility: Building skills


3.1.1 Longitudinal trends

We are continuing to monitor the longitudinal trends in the use of different

technologies by asking what organisations are planning to use in 2 years time.

Very few organisations are planning to decrease their use of existing technologies

over the next 2 years but they are planning to increase the range of technology

tools in their kit bag. Most growth is planned in the tools being used to embed

learning more directly into workflows.

In such a fast moving area, direct comparison with earlier years is difficult.

However, we see that in almost every case, the predictions that were made in

2008 and 2010 over-estimate the actual adoption of new technologies16. Most

respondents expect new technologies to be adopted more quickly than is

practicable.

In this chapter, we first explore how technology is being used in formal learning

including a review of evolving content and courseware development strategies. In

the second part of the chapter, we look at how technology is currently supporting

performance improvement in the workplace. We also take a closer look at the

implementation behaviour of mature organisations in both of these areas in order

to provide ideas for readers and help them refresh their existing skills strategies.

3.2 Evolving content strategies

Although traditional e-learning courses remain at the top of the list as the most

frequently reported instance of learning technologies (in use by 86% of

organisations), it is now clear that one size definitely does not fit all! Online

content comes from a wide range of sources.

These include courses that are17:

o Custom made in-house (in use by 72% of respondents)

o Generic courses available off-the-shelf (60%)

o Custom-made and commissioned externally (53%)

o Created in house using rapid application development tools (44%)

For the first time this year, we are tracking open education resources (digital

materials offered free at the point of use, such as content from providers or

sources such as Wikipedia, OU etc) and have found that over half of the

respondents (54%) were making use of free learning resources, perhaps to make

their budget go further!

16

See Annex: Longitudinal trends 17

These types of courses do not total to 77% as many report using more than one type.

Top 10 technologies that we

expect to increase the fastest by

2013

52% Custom-made e-learning

49% Mobile learning

44% Podcasting

44% Video-based content

created in-house

43% Learning portals

43% Virtual classrooms

43% Blogs

40% Video-conferencing

40% Online assessment

39% Virtual meetings

86% of organisations

are now using some form

of e-learning courses



31% of organisations now encourage users to also generate their own content for

sharing with others. A variety of technologies are being used for this purpose:

43% are using blogs by learners or tutors

40% are using podcasts

49% are using videos capturing best practice within own organisation

Sharing of video content has become more prevalent, with video content in use in

over 61% of organisations. In addition to video developed in house, 37% use video

that captures best practice from external sources.

Figure 13 Trends in the use of video in learning and development

Figure 13 highlights that organisations have great expectations for video content

moving forward. In-house video is forecast to rise fastest, to an estimated 79% of

organisations by 2013. This growth may be fuelled by the fact that individuals are

willing to accept lower production standards thanks to the growth in platforms

such as Vimeo and You-Tube.

Content is no longer delivered purely within the firewall. One in five organisations

is working with cloud-based content (20%) and software as a service (27%).

3.2.1 Building content in-house

Despite so many and varied opportunities for organisations to find e-learning

content on the web and with so much free content available under open or

education licences, there is still a critical need for tailored content and many are

commissioning external suppliers or are creating their own new content in-house.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2008 2010 2011 2013 Predicted

Video content - internal

Video content - external

Video on demand

All video

“We are using more e-

learning to support

induction and industry

knowledge. We have now

started to introduce more

video and host some

webcasts and webinars

with external providers.”


are now developing

content in house



Some 81% of organisations are now developing at least some of their own content

in-house. For many, taking control over content development enables them to

boost business agility by being more flexible, adaptive and responsive to changing

business need.

Table 2 Benefits of developing content in-house

Benefit

% of those that develop content in-house (n=359)

Reducing development costs 77%

Taking control over our own needs 74%

Ability to integrate learning quickly into line of business 65%

Increasing responsiveness to business need 64%

Increased speed to learning delivery 63%

However, those requiring highly specialised or company-specific content can find

it difficult to outsource development. Bringing content development in-house

also provides a number of challenges as well (Table 3).

Table 3 Challenges reported when bringing content development in house

Barrier

% of those that develop content in-house (n=303)

L&D staff lacking the necessary technical skills 69%

L&D staff lacking the necessary instructional design skills

63%

Lack of time to develop content 8%

3.2.2 Cost of content development

We looked at the different types of e-learning content in use and their relative

costs. Expenditure varies widely between organisations and sectors, with

dramatically lower levels of expenditure in the Higher Education sector. The table

below illustrates the range and gives a comparison between the median costs for

creating one hour of content:

Complex and simple courses

Courses bought in from an external supplier and created in-house

Table 4 Costs of creating e-learning content

Simple course Complex course

Median cost Range Average cost Range

Created in house £500 Up to £20K £1,000 Up to £100K

From an external supplier

£6,000 Up to £100K £12,000 Up to £250K

NB. These costs are approximately halved in the not for profit sector.

“Learning technology

advocates within our team

have come together to

work on a specific initiative

to increase e-learning

competencies across whole

team to shift emphasis of

what we do as group away

from f2f ILT. The initial

focus is on e-learning

authoring and content

creation (e.g. visual &

instructional design,

creation of media assets,

writing skills).”

“Lack of travel budget and

the need to cut costs in

general means more and

more training is delivered

using learning

technologies; we have little

budget for commissioning

e-learning externally (in IT

training area)”



For 1 in 2 organisations, the cost of development and maintenance is a major

barrier to using learning technologies. Only 21% of the top quartile TMI

organisations cite cost as a barrier, focussing more on the relevance and

credibility of ‘off-the-shelf’ content.

For many, past experience has unfortunately not lived up expectations!

Table 5 Barriers relating to e-learning content

Barrier All TMI Top Quartile

Cost of set-up, development and maintenance 50% 21%

Lack of attractive, high-quality e-learning 38% 7%

Suppliers overemphasise presentation and style 22% 29%

e-learning too generic and not tailored to our needs 36% 32%

Lack of credibility of learning materials 23% 25%

3.2.3 Content strategies of mature organisations

In the Building Capability workstream of the Towards Maturity Model we find that

top performers focus on the skills and approaches of learning professionals for

designing, delivering and supporting online learning.

In the 2011-12 benchmark we find that the top performers (those in the top

quartile of the Towards Maturity Index) are nearly twice as likely to use a mix of

methods in their content design, combining video, audio, images and text (88% of

top quartile organisations do this compared with 55% on average). They are

almost three times as likely to add interactive features or games to engage – and

retain – their learners’ interest.

What is apparent, however, is that the mature organisations are more likely to

use ‘good enough’ content rather than spending a long time on development.

They are using more off-the-shelf content, open education resources, user-

generated videos and other content, in order to be able to react and adapt quickly

to new business requirements.

For content development, they are more likely to use open source-learning tools

(57% are using these compared to an average 35% across the sample as a whole)

or rapid application development tools (used by 61% of top quartile organisations

compared with 44% overall).

They are more confident in using materials that are not entirely within their

control and are able to decide when they need to go for a quick solution, and

when to invest in a long-lasting quality product.

They trust other providers, and they trust their users – and it is paying off.

We develop our own

content ….

“…to be more effective

capture and transfer of core

proprietary knowledge”

“…to give tailored learning

solutions aligned to

business need”

“…to give opportunity to

improve e-learning

design/development skills

within our training team”



Figure 14 Source of e-learning content varies with maturity

3.3 Delivery strategies

An estimated 38% of learning is now taking place beyond the remit of L&D

departments. This figure is consistent across sectors and maturity levels, but we

see a discrepancy in that those who are responsible for content development

estimate the proportion at 80%, whereas technologists and delivery staff estimate

it at 29%.

The proportion of formal learning that is e-enabled has increased from 23% to

26% since 2010 (38% for those the Top Quartile for TMI) but content isn’t the only

aspect of learning delivery.

Over the years we have reported on the success that mature organisations are

realising from using a blend of delivery media and methods to develop skills.

Mature organisations are also more likely to integrate their e-enabled learning

with their face-to-face learning interventions (Table 6).

Table 6 Integrating e-enabled learning with the classroom

Percentage agreeing with the statement: All TMI Bottom quartile

TMI Top quartile

Our face-to-face training courses integrate e-learning content

25% 4% 71%

Our face-to-face training courses actively build on knowledge gained through e-learning

27% 5% 73%

Our trainers provide tutor support to e-learners 20% 4% 58%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

TMI Quartile 4 TMI Quartile 3 TMI Quartile 2 TMI Top Quartile

e-learning courses –custom made in-house

e-learning courses –custom made externally

e-learning courses - 'off-the-shelf'

Online books

User-generated content

Open education resources /digital materials free at the point of use

26% of formal

learning is now e-

enabled



Figure 15 Maturity alters the way in which content is combined

They are more likely to use learning portals, Software as a Service and cloud-

based services to increase access to their learning. For example, learning portals

are in use by 47% of organisations across the sample but by 75% of those in the

top quartile for TMI, The level of use is predicted to increase to 78% by 2013.

Table 7 Accessing content beyond the firewall

Tool All TMI Bottom quartile

TMI Top quartile

Learning portals 47% 30% 75%

Cloud-based content 20% 15% 34%

Software as a service 27% 20% 37%

3.3.1 Using live online learning within the blend

Live online learning is now a serious and increasing part of the blend, with over

77% of organisations using at least one of:

o Virtual meetings (in use by 65% of respondents)

o Video conferencing (63%)

o Virtual classrooms (46%)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

TMI Bottom quartile

TMI Q3 TMI Q2 TMI Top quartile

We use highly interactive methods, such as games, in our e-learning solutions

E-learning in our organisation is always part of a broad mix of methods

We use video, audio, images and animation as well as text in our e-learning

We blend our use of several different learning technologies



Figure 16 The rise in live online learning

In Harnessing Live online learning18, a previous study with 200 organisations

released in October 2011, we explored what learning methods were being

addressed using these media.

Figure 17 Different learning methods supported by live online learning

(Source: Harnessing Live Online Learning)

Figure 17 highlights that the more mature organisations are more likely to use this

media to shift from presenting to their learners to engaging and supporting their

learners.

18

Harnessing Live Online Learning can be downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/TMlive11

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2006 2008 2010 2011 2013

Video conferencing

Virtual classroom

Virtual meetings

Predicted

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

One-to-one coaching

Action learning meetings

Presentation of learner assignments

Practical IT skills eg via labs

Collaboration between learners

Workshops

Software demos/training

Discussions

Business meetings

Business presentations

Significant experience Some experience N=212

http://tinyurl.com/TMlive11



0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2008 2010 2011 2013

Predicted Actual

3.3.2 Mobilising learning

There has been a steady trend to increase the opportunity for learning away from

the workplace over the last 8 years. Although most organisations continue to offer

learning at the desk, fewer now offer learning at fixed in-house centres and more

are offering mobile learning as an alternative.

Usage of mobile devices in learning has increased to 39% in 2011.

However, this increase is much slower than predicted. The level of usage in not-

for-profit organisations is significantly lower at 13% than usage in either the

private (44%) or public sector (40%). Fears relating to the technology or IT

security are still holding 71% organisations back.

An interesting distinction emerged when comparing the perceptions of

respondents with different roles and responsibilities. Over 50% of those in a

consultancy role reported use of mobile technologies in the organisation, whilst

these were reported by only 22% of technologists.

Mobile devices are being used to reinforce formal learning and provide additional

flexibility with regard to where and when people can access e-learning.

Mobile learning is being used to:

o Reinforce formal learning (62%)

o Provide an alternative to PC-based

delivery (51%)

o Support the application of learning

back in the workplace (43%)

o Support the application and

generation of user content (27%)

It is also being used to assess learners on

the job, gather portfolio evidence, access

podcasts, hold virtual meetings and access

general information resources.

The benefits of mobile learning are mostly

around convenience (79%), being able to

access support at the point of need (64%),

and allowing learners to use their own mobile devices (64%). There is some

evidence that organisations are becoming more willing to let learners use their

own mobile devices to access company learning – now encouraged in 12% of

organisations.

“On the technology side, the challenge is taking what we have and making it accessible to our mobile Smartphone users, particularly within a corporation where our business technology is often behind colleagues' personal/home technology.”(Janssen)

Figure 18 Trends in use of mobile

devices


offer mobile learning



Figure 19 Locations where learners can access technology-enabled learning

Some 7% actually provide learners with mobile devices. This is most likely to occur

in the more mature organisations in the private sector (24%), for example in large

multinationals in the IT and Telecoms sector or in very small micro e-learning

consulting businesses. However, whilst mobile learning is becoming established,

there are clearly still challenges to be met:

60% report difficulties due to wide variations in the capability of their

mobile devices and

23% report their learners still prefer to use PCs or laptops for learning

3.4 Engaging learners and improving talent

All respondents in this study are using or planning to use technologies to support

learning but we were also interested in the extent to which technology helped to

integrate learning within other aspects of talent management.

Figure 20 highlights that one out of every four organisations in our study support

performance management and appraisal with their learning technologies.

However, they are less likely to support talent management, succession planning

and recruitment. Across the board the top performers are two to three times

more likely to be integrating learning with talent management. For top

performers, they are more likely to integrate with talent activities associated with

existing staff (50% of top performers) but less likely to link back to recruitment of

new staff (36% of top performers). This may change as more organisations e-

enable their induction programmes in the future.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

At the desk

At work in a quiet area nearby

At work in a learning centre

At work but not at a desk

Other location away from work

At home

When travelling

2006 2008 N=262 2010 N=435 2011 N=436



Figure 20 The extent to which learning technologies support talent management

As a result, it is unsurprising that there is a trend towards greater integration of

Learning Management Systems with HR and other information systems (noted in

47% of organisations, up from 43% in 2010; Stand-alone LMS down to 53% from

54%), particularly in the most mature organisations and those in the top quartile

for TMI, where 59% are now using an integrated LMS.

Skills diagnostics tools are in use by 41% of organisations, with 36% using a full

competency management system. Both of these areas are predicted to increase

by over 35% in the next 2 years.

Table 8 Usage of tools to support talent management

Percentage using:

All TMI Bottom Quartile

TMI Top Quartile

Skills diagnostic tools 41% 35% 60%

Competency management systems 36% 28% 54%

Online assessment 68% 62% 76%

The top performing organisations are not only more likely to be using these tools,

but 34% are using them to specifically tailor learning programmes to meet

individual needs (compared with just 12% of the total sample).

3.4.1 Career progression

In the Learner Context stream of the Towards Maturity Model we see that top

performing organisations are more likely to provide relevant choices for their staff

(in terms of control, access and information available to them) and address issues

of motivation (such as recognition and personal aspiration).

In this study we see that mature organisations are more than twice as likely to

support their learners in their career development (Table 9).

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Performance management

Appraisal

Talent management (overall)

Succession planning

Recruitment

TMI Top Quartile All


tailor their learning to

individual need



Table 9 Learning supports career development

Percentage agreeing with the statement: All TMI Top Quartile

We support career aspirations 23% 56%

We allow access to a broad range of non-job related learning

25% 45%

Learners consider e-learning to be good for their careers 15% 49%

Across the sample, approximately 22% of e-enabled formal learning programmes

leads to a qualification – although this varies from almost half of IT professional

programmes to under one-fifth of ‘soft skills’ programmes.

The integrated approach to talent management, combined with effective content

design (outlined in section 3.3) may contribute to the fact that top performing

organisations are more likely to report tangible improvement in learner

engagement and motivation (Table 10) than others.

Table 10 How performance varies with learner engagement

All TMI bottom quartile

TMI top quartile

Percentage achieving improved staff satisfaction to aid retention and motivation

26% 6% 56%

Measure of the degree to which staff satisfaction/engagement has improved

23% 9% 33%

3.5 Working with external training providers

Organisations are still making use of external training providers to support their

skills development, in fact, we saw an increase in last year across the board.

Currently:

89% use commercial training providers for general training

86% use commercial providers to support professional qualification and

70% use publicly funded providers (to deliver apprenticeships, NVQs etc)


18% increase in the qualifications gained by staff

4 out of 5 expect

any external training

providers to be

innovative in their use

of learning technologies



Respondents based in centralised L&D functions are 20% more likely to use all

types of training providers than those who are based directly within the lines of

business.

However, we are no longer looking at external providers to purely deliver face-to-

face skills training. 82% of organisations say that innovative use of learning

technology will be a deciding factor in their selection of an external learning

provider in the future.

1 in 3 say it is critical today.

The expectation of publically funded providers is lower in the not-for-profit sector

with fewer respondents saying that use of learning technologies is critical in their

choice of external provider. Those in the private sector are more likely to say that

these are critical to success.

Training providers Private (critical)

Public (critical)

Not-for-profit (critical)

Commercial –general 92% (36%) 82% (25%) 91% (17%)

Commercial –professional qualifications 89% (35%) 81% (28%) 83% (25%)

Publically funded 70% (24%) 74% (20%) 62% (12%)

“The balance is shifting from

face-to-face to remote

learning through mobile

technology and greater

access to online learning and

assessment content.”

(Chichester College)

Boosting Business Agility: Improving performance


4 Harnessing technology to

improve performance

Learning is getting closer to the workplace. It is no longer just about the push of

formal programmes into the business. It is increasingly about improving

productivity and performance in the workplace.

4.1 Adopting social learning

The 70:20:10 model of learning 19 has been increasingly discussed in recent years

as organisations start to consider that the majority of learning (70%)takes place in

the workplace through experience and joint problem solving, a smaller but

significant amount (20%) is from reflection and feedback (coaching) and the

remainder (10%) through formal learning interventions. Traditionally L&D

professionals have concentrated on the latter but perceptions are starting to shift:

85% of L&D staff in the TMI top quartile agree strongly that the ‘course’

is only one of many options for building skills and performance (compared

with 55% on average)

79% of the total sample say that they are looking for technology to help

support sharing of good practice within organisation

Many, particularly the top performers, are looking for ways to encourage learning

away from ‘the course’ and into the workplace.

Organisations certainly want technology to encourage interaction, building two-

way conversation and communication, and potentially, this is where social media

comes into its own. Many have been experimenting with different forms of social

media for some time now, and some tools are starting to become established.

46% are using communities of practice to connect like-minded people

together, although growth in usage has been slower than predicted

54% are harnessing existing enterprise-wide information platforms such

as SharePoint to provide a point of focus for sharing

In each case, usage in mature organisations well exceeds the sample average

(Figure 21).

19

Based on work by Lombardo & Eichinger: The Career Architect Development Planner 1996

“We are just starting to

introduce wiki's, video and

podcasts. We are also

looking at resources such as

yammer and chatter to scope

how to use for learning.”

(Barnardo’s)



Figure 21 Media supporting the sharing of good practice

What are organisations looking to achieve through these new media?

Of the 144 organisations that were proactive in this area, we see that one of the

top aims of adoption is to encourage reflection and share effective practices

amongst learners (Figure 22).

Figure 22 Uses and benefits of social networks in workplace learning

Those that are using social media tools for learning and development reported a

number of specific benefits in communications from their use:

o 62% reported improved communication between learners and tutors

o 46% reported imported communications between learners

o 46% reported increased employee engagement

4.1.1 The role of social networks

The uses of social media approaches (blogs, podcasts etc) for sharing are

becoming established but there is still a question around the use of 3rd party

platforms to bring people together.

Social networking is improving communications between learners, with tutors

and with subject experts beyond the organisation. For many learners, they can

enhance engagement.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

In-house social media

Blogs by tutors or learners

Wikis

Podcasting

Video content – best practice external

SharePoint

Third-party social networking sites

Communities of Practice

Video content - best practice internal

TMI Top Quartile 2011

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Support application of learning back in the workplace

Reinforce formal learning

Support generation and sharing of user content

Encourage reflection

In the next 2 years:

“Definitely increasing with

greater use of social media

and learner generated

content”

“More social learning, more

web-conferencing, talent

management system and

HR/IS integration.”

“Building the use of informal

platforms to share

knowledge, use of videos &

podcasts for 'dip in learning'

“Developing social learning

including communities of

practice, videos, webcast and

teleconferencing” (Lancashire

County Council)



0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2010 2011 2012 2013

Predicted Actual

Research shows that the jury is still out about their use in the workplace. Only

31% of Gen Y agrees that you should use personal social media at work20.Two-

thirds of UK workers think social networking sites should be banned from the

workplace21. In the Towards Maturity study last year, over 76% believed that 3rd

party sites would play an important part in learning by 2012, this year

expectations have dropped to 59%.

From our own study only 16% of participating organisations are using learning

technologies proactively to help learners communicate with each other (down

from 20% last year). However top performers are over 3 times as likely to support

these peer to peer communications.

It is clear that organisations are still experimenting. The use of in-house social

networks (such as Yammer and Ning) is not rising as fast as anticipated even one

year ago, but use of third party social networks (such as Facebook and Twitter) in

L&D has trebled in the last year.

In 2010, only 22% of respondents were using 3rd party social networks in learning

and development, and we predicted that 71% of organisations would be using 3rd

party social networks by 2012.

In 2011 we see that figure has risen to 41% using social networks. However, the

prediction for 2013 is only 59%.

There are significant differences between usage of social media in the private,

public and not-for-profit sectors. Whilst 58% organisations overall unblock third

party sites such as Twitter and Facebook (up from 48% last year), this varies from

44% in the public sector to 72% in the not-for-profit sector. The proportion is also

slightly higher at 68% amongst those organisations that seek, and achieve, better

sharing of good practice as a benefit of learning technologies.

4.2 Barriers to uptake of social media

We face a number of challenges in this area, one of which is awareness. Only 16%

of our total sample are even aware of how their learners are using social media

(outside of L&D) to share ideas with each other. This rises to 39% of the top

performers. Figure 24 illustrates the barriers to ongoing adoption.

71% report that barriers due to IT infrastructure and security hold them

back from using mobile technologies

65% report that technical IT/security barriers restrict the use of social

media in learning 20

Decoding social media at work Jan 2011 - 4500 interviews with gen Y (15-34 year olds) 21

Social networking at work July 2011 – interviews with over 4000 workers from reed.co.uk

Figure 23 Use of 3rd party social

networks

Only 16% are aware

of how learners are using

social media beyond

the world of L&D

58% allow access to

third party social media

sites

http://www.hrevent.com/pdf/DecodingSocialMediaAtWork_Release.pdf

http://www.reed.co.uk/cms/start/articles/socialnetworking



However, the not-for profit sector report fewer barriers to use in every category

studied. The organisational culture in not-for-profits is more likely to encourage

the use of social media and it is less likely to fall into the domain of the HR/L&D

department!

Figure 24 Barriers to use of social networks in workplace learning

4.3 Promoting a performance culture

For many years, organisations have been discussing the importance of fostering a

learning culture. Social media can certainly help create the right environment for

continual learning, bringing many benefits for the organisation in terms of skills

utilisation and the sharing of good practice.

4.3.1 The role of management

This year for the first time, we asked a number of questions relating to

organisational culture within the Work Context stream of the Towards Maturity

model22, and were particularly interested in the business culture that encourages

sharing in order to improve performance. We found that on average:

49% of organisations welcome innovation and contributions from all staff

but only

19% encourage and make time for social and informal learning

22

Building on the work of Jay Cross and the Internet Time Alliance

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Social media is not in the domain of L&D

General fear of losing control

Existing control and command culture

Issues of user safety, identify or trust

Technology or IT security related

Not-for-profit Public sector Private sector All organisations



51% agree that staff understand how their work is linked to the

organisation’s performance (rising to 77% for TMI top quartile)

but only

18% encourage and make time for reflection

The starting point for many organisations is to foster learning for all staff, not just

for those new in post or for technical staff. However, only 59% of organisations

are managing to achieve this.

Figure 25 Fostering a performance culture

Developing a performance culture cannot be the remit of the HR and L&D

function alone. Line managers in top performing organisations play more of a role

in this but overall, managers need to understand the full benefits of new ways of

working, learning and sharing. At the moment:

Only 3 out of 10 managers will give learners time to learn at work (31% vs.

56% in the top quartile for TMI)

Only 1 in 5 managers give learners time to learn at home (22% vs. 51%)

4.3.2 The role of learning and development

The more mature organisations are more likely to allow experimentation with

new ways of learning, and to encourage and provide time for reflection. They are

more likely to view the ‘course’ as just one of many options for building skills and

performance, and provide good follow-up support for learners back in the

workplace, providing job aids and opportunities for connecting with tutors and

subject experts. However, Figure 25 illustrates that the top performers (who

report the greatest business benefits) are streets ahead of the others in creating

an environment to foster learning and build performance.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Our organisation encourages (and provides time for) reflection

Our organisation encourages and makes time for social and informal learning

Our learners share information freely with each other

Our organisation experiments with new ways of doing things

Our organisation welcomes innovation and contributions from our workers

Our organisation fosters learning for everyone, not just new hires and technical staff

TMI Bottom Quartile Q3 Q2 TMI Top Quartile

Only 3 out of 10

managers give learners

time to learn at work

Only 51% can report that

staff understand how their

work is linked to the

organisation’s

performance



Learners are more likely to be able to access reliable learning resources at any

time and from places that are convenient to them, fitting learning into their work

schedule. However overall, there are things that L&D can do to facilitate

collaboration.

We consider this in the Building Capability workstream of the Towards Maturity

Model, and found:

75% of top performers encourage learners to pass on their learning to

others (compared with 34% on average)

53% of top performers ensure that their learning technologies enable

learners to communicate and learn from each other (16% on average)

48% encourage learners to collaborate in building knowledge resources,

using tools such as wikis, forums, podcasts and videos (16% on average)

36% encourage learners to share experiences and solve problems using

online social media tools (12% on average)

These characteristics were identified last year but in every case, these

implementation behaviours have all increased or stayed the same within the top

25% performers but have decreased overall on average. Organisations are

increasing their use of the tools that can help to improve performance support

but are not yet harnessing them effectively.

We will be considering the skills of the Learning and Development professionals in

the final chapter.

“We will continue to look for

new technologies that will

improve productivity, speed

up change or provide a

positive business benefit, but

only if the cost is right.”

(Legal & General)

Boosting Business Agility: Building confidence


5 Building confidence in new

approaches to learning

Organisations that are achieving greater business impact and agility through

their use of learning technologies are successfully promoting a performance

culture and overcoming reluctance from users, trainers and managers alike.

Overall, organisations are reporting more barriers than in 2010 but the top

barrier remains the same – the skills, knowledge and confidence to adopt new

ways of learning.

In this section we take a final look at the implementation behaviours of top

performing organisations that help to drive engagement, and consider the role of

the learning and development function in influencing change. Finally, given this

year’s increased participant desire to respond quicker to business change, this

chapter considers the characteristics of the organisations who are achieving the

greatest benefits in terms of delivering results faster.

5.1 Overcoming reluctance to change

For the last 3 years, the top barriers to introducing new approaches to learning

are all to do with the knowledge, skills and confidence of the L&D team, their

perceptions that their learners are not ready and willing for technology, and the

reluctance of management to adopt new ways of working.

75% of L&D staff lack instructional design skills for developing content in-

house

62% of L&D staff lack knowledge about its potential and lack the skills to

manage and implement learning technologies

62% of learners lack the skills to manage their own learning

55% of line managers are reluctant to encourage new ways of learning

Too many of our L&D staff are still out of their comfort zone and out of their

depth when it comes to working with learning technologies. They also perceive

that their learners have the same problems that they do!

Since 2008, L&D staff are more willing to embrace change, but their confidence

and skills levels have been steadily decreasing. Figure 26 shows the percentage of

the whole sample that agree with the 3 statements about confidence, willingness

to change and training.

It would appear that a year on, not only are we no further forward in addressing

the skills issues of the training staff, we are actually slipping further behind.

Top 10 barriers to

implementation

62% Lack of knowledge use and implementation

62% Lack of skills amongst employees to manage own learning

61% Lack of L&D staff Skills

55% Reluctance by line managers

54% Unreliable ICT infrastructure/technical restrictions

52% Reluctance by users

50% Cost of set up

45% Not seen as management priority

39% Poor past experience

38% Lack of high quality attractive e-learning

Over half of L&D

staff are still not

confident in the use of

new media



Figure 26 L&D skills and confidence with new media

Other barriers that remain a concern include the level of learner ICT skills across

organisations at all levels of maturity, with 3 out of 10 organisations reporting

that learner ICT skills are a barrier to progress. However, this is less of a problem

in the private sector (21%) than the public (39%) or not-for-profit sectors where

the proportion rises to almost one in 2 organisations (49%).

Public sector organisations have more problems with their ICT

infrastructure, lack of skills for training staff and reluctance of their users

The not-for-profit sector is less likely to report unreliable ICT, barriers due

to cost or a lack of attractive quality content. They report fewer barriers

due to staff resistance or reluctance to embrace new methods

The private sector is less likely to report barriers due to learner ICT skills,

or learner reluctance

5.1.1 Are top performing organisations reporting fewer barriers?

Organisations in the top quartile of the Towards Maturity index not only report

improved results from their learning adoption but they also report fewer barriers

overall, particularly with regard to the level of engagement with senior and line

managers (Figure 27). However, we continue to see that even in the top quartile

there are a significant number of L&D staff that are still reluctant to embrace new

methods and adopt new technologies.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

2008 2010 2011

Our L&D staff are confident in the use of new media

We train trainers to use blended solutions

Our internal training teams are willing to embrace new ways of working

54% don’t have the ICT

infrastructure to

support the use of new

media



Figure 27 Barrier perception decreasing with maturity

However, even in the most mature organisations:

50% of employees lack the skills to manage their own learning (62% in

sample overall)

39% of learners are reluctant to use new technology (52% overall)

The cost of set-up and maintenance is a huge barrier for novice organisations just

getting started with learning technologies (71%, compared with an average of

50% overall).

In 2010, we reported on the implementation practices of the most mature

organisations and identified a number of ‘performance accelerators’ that were

having the greatest effect on increasing the level and number of benefits

achieved.23 These activities within the work streams also play a part in removing

barriers. So far in the report we have considered the activities of top performers

within the following work streams:

Learner Context, specifically the motivational importance of clear

alignment to job aspirations and career development

Work Context – specifically work and performance culture

Building capability – specifically great design and facilitating collaboration

and sharing.

23

Chapter 4 of Accelerating Performance www.towardsmaturity.org/2010benchmark

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

TMI Bottom quartile

TMI Q3 TMI Q2 TMI Top Quartile

Reluctance by L&D staff

Lack of skills amongst L&D staff

Lack of knowledge by L&D staff

Reluctance by users

Lack of skills amongst users

Not seen as a management priority

Reluctance by managers




5.2 Improving business partnerships

Research in the spring of 2010 showed that more than half (52%) described their

L&D function as slow to respond to the changing requirements of their business

during economic turbulence. Only 18% of those business leaders agreed that their

L&D strategy was completely aligned to their operational strategy.24 A year later,

our study shows that 77% of L&D organisations are searching for ways to respond

faster to the changing demands of their business. However, to what extent are

they positioned to respond to that need?

In the Defining Need work steam of the Towards Maturity Model we have found

that top performers are much more likely to have a strategic business

partnership. From a business perspective, 75% of top performers agree that their

organisation assigns board level accountability for organisational learning

(compared with 42% of organisations on average). From an L&D perspective top

performers are twice as likely to agree that they have a learning technology

strategy that allows for changing business perspectives (80% of top performers

agree vs. 39% on average).

However overall, Learning and Development are still weak at identifying and

aligning to need:

Despite continued investment in content, only 3 out of 5 are confident

that their e-content is relevant to current jobs (compared to 91% of top

performers)

Less than 50% are confident that their e-solutions support the skills the

business needs (compared to 86% of top performers)

Only 35% identify key business indicators that they want to improve

through learning (compared to 63% of top performers)

The more mature organisations have better communications with senior

management, involving them at all stages of the learning and development cycle.

In these organisations, managers work jointly with L&D professionals to agree

strategy and targets, take training decisions and even get involved in learning

design. They are also more likely to actively use and promote e-learning

themselves and be interested in the results!25

And results are what really matter to business – business results, not training

statistics.

24

‘Learning to Change report’ research with senior decision makers at 100 of the UK’s largest 500 firms by turnover, conducted by Coleman Parkes on behalf of Capita 25

Strategies for engaging with management will be the subject of a later Towards Maturity In Focus report visit http://tinyurl.com/TMINFOCUS

Less than 50% are

confident that their

solution supports the

skills the business

needs

http://www.capita-ld.co.uk/Downloads/Learning_to_Change.pdf




In the Demonstrating Value work stream of the Towards Maturity model, we see

that top performers continue to build on partnerships with the business to jointly

understand the impact of the learning solutions and to communicate successes

widely. For example, they are more active than average in a number of areas:

Understanding how learning is being applied – 49% of top performers

collect information from managers on the extent to which the learning

points have been applied at work (compared to 20% on average)

Monitoring agreed business indicators – Top performers are twice as

likely to measure performance against pre-agreed performance indicators

(53% vs. 34%)

External benchmarking – Half of the top performers are active in

benchmarking as a tool for improving performance and for proving value

back to the business (compared to 24% on average)

Communicating successes – 7 out of 10 top performers regularly

communicate success to senior and line managers (compared to 38% on

average)

The importance of being able to demonstrate value back to the business in the

current economic climate has not been lost on benchmark participants, This was

one of the few areas within the Towards Maturity Model where activity has

increased the most.

Buy-in occurs at all levels in the management structure, from overall board level

accountability to the line manager. It is not just about engagement with the

training budget-holder. Lack of engagement at any one point in the chain can

become an obstacle to current – and future – implementation.

Mature organisations are almost half as likely to report manager reluctance than

average and report increased manager confidence in new approaches. They

demonstrate the success of new learning approaches by addressing the issues of

relevance and business alignment.

5.3 Managing change

The Ensuring Engagement work stream of the Towards Maturity Model shows

that top performers are proactive in managing change with all key stakeholders.

Figure 28 highlights that the top performers are:

More likely to have an overall communications plan for all stakeholders

Work with key stakeholders to help spread the message

“It has made us

recognise the need to

explore the possibility of

e-learning much more

than in the past as a

potential way to offer

more accessible learning

to fit in with an agile

workforce and a more

cost effective way of

rolling out organisation

wide changes to policy

and procedures”

(Lancashire County

Council)



Figure 28 Communication tactics of top performers

Top performers are also more likely to work closely with those who have

influence over their learners. They are three times more likely to train local

champions to act as change agents and to equip line managers with resources to

encourage them to help their teams engage with the learning available to them.

In Section 3.4 we discussed that top performers are also more likely to integrate

with talent management strategies and have clear career progression pathways.

This coupled with good communication strategies may contribute to the fact that

they are 20% less likely to report reluctance by users as a barrier to adoption.

5.3.1 Leading by example

Over the years we have found that when top managers are seen to use learning

technologies themselves, not just promote them, this has a direct influence on

business results and overall engagement.

This year the number of directors now being offered e-enabled development

opportunities has significantly increased. In a recent Towards Maturity Study,

Reinventing Leadership Development26, we found that when top leaders are

exposed to great learning and performance tools themselves, including mobile

and social media, this stimulates a demand for new ways of learning and previous

preferences for classroom training start to shift.

5.4 Developing the skills of the learning professionals

Many L&D departments are still behind the times, but are putting in place

programs to address their skills gaps, recognising requirements from the new

generation of learners and the potential offered by new technologies. This was a

topic commented on in detail by 86 respondents, indicative of high awareness

that action is needed in this area. However as we saw earlier in this chapter, it is

critical to turn awareness into action.

26

Reinventing leadership Development – published June 2011, review of use of learning technologies in leadership training with 200 organisations. http://tinyurl.co/tmleadership

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Clear communications plan

Routine use of peer to peer feedback

Top managers promote e-learning

Trainers promote e-learning

Publish successes of individuals


Top performers are

3x more likely to

work with local

champions

http://tinyurl.co/tmleadership



Specific skills areas mentioned by respondents include:

Project management

Interpersonal skills

Technical skills

Knowledge of new media

Higher level IT skills

Commercial acumen

Broader range of learning delivery

48% of organisations provide Continuing Professional Development to support the

use of technology in learning and encourage their L&D staff to join external

networks or professional bodies. It is interesting that whilst CPD is being provided

for almost half, it may not be completely addressing the new skills needed in the

industry in order to take learning forward. This is evidenced by the fact that 60%

continue to be concerned about L&D skills and confidence with new media.

However, more importantly, 52% do not provide CPD and almost 1 in 5 don’t even

consider doing so.

For L&D staff: All TMI Top Quartile

Our organisation provides CPD opportunities to support use of technology for learning 48% 70%

They join internal interest groups to learn from each other 38% 55%

They join external interest groups 54% 57%

Our organisation encourages them to join external networks or professional bodies 48% 57%

We don’t know – but they are expected to keep up to date 18% 14%

We don't know – and leave it up to them 17% 8%

Many encourage staff to attend learning events, conferences and general

networking outside the organisation.

38% join internal interest groups to learn from each other

54% join external interest groups

Case study: Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

“The majority of our L&D staff are either from a clinical background or long

established 'classroom' trainers. We are in the process of implementing a new

departmental structure which for the first time, acknowledges the need for a

'Learning Modernisation Manager'. This role will develop L&D staff as well as

other organisational staff knowledge regarding new ways of learning/learning

technologies. There is a real need to overcome the barrier of fear of the 'unknown'

in staff so that they can go out and advocate these new ways of learning.”

Learning professionals are

increasingly shifting from

the role of classroom

trainer to that of

performance consultant:

“More project

management, influence,

interpersonal and technical

skills are needed rather

than skills to enable

instructional design.”

“We have moved from 'training providers' to 'Performance consultancy'. The need for deep insight into training groups remains, but the value is in the consultancy process.” (Janssen)

Over half of

L&D departments do

not provide any CPD

for their teams



5.4.1 How much can L&D influence aspects of culture?

L& D staff are a major influence on the performance culture. Where top

performers are achieving greater engagement and benefits, the trainers

themselves are more likely to:

Be actively involved in the design of blended programmes and in learner

engagement

Blend e-learning content with their face-to-face delivery

Happily embrace new media and new approaches to learning

Provide ongoing online support to learners

5.4.2 Responding faster to change

We have an important window of opportunity to build confidence in new learning

approaches given that today’s businesses operate under extreme macro- and

micro-economic pressures. Those that can adapt rapidly to external and

environmental change gain significant competitive advantage. Throughout this

report we have seen how the strategies of top performers, in terms of the

Towards Maturity Model have been able to adapt rapidly to change, increase

overall business impact (including customer engagement), improve efficiency and

enhance talent management.

But what can we learn from those who are reporting results in terms of speed

alone? As part of this study we looked in detail to define the most agile

organisations that are achieving the greatest results in terms of:

o Benefits achieved (supporting organisational change, respond faster to

changing business conditions, reduce time to competency)

o Percentage improvement in time to competency

o Percentage improvement in ability to change procedures or products

o Percentage improvement in ability to roll out new IT systems

Where the benefits have been quantified by respondents, the most agile

organisations are able to report:

47% reduction in time to competency

75% greater efficiency in demonstrating compliance

68% faster roll-out of new IT systems, processes or products



The detail of this will be covered in a Towards Maturity ‘In Focus’ report27, but

when we compared the overall top performers (as defined by the Towards

Maturity Index) with those in the top quartile of organisations reporting agility

and speed alone we identified a number of differences. Those delivering benefits

linked to speed and agility were:

Engaging more users overall

Reporting more benefits linked to speed and demonstrating compliance

but half as likely to report benefits linked to overall productivity and

increase in revenues

Using more custom-made content, e-assessment and rapid development

tools but less likely to connect staff and promote sharing through media

such as virtual classroom, user generated content or social media

More likely to cite management reluctance as a barrier to adoption

Achieving more benefits in terms of reducing time to competency

Half as likely to report that their staff recommend e-learning to colleagues

27

http://tinyurl.com/TMinfocus

Warning

Focusing on speed

alone may deliver short

term wins at the

expense of long term

business gain

http://tinyurl.com/TMinfocus



6 Taking action

Since 2003, we have seen the adoption of learning technologies and expectations

of what they can achieve, accelerate. In this report, we have identified a range of

alternative learning approaches that are starting to deliver bottom line results for

some, but not for all. In addition, we have outlined effective practices that have

been drawn from mature organisations that consistently influence those results.

Many of these are just common sense, but are still not common practice.

However, there is little action being taken to address some of the obvious gaps,

and yet our expectations continue to rise. Here are just a few small examples:

In 2011, we are less likely to agree that our learning technologies support

the skills the business needs than last year (46% agree down from 51%)

Learners are less likely to consider that e-learning is good for their careers

(15% agree down from 21%)

We are less likely to know what technology enabled learning our IT

infrastructure can support (42% know this down from 58%)

Our L&D teams are less confident in their use of new media (29% feel

confident down from 38%)

We are less likely to provide learners with job aids to support

performance (30% do this down from 40%)

These are just a few examples but in each area, the top performers all excel.

According to Albert Einstein, given our expectations, this lack of progress might be

considered a little insane!

For those working in talent, HR and learning, some of these areas are within our

control, whilst others are within the remit of business managers.

The economic environment is causing many business managers to question

previous approaches and stimulate a demand for change. There is a clear call to

action for improved partnerships with business, and one of the aims of this report

is to highlight some of the tangible business benefits of new approaches to

learning that will make sense to business managers.

It is time to help our organisations challenge their previous experiences of

learning and think again about new approaches to building skills and

performance. Please use the evidence in this report to help you engage your

organisation in a new conversation.

The check list on the following page summarises some of the effective practices

highlighted by this report where we MUST to take action if we are to move

forward. There are actions outlined for L&D professionals, Business managers and

areas for L&D and Business managers to work together in partnership.

“Insanity: doing the same

thing over and over again

and expecting different

results.” (Albert Einstein)

Boosting Business Agility: Call to Action


TM Work-stream

FOR &D PROFESSIONALS

IN PARTNERSHIP

FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

Defining Need

Make sure your learning technology strategy allows for changing business priorities

Work together to identify specific business metrics that you want to change

Assign board level accountability for learning in your organisation

Learner Context

Make it easier for learners to see how they can use learning to progress their careers

Ensure learners can enjoy flexibility and choice of where and when to learn

Recognise and reward achievement

Work Context

Work with others to integrate learning within the wider talent management agenda

Work together with IT to understand what technology enabled learning is possible in your organisation

Foster innovation in your business by expecting staff to make time to share, reflect and learn together

Building Capability

Invest in new own skills to future proof your career

Look for the best - don’t accept ‘the course’ as your only option for improving performance

Look at the evidence for new learning approaches & encourage appropriate innovation across your business

Ensuring Engagement

Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!

Identify e-learning champions in the workplace who can act as agents for change

Demonstrate a commitment to e-learning by both using learning technologies and promoting their use by others

Demonstrating Value

Communicate successes regularly and often to senior directors and line managers

Work together to identify the impact of learning on business performance

Expect results, celebrate successes

Boosting Business Agility: Annex


Annexes

Annex A - Survey design and participant demographics

For the purpose of this study we define the term e-learning and /or learning technologies as: ‘the

use of any technology across the learning process, including skills diagnostics, learning delivery,

support, management (of learners and content), informal and formal learning’.

Individuals with responsibility for implementing learning technologies in the workplace were invited

to participate in a two-part online review during June and July 2011. The online review was designed

in 2 main sections:

The first section was a survey element asking factual questions about the benefits and barriers, skills

and technologies, users and locations for learning - continuing a longitudinal study first reported in

201028. Respondents were asked to also forecast the changes in budgets and technologies expected

in 2013.

Quantitative questions captured content development costs, estimates of changes in training costs,

study time, delivery time and time to competency resulting from implementing Learning

Technologies. Responses were used to derive Key Performance Indicators in each of these areas.

The second section was an implementation benchmark review that primarily consisted of 124 action

statements that respondents were asked to agree or disagree with on a 9 point scale. Questions

were largely opinion-based and used to derive the Towards Maturity Index, introduced in 2010.

Whilst a number of statements were added following extensive industry collaboration to reflect

current trends and thinking, the majority have remained consistent with earlier studies to provide a

comparison of implementation behaviours over time.

Data collection

The questionnaire was designed for use by Learning and Development managers or other

individuals, responsible for Learning Technologies in organisations. To engage with the audience, an

extensive email campaign was launched from the beginning of June to the end of July 2011. In

addition, the survey was supported by 16 supporting media and networking organisations all of

whom distributed information and links about the survey to their contacts.

As an incentive, all respondents were offered access to the Towards Maturity Benchmark Centre, to

revisit their responses and receive a personalised online feedback report to support performance

improvement. This report provided benchmark data on both factual performance indicators such as

the Towards Maturity Index29, efficiency benefits, take up and business agility together with a

benchmark profile of their own implementation practice in order to highlight areas of strength and

weakness.

28

See ‘Accelerating performance – 2010 Benchmark Report’ www.towardsmaturity.org/2010benchmark 29

See ‘Accelerating Performance – TM Benchmark Review 2010’ at www.towardsmaturity.org/2010benchmark




Analysis

In most cases the analysis and data presentation is a straightforward summary of the data collected,

expressed in percentage terms. Since respondents could opt out of any section as they progressed

through the survey, the actual number of the sample varies from question to question. In particular,

fewer than 200 organisations were able to provide quantitative estimates of their cost and time

saving benefits achieved.

Responses are segmented on the basis of several factors:

1. A personal estimation of where their organisations had reached on a maturity scale. The maturity definitions used were the same as those used over the last 6 years in the Towards Maturity reviews and questionnaires (see below)

2. The job role, sector and industry of respondents 3. The quartiles for the Towards Maturity Index.

Definitions

Respondents were invited to self-assess their degree of e-learning maturity from the following scale:

Novice: We know very little about learning technology, with only the occasional use/we are

investigating how we might use more but have not completed any projects.

Sporadic: Our use is localised or sporadic (used in some departments or for some courses)

Developing: We are developing and coordinating our use of learning technologies.

Established: Learning technologies are established across the organisation and are transforming

the way we manage our learning and development.

Embedded: Learning technologies are thoroughly embedded within the organisation – we have a

learning culture that influences our everyday work.

Participant demographics

A total of 767 respondents from 643 organisations commenced the survey, with 488 completing all

sections. Respondents were more evenly distributed between industry sectors than in previous

studies and were spread across private (57%), public (30%) and not-for-profit sector (13%)

organisations.

Table 11 Demographics of survey respondents

Private sector 57% Single site 17% Public sector 30% Multi-site – single nation 43% Not-for-profit sector 13% Multinational 40%

Two-thirds of respondents were from the UK, with 19% from other European countries. The 2011

benchmark also attracted respondents from around the world (Figure 29).

Organisation size varied, ranging from micro businesses with fewer than 10 employees, to large

multi-nationals operating globally from a number of locations worldwide.



UK66%

Europe19%

USA/Canada6%

South/Central America1%Asia/Pacific

4%

Middle East/Africa/India

4%1 - 913%

10 - 24916%

250 - 4996%

500 - 99910%

1000 - 499921%

5000+34%

Learning strategy and management

35%Consultancy

9%

Content development

7%

Learning delivery8%

Administration2%

Technologist7%

All roles32%

Figure 29 Size and location of benchmark participant organisations

Figure 30 Industry sector and job roles of benchmark respondents

Responses came from those working within their own organisation (78%) and those supporting

external organisations (22%). Two thirds were L&D professionals reporting either to HR/L&D central

or within a line of business, and two-thirds had responsibility for learning strategy and management

as all or part of their job role.

Table 12 Distribution of survey respondents

Reporting to HR/L&D central 52% Reporting to HR/L&D within a line of business 14% Working within the line of business 34%

The survey respondents reflected a similar pattern of perceived maturity to previous years. The

majority still considered that they were starting to develop and co-ordinate their use of learning

technologies. A greater proportion of novice users responded than previously.

Training6%

Further and Higher education

12%

Central and local government, public

admin14%

Health and social care7%

Information and communication

9%

Engineering and manufacturing

9%

Professional and technical

9%

Finance and insurance12% Chemical and

pharmaceutical3%

Retail3%

Other16%



0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Novice Sporadic Developing Established EmbeddedPrivate Public Not for profit

N=764

There were a higher proportion of ‘novice/sporadic’ organisations from the not-for-profit sector and

embedded users than from the public or private sector. The majority of organisations describing

themselves as embedded were from the private sector.

Figure 31 Relative maturity of different sectors

Figure 32 Length of time using learning technologies related to the TM Index

Over 70% of respondents stated that simply taking part in the Benchmark review had provoked food

for thought and generated new ideas to aid implementation.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

0 - 1 years

1 - 3 years

4 - 6 years

6 - 10 years

10 years plus

Private Public Not for profitN=764

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

0 - 1 years 1 - 3 years 4 - 6 years 6 - 10 years 10 years plus

TMI Quartile 4 TMI Quartile 3 TMI Quartile 2 TMI Top Quartile

N=764



Annex B - Sample of participating organisations

A P Moller-Maersk A/S A&N MEDIA A1 Technologies Ltd Able2 Consulting Ltd ABN AMRO Action on Hearing Loss ADCO Addaction ADEC Adhoc Learning SL Admiral Group plc AEP AGSM MBA Programs, Australian School of Business, UNSW AiSolve Limited Amplua Anglia Ruskin University AOK-Bundesverband APSE AQA Arco Ltd ARI Business Solutions Arts Council Arup ASCD Aspen Technology Astra Zeneca AstriumLtd Athens Technology Center S.A. Atkins Atos Atradius Credit Insurance NV Auckland City Libraries AXA France AXA UK Babcock International Group, Marine Division Clyde Balogh-Consulting Banco Sabadell BANKIA Barclaycard Barnardos Barnfield BaseCore Bayer HealthCare Bernd Wiest Consulting GmbH Best Training London South Betsi Cadwaladr UniHealth Board BG Group Bhilai Engineering Corporation Limited Binary System Engineering UK Ltd BMJ Group BNY Mellon Boeing Bolton College Boodle Hatfield Boots UK Borough of Poole Box Hill Institute BP International Bracknell Forest Council Brewin Dolphin Brinker International Bristan Group British Airways plc British American Tobacco

British Dental Association British Gas British Red Cross British Sky Broadcasting Bron Afon Community Housing BT Plc Bupa Health and Wellbeing UK Business Stream BWise Cable&Wireless Worldwide Caerphill County Borough Council Caja Madrid Call Connection Ltd Canadian Institute for Health Information Carillion Plc Carphone Warehouse Cell C (Pty) Ltd Central Manchester NHS Centrica Charles River Chartered Insurance Institute Chelmsford Borough Council Chelsea & Westminster Hospital Chichester College Chiltern Training Ltd. Christian Aid CIPS Cirrus Cisco City College Brighton and Hove City of Ballarat City of Edinburgh Council City of London Corporation CIWM Clyde Valley L&D Project/South Lanarkshire Council CMS Computers Ltd CNA Insurance Cogiton Technologies inc Cognisco Ltd. Coleman & Woolf Associates COMPASS Coops & Co Courts Service of Ireland CoVE Consultancies Cranfield University Credit Suisse CRI Cristal Global Croft Management Centre Ltd Crucible Learning & Development CSR plc Cumbria County Council Dean Foods Defence Academy DWP Department of Communities Dept of Immigration & Citizenship Detecon Devon County Council Dewy Peony DHL Supply Chain Discovery Communications Distance Learning Australia dunnhumby Durham County Council

DuPont do Brasil S/A - Divisão Pioneer Sementes Dyslexia Action E.ON AG Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust East Renfrewshire Council EB Management Ed Du Vivier Consulting EDF Energy Editions Didier EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY CENTER Edusoft Ltd. e-Learning Competence Center Elements of Art GmbH EMBL-EBI EMC Emirates Eniac Formacion eOrigen.com Limited Equifax Ericsson ESCC Eskom ESS Estee Lauder Companies EUROGNOSI SA Eversheds LLP Execom Expert Messaging Explosive Learning Solutions Fasthosts Internet Fauna & Flora International Fed of Norwegian Industries Fidessa Fife Council Findel Education FirstGroup plc Flourishing People Ltd Footprint Media Forum Corporation Freshfields LLP Friends Life Fruition Personal Improvement Fujifilm Fujitsu Fulcrum GAES, S.A. Gdansk University of Technology GE Energy Gas engines Gebrüder Weiss gmbH General Healthcare group Girlguiding UK Glasgow City Council GlaxoSmithKline Gloucestershire Constabulary Gordon Brothers Europe Gothaer GROUP7 Grundfos GSH Group Guide Dogs Gwynedd Council Hachette UK Hampshire Constabulary

Hampshire County Council HandsOnResults Hanover Housing Association Hays HBC Vehicle Services Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG Heineken UK Hertfordshire Constabulary Hertfordshire County Council HFC Bank Ltd Hillingdon Adult Education Hinton Photography Hitachi Capital UK Hitachi Data Systems Home Group Home Retail Group HSBC HSBC Merchant Services LLP Hull College Group Hydratight IBM ICMC ICWE Ideal Training Solutions Identity and Passport Service IE Business School If P&C Insurance IFG Management Limited IHRDC IHSCS IKEA of Sweden ILCU iLearn Forum Ltd IMD Imperial College NHS Trust Improvement Service INC Inflite Engineering Services Ltd Inforpress Ingersoll Rand plc INL Consultancy Ltd Innotica Group Institut Aminuddin Baki Integrys Energy Group INTELECTUS Int. Union Against TB&Lung Disease Interpeace Liberia Interserve FM IPA Ipsos MORI Irish Prison Service Irishlife & Permanent Islamic Relief ITS Ltd Jaguar Land Rover Janssen John Owens John Wiley & Sons ltd JRI Europe, Ltd Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences Kevie & Karsten Enterprise Kevoy Community Development Institute (KCDI) King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center Kirklees Collegiates KLM



Knowledge Universe KOMPJUTER CENTAR BOR Konica Minolta Business Solutions KPMG KPN / Getronics Lancashire County Council Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Larmer Brown LBH Learn2grow Learning Leadership Learning, Employment and Training Services Legal & General Legal Services Board Legal Services Commission Leonard Cheshire Disability Lewisham College Lincolnshire County Council LKN - LOGOS Knowledge Network Lloyds Banking Group Lloyd's Register London Borough of Hillingdon London Business School London School of Economics Lowell M&Co Ma'arif Mace Macedonian Bank for Development Promotion AD Macfarlan Smith MacIntyre Macmillan Cancer Support MAG Makro Malam Consulting Manches LLP Manchester Business School Marie Curie Cancer Care Marks and Spencer plc Mastervoice nv Mayer Brown International LLP MBDA(UK) Ltd McAfee MDA Training MEDDTL Medical University of Graz Merseyside Police Metropolitan Housing Partnership Michaels Microsoft Midland Heart Mindquest Minster Law Misys Plc MJA Leadership Consulting MLP Finanzdienstleistungen AG Moat Moi University Moorfields Eye Hospital Mortgage Matters Direct Mott MacDonald Group Ltd MSD Napp Pharmaceuticals NatCen National Audit Office National Autistic Society

National Instruments NATS NCC NCeL NDS TI Nelsons Nestlé NETEX Newport City Council NHORA HIGH SCHOOL NHS Blood and Transplant NHS Direct NHS National Genetics EDC NHS North Lancashire Nightingale North Cumbria Informatics Service North Lincolnshire Council N Warwickshire & Hinckley College Northern Trust Novabase Novozymes npower NSPCC Olympus Surgical Technologies Europe On Track training Open University of China Optimum Technology Transfer Orbit L4L OUNL OUP Outstream Consulting Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Paragon PDSA Pearson International Peking University People Partners Limited Personal Touch Financial Services Pfizer PhaseChange Consulting Philips Pilgrims Hospices PNE Group PR-eMarketing Ltd. PricewaterhouseCoopers Germany Prudential PSL Business Consultants Ltd PTTEP RAF No 1 Radio School RBKC RBS RCGP RCN Readspeaker Red Dog Communications Redaktionsbüro Porath Reed Learning Renfrewshire Council RestorEgo Rexel UK Ltd Rexykings Production Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP RM RNLI Robert Gordon University Roche Products Ltd

Rolls-Royce plc Romford YMCA Royal Artillery CentreRoyal London Royal Mail RSAMD RSA UK RSPCA Ruscello Management Services Limited Sabmiller plc Saga Services / Direct Choice Sage Salmat Santander UK SAP Save the Children SCA School of Economics and Law Scitecs Scottish Enterprise Scottish Gas Scottish Government Scottish Social Services Council Scottish Power Shakespeak Sheffield City Council Shell Shrewsbury Sixth Form College Signosis Sprl. Skandia Skills for Justice SkillsTech TAFE SLO Smart Education Smollan South Lanarkshire Council South Wales Police Southampton Solent University Southeastern Community College Specsavers Speechly Bircham SSE St Mungo's Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Student Loans Co Suffolk Support Services Surrey County Council Swiss Reinsurance Company The Adolescent & Children's Trust Talent Century Chaser Sports Intl. Tata Interactive Systems AG Tata Steel Technology for Tomorrow OHG Telefonica UK and Germany Tesco Bank Tesco Stores Limited Thames Valley Police The Blue Cross The Body Shop International plc The Boston Consulting Group The Charity Commission The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals The College of Law The Co-operative Financial Services The Disabilities Trust The Garden Centre Group

The Guinness Partnership The Improvement Service The Listening Company The National Autistic Society The National Trust The Networking Firm The Open University The Pensions Regulator The Prince's Trust The Rugby Football League The IDL Group Think Associates Ltd Thomson Reuters Thornbeck Timsoft T-Mobile USA TNO TomTom International Torbay Care Trust Toyota Motor Europe Transact Transport for London Tribeca Knowledge TTC TU Delft U.S. Department of State U21Global Graduate School UIMM United Biscuits United Response Universiti Tenaga Nasional,Kajang University of Agriculture, Makurdi University of Applied Sciences FHWien University of Bedfordshire University of Canterbury University of Guelph University of Guyana University of Miami University of Southern Queensland University of Zululand Unum UPM URENCO UK Valuation Office Agency Veale Wasbrough Vizards Venture Finance Verta VitAPP VIU Vodafone VT Flagship Waiariki Institute of Technology Wandsworth Council Wigan Council Willmott Dixon Wiltshire Police Worcestershire County Council WorldLearn WRVS Xchanging Xface Ltd Xylos Yum! Brands, Inc Zimmer, Inc. ZOOM International



Annex C – The Towards Maturity Model

Over the past 8 years, 1800+ organisations have progressed through the TM Learning Technology Benchmark Survey, allowing us to identify the behaviours that influence success in the workplace. Organisations mature in their use of learning technologies are more likely to report that e-learning take-up is increased and that the solutions are having an impact on both staff and organisational targets. The Towards Maturity Benchmark Survey is now considered the most comprehensive, independent and authoritative review on the use of learning technologies in the workplace in the UK and is widely endorsed by learning and development professionals.

Our work has identified 6 high-level workstreams that correlate back to maturity, business success and take up of learning. These are divided into 19 activity areas against which organisations can benchmark themselves. The 19 activity areas are made up of 124 individual actions and behaviours.

The model has been proven in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

New for 2011: a new action area has been included in 2011: Organisational Culture.

As organisations mature in their use of learning technologies, they are increasingly likely to:

Have strategic alignment with a clearly defined vision endorsed by business leaders, yet flexible enough to shift with changing business priorities. At a tactical level, they focus on business alignment to ensure learning is job relevant.

To demonstrate an understanding of their learners in 2 ways. They provide relevant choices for their staff (in terms of control, access and information available to them) as well as addressing issues of motivation (such as recognition and personal aspiration).

Proactively build IT relationships, integrating the technical environment to increase options for learners. They also offer more managerial support to staff, embedding learning within appraisal and talent management systems to create a performance-based organisational culture.

Be proactive in building skills in their L&D workforce focussing on designing learning, assessing achievement, supporting learning and facilitating collaboration.

Focus on managing change within the business by working with key stakeholders. This includes involving leaders to support promotion, engaging trainers to include technology within learning interventions and empowering learners so that they are engaged and confident.

Gather feedback from the business, going beyond the ‘happy sheet’ to measuring effectiveness in terms of business metrics and communicating benefits back to key stakeholders.



In 2010, we introduced the Towards Maturity Index and set out a number of Key Performance Indicators

that organisations could use to benchmark their performance. Figure 33 illustrates the relative strength

of organisations in the top quartile TMI against each of the workstreams of the Towards Maturity

model.

Figure 33 Towards Maturity workstreams

For more information on benchmarking against the Towards Maturity model visit:

www.towardsmaturity.org/mybenchmark.

For a more in depth article on the Towards Maturity model – see Impact, the journal of applied research

in workplace e-learning at: http://www.towardsmaturity.org/article/2010/01/15/impact-journal-

applied-research-workplace-e-learni/

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00

Demonstrating Value

Ensuring Engagement

Building Capability

Work Context

Learner Context

Defining Need



http://www.towardsmaturity.org/article/2010/01/15/impact-journal-applied-research-workplace-e-learni/

http://www.towardsmaturity.org/article/2010/01/15/impact-journal-applied-research-workplace-e-learni/



Annex D - Towards Maturity Ambassador Programme

Ambassadors support the annual Benchmark Research and the identification and dissemination of good

practice case studies. They work together as Ambassadors for change, identifying and improving good

practice, raising awareness and driving the whole industry forward.

Ambassadors share Towards Maturity’s vision and values:

Encouraging learning innovation that directly impacts results in the workplace Building on, acknowledging and contributing to collective good practice Supporting the learning and education of others Building transparent, trusted and open relationships with those with whom we work Encouraging excellence from within Celebrating success

Ambassador (*Founder Ambassador)

What they do

www.brightwave.co.uk *

Expert in developing quality e-learning solutions that achieve a positive measurable impact, Brightwave provides a complete e-learning service, from bespoke content and platforms to capability building and consultancy

www.epic.co.uk *

As one of the first companies in Europe to develop computer-based training, Epic has been providing bespoke e-learning, mobile learning and blended solutions for over 25 years.

www.globalenglish.com *

GlobalEnglish is the only company dedicated to advancing Enterprise Fluency™: the communication and collaboration that drives high performance in a global economy

www.line.co.uk *

The UK market leader for bespoke e-learning solutions, including mobile and blended learning. It also has a comprehensive learning and technical consultancy capability

www.lmmatters.com *

The UK partner for Harvard Business Publishing providing high quality resources to develop Leadership and Management Excellence

www.redtray.co.uk*

Designs, delivers and deploys award-winning blended learning solutions including certification-led training, virtual classrooms, e-learning and ALTO LMS.

http://www.brightwave.co.uk/

http://www.epic.co.uk/

http://www.globalenglish.com/

http://www.line.co.uk/

http://www.lmmatters.com/

http://www.redtray.co.uk/



Ambassador (*Founder Ambassador)

What they do

www.successfactors.com *

A leading provider of cloud-based Business Execution Software that includes performance and goal management, recruiting, core HR, and learning management solutions

www.charitylearning.org*

Enables cost effective eLearning in the Third Sector. The largest group of UK based charities collaborating to make eLearning affordable.

www.toolwire.com

Toolwire is a leading Learning Solutions provider by bringing learning to life through immersive, real world hands-on experiences.

www.fusion-universal.com/

Inspired by innovation, Fusion is determined to bring about real change to the people and organisations it works with.

www.informationtransfer.com

An award-winning company delivering bespoke communication and learning solutions that make a difference for people and organisations

www.learndirect.co.uk

We use technology to transform lives and businesses through learning, helping 3m+ people to get the skills they need for work.

www.speexx.com

The global provider of award winning corporate language training focuses on software tools and blended solutions. Speexx works with many of the fortune 1,000 companies across 80 countries.

www.certpointsystems.com

Provides the award winner CERTPOINTVLS™ global learning platform, which are used by companies such as L’Oréal, Honda, Black & Decker, Toyota, etc.. Forward thinking and visionary according to Gartner latest magic quadrant report. Advanced mobile delivery and social learning functionalities.

www.skillsoft.com/emea

Our products offer the most comprehensive content alongside the most experienced and qualified consulting team in the e-learning industry.

www.e2train.com

e2train is an award-winning supplier of learning, performance, talent management and succession planning technologies

Find out more: www.towardsmaturity.org/ambassadors

http://www.successfactors.com/

http://www.charitylearning.org/

http://www.toolwire.com/

http://www.fusion-universal.com/

http://www.informationtransfer.com/

http://www.learndirect.co.uk/

http://www.speexx.com/

http://www.certpointsystems.com/

http://www.skillsoft.com/emea

http://www.e2train.com/

http://www.towardsmaturity.org/ambassadors



Annex E – About Towards Maturity

Towards Maturity is a benchmarking company that provides independent expert advice and support to

help organisations use learning technologies to accelerate business performance. It leverages the data

of its in-depth Benchmark Study, the UK’s largest learning technology benchmark, gathered by Towards

Maturity over 8 years with over 1800 organisations. The Benchmark Study forms the basis of the

Towards Maturity Index, a unique indicator that measures the level of good practice using learning

technologies in an organisation.

Towards Maturity Benchmarking Centre

In January 2011, Towards Maturity launched an online Benchmarking Centre, to help organisations improve the impact of their learning technologies. Members of the centre are taken through a structured questionnaire that enables them to review how they have implemented their learning technologies and compare their results against evolving good practice. They are given their own Towards Maturity Index (TMI) – a measure of good practice in their organisation. Each member receives a detailed personalised benchmark report highlighting priority action areas for improvement. The site also provides further help in the form of targeted resources, tools, checklists, hints and tips. There is also information about the services Towards Maturity provides alongside its partner network including coaching, mentoring and workshops.

Visit www.towardsmaturity.org/mybenchmark for more information.

Towards Maturity Support and Resources

The Towards Maturity’s Headstart Programme helps boost the impact that learning technologies are

having in an organisation through a tailored workshop and the use of innovative benchmarking

tools. Headstart helps an organisation review how they are currently implementing learning

technologies, how that implementation compares to established good practices and identifies how to

act going forward to increase performance. Run by leading learning consultants, our workshops and

unique benchmarking tools can help at any stage of implementation.

Free resources are also available to help you on your journey towards maturity in the application of learning innovation. These include: case studies, podcasts, white papers, articles and summaries of industry research.

To help further, we are working with our Ambassadors to create 2 new resources30 to help you use the

2011-12 benchmark findings more effectively to open up new conversations with business:

An infographic (created in conjunction with Brightwave)

A mobile app (created in conjunction with Epic)

Visit www.towardsmaturity.org for more information.

Contact Us

Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)208 542 2331

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Visit www.towardsmaturity.org/2011benchmark for more information and to download these resources.



mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Boosting Business Agility

Business

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