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Accelerating Performance
Towards Maturity 2010-11 Benchmark
Full Report
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This study is the fourth in a longitudinal research series looking at the trends in the use and
implementation of learning technologies in the workplace. The research is published in a suite of
reports:
• Accelerating Performance ‐ Towards Maturity 2010‐11 benchmark: Executive Summary
• Accelerating Performance ‐ Towards Maturity 2010‐11 benchmark: Full report
• Accelerating Performance ‐ Towards Maturity 2010‐11 benchmark: Longitudinal trends –
data tables
This is the full report and the suite of reports can be downloaded for free at
www.towardsmaturity.org/2010benchmark.
Acknowledgements
The work was commissioned by Becta as part of their ongoing legacy to support effective use of
learning technologies in the workplace on behalf of the Department of Business, Innovation and
Skills.
The 2010 benchmark represents a unique industry collaboration and we acknowledge the inputs
from the 15 organisations below to ensure that this review addresses the changing technical and
business environment across all sectors.
We also gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Charles Jennings and Nigel Paine in shaping our
thinking for this report.
Research team
Laura Overton, Howard Hills, Genny Dixon
Previous studies in this series can be downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/TMbenchmark
© Copyright Towards Maturity CIC 2010
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
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This work started in 2003 with an important question – why
do some organisations get better business results through
using learning technology than others?
The original studies looked at the practices of 16
organisations thought at the time to be successful, to learn
what they were doing. They then went to their staff to find
out if it worked from their perspective! The foundations for
this research were laid and now 1200 organisations have
now been through the Towards Maturity Benchmark survey
over the past 7 years. Over that time, technology and
circumstances have all changed but now, more than ever,
organisations are seriously considering how technology can
enable learning more effectively and the Towards Maturity “The 2010‐11 Towards Maturity
benchmark survey is more pertinent than ever. Benchmark Report could not have
come at a better time. The
Working practices across all sectors have radically changed evidence is now here in spades:
over that time. We need to be more efficient and more technology‐enabled learning is
responsive in order to provide excellent offerings and really starting to deliver. However
service. Learning and development is no different. the real step change in
Technology enabled learning is no longer just about performance, it is clear from the
creating stand alone e‐learning courses, we have to report, comes not just from the
consider how we can use it to innovate how we embed use of technology per se, but
ongoing performance improvement into the very fabric of from innovation thinking,
how we do things. As L&D professionals we first have to be practically applied.
creative and innovative about how we develop This is a unique moment for those
performance in our organisations and then we look to working in learning ...
technology to see how we can achieve this. I thoroughly recommend the
The stark reality is this – if we aspire to be world class, to 2010‐11 Towards Maturity
adding core value and improving performance, we have to Benchmark Survey as an essential
be willing to constantly improve. I believe that resource to help them on their
benchmarking is an essential business tool required to journey towards maturity in the
achieve this and one that is not used often enough in use of learning innovation.”
learning.
For me, being aware of what others are achieving and how they are achieving it helps fine tune
decision making, shortcutting our journey to improvement. Where there is a gap, there is
opportunity to close it but where we are ahead of the curve, there is no time to be complacent. We
have to continue to drive the standards higher.
The 2010‐11Towards Maturity Benchmark could not have come at a better time. The economic
climate has impacted everyone. As organisations are pursuing the ‘more for less’ agenda, the
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interest in technology enabled learning is at a peak. But it is clear from the evidence that we can’t
afford to keep doing what we have always done. Converting classroom courses to e‐learning
content, introducing efficiencies in tracking and administration merely automates the learning
process.
This is a unique moment for those working in learning. We have the opportunity to leverage
circumstances to become agents for change within our organisations. I thoroughly recommend the
2010‐11 Towards Maturity Benchmark Survey as an essential resource to help you on that journey.
Peter Butler
Learning Director, Lloyds Banking Group
A word from others about the Towards Maturity Benchmark Survey
We are modernising the way that we think about learning in the council and technology is a critical
element. Taking part in the TM Benchmark gave us a chance to reflect on our strategy
and implementation plans. The personalised report helped us refine our approach and provided
practical ideas that really increased engagement and saved us time. Wendy Henry, Senior L&D
Officer, Lincolnshire CC
“The personalised benchmark report we received has provided a framework for learning technology
strategy and implementation that I keep coming back to – in essence it has helped me to define my
objectives, highlighting areas where we can further develop a culture of learning within the RNLI.”
John LeRossignol, Learning Resources Manager at RNLI
Looking ahead
Our aim as a not‐for‐profit organisation is to provide independent practical research in the
application of learning innovation to support organisations looking to accelerate performance. We
would like to thank Becta for making this possible by supporting the last two studies. Moving
forward, we will be refreshing the Benchmark Survey on an annual basis thanks to the support of our
Ambassadors from across the industry.
The founding Ambassadors for the 2011 Benchmark Survey are:
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 7
1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 7
1.2 Research themes and methodology ....................................................................................... 8
1.3 Demographics of benchmark participants .............................................................................. 9
2 Learning Technology Trends .................................................................................................. 12
2.1 Investment drivers ................................................................................................................ 12
2.2 Learning technologies and tools ........................................................................................... 15
2.3 Skills programmes ................................................................................................................. 19
2.4 Reaching learners .................................................................................................................. 23
2.5 Barriers to adoption .............................................................................................................. 25
2.6 Trends in implementation ..................................................................................................... 27
2.7 The impact of recession ........................................................................................................ 29
2.8 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 32
3 Business impact measurement .............................................................................................. 34
3.1 Benefits of learning technologies ......................................................................................... 34
3.2 Introducing the Towards Maturity Index (TMI) .................................................................... 38
3.3 Introducing new Key Performance Indicators (KPI) .............................................................. 41
3.4 Measuring overall business performance ............................................................................. 43
3.5 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 45
4 Accelerating Performance ..................................................................................................... 46
4.1 New models of learning ........................................................................................................ 46
4.2 Supporting formal learning ................................................................................................... 47
4.3 Exploring the Towards Maturity model ................................................................................ 50
4.4 Enabling social learning ......................................................................................................... 54
4.5 Skills and attitudes of the learning function ......................................................................... 58
4.6 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 59
Annexes ........................................................................................................................................ 60
Annex 1 ‐ Survey design .................................................................................................................... 60
Annex 2 ‐ Sample of participating organisations .............................................................................. 61
Annex 3 – The Towards Maturity Model .......................................................................................... 63
Annex 4 ‐ KPIs by sector .................................................................................................................... 65
Annex 5 ‐ About Towards Maturity ................................................................................................... 66
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List of Figures
Figure 1 The Towards Maturity Model ‐ 6 workstreams that influence effectiveness ........................... 7
Figure 2 Location and sector of benchmark participant organisations .................................................. 9
Figure 3 Industry sectors represented in benchmark ........................................................................... 10
Figure 4 Distribution of survey respondents in terms of perceived maturity ...................................... 10
Figure 5 Maturity related to the length of time organisations have been using e‐learning ................ 11
Figure 6 Relative maturity of different sectors ..................................................................................... 11
Figure 7 Comparison of drivers between sectors ................................................................................. 13
Figure 8 Change in drivers for learning technologies since 2008 ......................................................... 14
Figure 9 Predicted increase in social learning technologies ................................................................. 18
Figure 10 Skills programmes enabled by technology ........................................................................... 20
Figure 11 Variation between sectors in skills programmes offered ..................................................... 21
Figure 12 Comparison of e‐rating between 2008 and 2010 ................................................................. 22
Figure 13 Organisations offering learning leading to qualifications ..................................................... 22
Figure 14 Locations where users can access e‐learning provision ....................................................... 24
Figure 15 Barriers reported by different sectors .................................................................................. 26
Figure 16 Trends in barriers to learning technologies .......................................................................... 27
Figure 17 Impact of the current economic climate on planned usage of learning technologies ......... 30
Figure 18 Spending expectations over the next 2 years ....................................................................... 31
Figure 19 Top 10 drivers –delivering the benefits sought .................................................................... 35
Figure 20 Change in benefits delivered with time ................................................................................ 36
Figure 21 Variation in benefits between sectors .................................................................................. 37
Figure 22 Comparison of sectoral KPIs against the industry benchmark ............................................. 43
Figure 23 Comparison of sectoral impact KPIs against the industry benchmark ................................. 44
Figure 24 TMI related to e‐learning maturity ....................................................................................... 46
Figure 25 Typical TMI profile of performance 'Accelerator' ................................................................. 47
Figure 26 Learning technologies supporting formal learning ............................................................... 48
Figure 27 Users of e‐learning related to TMI ........................................................................................ 49
Figure 28 Learning technologies supporting informal learning ............................................................ 55
Figure 29 Cost savings as a result of implementing e‐learning ............................................................ 57
List of Tables
Table 1 Demographics of 2010 benchmark participating organisations .............................................. 10
Table 2 Growth in usage of learning technologies ............................................................................... 17
Table 3 Access to third party social media tools ................................................................................... 18
Table 4 Measurement of benefits by mature organisations ................................................................ 38
Table 5 Skills areas e‐enabled by TMI top quartile organisations ........................................................ 50
Table 6 Rise in social networking and informal learning ...................................................................... 56
Table 7 Top 5 barriers to implementation related to TMI quartile ...................................................... 58
Table 8 TMI Top quartile focus on skills of the training function ......................................................... 59
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1 Introduction
1.1 Background
The first data in this research series was collected in 2003 and now the 2010‐11Towards Maturity
Benchmark is the fourth in‐depth study into the implementation of learning technologies in the
workplace.
The fundamental question that has fuelled Towards Maturity research with 1200 participants over
the last 7 years is:
What are successful organisations doing to deliver business results with learning technologies and
how can we learn from them?
Over the years, our research has demonstrated that organisations that are more mature in their use
of learning technologies are realising significant benefits measured in terms of:
• Increased efficiency – in terms of cost savings, time savings and volume of learning
delivered;
• Increased business agility – in terms of speed to competency and responsiveness to business
demand;
• Increased take‐up of learning by the audience.
Figure 1 The Towards Maturity Model ‐ 6 workstreams that
Through our previous research we have influence effectiveness
been able to identify 6 workstreams of
implementation behaviours that directly
link to the successful outcomes of
learning technology implementation.
Previous research also showed that the
more mature organisations (i.e. those
where learning technologies are an
established part of learning and
embedded within the organisational
culture) are more likely to implement
these 6 workstreams consistently.
These 6 workstreams are the core
components of the Towards Maturity
Model, outlined in Figure 1 and will be
revisited in this report.
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1.2.1 Aims of this research
As in previous studies, we are particularly interested in two challenges facing organisations as they
increasingly adopt new ways of learning:
• The impact of the new learning approaches on both business and individuals
• Staff engagement and take up of learning
The aims of the 2010‐11 Benchmark Survey are:
1. To identify emerging trends and changing practices in workplace skills delivery over time
from the employer perspective.
2. To encourage good practice by:
• Providing a general report with independent evidence to support business planning,
effective learning technology strategy and implementation
• Providing all participants with a free personalised benchmark report with activity
recommendations to support their journey with learning technologies.
1.2.2 Definitions
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”.
Participants 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 which influences our everyday work.
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1.2.3 Research methodology
Individuals with responsibility for implementing learning technologies in their own workplace were
invited to participate in an online review between during June and July 2010.
The online review was designed in 2 parts – a survey element asking factual questions and an
implementation benchmark review that investigated opinion. The benchmark review primarily
consisted of 80+ action statements which participants were asked to agree or disagree with on a 9
point scale. These action statements are the building blocks of the Towards Maturity Model.
Whilst a number of statements were refined through 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.
The survey was widely distributed via a number of channels and partners. The methods used to
disseminate the survey deliberately limits the participants to those already with an interest in using
learning technologies. The assumption is that all participants have already started on their
‘e‐learning journey’.
As an incentive, all participants were offered the opportunity to receive a personalised feedback
report to support performance improvement. The report provided benchmark data on both factual
performance indicators such as efficiency benefits, take up and business agility together with a
benchmark profile of their own implementation practice to highlight areas of strength and
weakness.1
A total of 535 participants from 468 organisations commenced the survey, with 400 completing all
the sections. Participating organisations included Aviva, BT, BSkyB, Cable&Wireless, Crown
Prosecution Service, Eversheds LLP, Lloyds Banking Group, Maersk Line, NSPCC, Oxfam, Pearson
International, Quantas, The Royal Mint, Thomson Reuters, Volvo Car UK Ltd, Waitrose and Xerox Ltd.
A sample of participating organisations is listed in Annex 2.
Figure 2 Location and sector of benchmark participant organisations
Not for Profit
13%
UK Public Sector
35%
Other EU country
USA / Canada
UK Private Sector
82% Asia Pacific
52%
1
The questionnaire design and analysis techniques are described in more detail in Annex 1.
Middle East / India /Africa
N=507
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82% of participants are UK‐based, as shown in Figure 2. They represented both private (52%) and
public (35%) and voluntary sector (13%) organisations, including 30 City or County Councils; 15
Police Forces and 30 charitable organisations.
Figure 3 Industry sectors represented in benchmark
Health & Social Professional &
care technical
9% 9% Participants were drawn from a wide
Charity/voluntary range of industry sectors as illustrated in
6%
IT & Telecoms Figure 3. Organisation size varied, ranging
9%
Science, eng. &
manufacturing
from micro businesses with fewer than
8% 10 employees, to large multi‐nationals
Finance & insurance Transport & storage operating globally from a number of
10% 3%
Central Government locations worldwide.
3%
Local government
8%
FE and HE
10%
Public admin,
Other service
police & defence
Commercial training 6%
9% industries
N=511 10%
Table 1 Demographics of 2010 benchmark participating organisations
The survey participants 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.
Figure 4 Distribution of survey respondents in terms of perceived maturity
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68% of respondents have now been using e‐learning for 3 years or more and many consider learning
technologies to be well established or embedded within organisational practice. Whilst maturity
relates in part to the length of time organisations have been using learning technologies, there are a
significant number that still consider themselves ‘novice’ users even after over 3 years of use (Figure
5). The ‘novices’ are grouped with the ‘sporadic’ users in much of the analysis that follows.
Figure 5 Maturity related to the length of time organisations have been using e‐learning
120
100
80
Less than 1 year
60
1 to 3 years
40 More than 3 years
N=513
20
0
Novice Sporadic Developing Established Embedded
There were a higher proportion of ‘novice/sporadic’ organisations from the not‐for‐profit sector
than from the public or private sector. The majority of organisations describing themselves as
embedded were from the private sector (Figure 6).
Figure 6 Relative maturity of different sectors
100% 100%
90% 90%
80% 80%
70% 70%
60%
60%
50%
50%
Not for profit
40% Private sector
40%
Public sector
30%
N=513 30%
20%
20%
10%
10%
0%
Less than 1 to 3 More than 0%
1 year years 3 years Novice Sporadic Developing Established Embedded
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The expectations of the contribution of technology to learning are higher than ever. Organisations
cite a wider range of drivers for them to invest in learning technologies in 2010 than in the
previous history of the benchmark.
Top 10 drivers for investment cited by respondents in 2010:
“Our new system has
1. Increasing access to learning (94%)
been created and
2. Improving the quality of learning (90%)
released with almost
3. Increase flexibility in providing staff training (90%)
no budget, as a proof
4. Improve the management and administration of learners (85%)
of concept. Now that
5. Reduce training costs (85%)
we have been able to
6. Extending reach of training (83%)
demonstrate
7. Reduce time away from the job (80%)
something tangible,
8. Improving the induction process (79%)
the penny has dropped
9. Implementing new products/processes (78%)
and now we are
10. Improve monitoring of impact measures (77%)
experiencing a great
See Appendix for full list of drivers: Accelerating Performance ‐ Towards
deal of 'pull' from the
Maturity 2010‐11 benchmark: Longitudinal trends – data tables business.”
Whilst improving access to learning is the top driver across all sectors and at all stages of maturity,
more mature organisations (with embedded learning technologies) are more likely to cite drivers
relating to increasing productivity and improving customer satisfaction which have a direct impact
on their bottom line business performance. For example:
• 86% of organisations with embedded learning technologies cite increasing productivity
compared with only 62% of novice/sporadic users
• 78% of organisations with embedded learning technologies cite improving customer
satisfaction compared with only 57% of novice/sporadic users
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The imperatives for using learning technologies are consistently greater in the public sector than in
the private sector or amongst not‐for‐profit organisations as shown in Figure 7. The differences
between sectors were most pronounced for extending the reach of training, improving induction
and compliance training and reducing time away from the job.
Figure 7 Comparison of drivers between sectors
100%
95%
90%
Public sector
Private sector
Not for profit
85%
N=377
80%
75%
70%
Increase Improve the Increase Improve Reduce Extend the Reduce time Improve
access to quality of flexibility in management training costs reach of away from the induction
learning learning providing staff and training job training
delivered training administration
of learning at
work
2.1.1 How have the drivers changed over time?
A wider range of drivers have been cited by more organisations in 2010 than in the previous history
of the Benchmark Survey2 (see Annex for the full list of drivers reported from 2004 to 2010). Figure 8
highlights the clear changing demand for delivering more for less input over the last 18 months.
In 2006, the focus was on increasing access and flexibility, the traditional drivers associated with the
efficiency that comes from automating the learning process. In 2008, organisations were looking
beyond just automation to improving the results of learning through induction process, developing a
better qualified workforce and increasing staff retention.
2
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Over the last 18 months our focus has turned again to the efficiency benefits delivered through
automating learning systems with learning, with access, flexibility and reduced cost high on the
agenda alongside reduced administration and time away from the office. This year, in addition to
efficiency, organisations are also looking to improve the results of learning by increasing customer
satisfaction, staff retention, developing a better qualified workforce with better administration and
the ability to measure learning impact.
Figure 8 Change in drivers for learning technologies since 2008
Organisational change
2010
Business benefits
Improved IT systems implementation 2008
More qualified workforce
Improved implementation of new products/processes
Ability to demonstrate compliance
Improved induction process
Staff benefits
Increase flexibility
Increasing access
Reduce time away from the job
L&D efficiencies
Reduce training costs
Extending reach
Improve administration
Improving quality
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
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Media are evolving but organisations are currently not taking advantage of the full range of
options available across the board. Many are sticking to tried and tested media and the forecast
meteoric rise in the use of social media for learning is not evident.
Whilst surveys and
The Top 10 technologies in use in 2010 are as follows: questionnaires are top of the
1. Surveys and questionnaires ‐ 91% list, they are often used in a
2. Electronic‐based learning materials ‐ 89% utilitarian way:
3. Intranet with web learning resources pages ‐ 83%
“We only provide pre‐classroom
4. Online assessment ‐ 81% based e‐learning to prep staff
5. LMS – 78% for classroom. This is in the form
6. Mobile use of laptops/notebooks/tablet PCs ‐79% of questionnaires and highly
7. Video conferencing ‐ 69%
uninspiring.”
8. Simple screen simulations ‐ 68%
9. Enterprise wide information services* ‐ 52%
(such as Sharepoint) When asked about future plans:
10. Content Management System ‐ 50%
“We plan to Increase use of
*New entry in 2010 top 10 facilitated online training
sessions and surveys/quizzes to
See Appendix for full list of technologies.
record participation and
compliance.”
The top 10 technologies are likely to be used across all organisations regardless of maturity.
However, mature organisations are using a greater range of additional tools and technologies such
as virtual classrooms, online books, mobile apps, games and online evaluation of business impact.
For example:
• 26% of novice organisations are using virtual classrooms, rising to 83% of those with
embedded e‐learning;
• 21% of novice organisations are using online books, rising to 79% of those with embedded e‐
learning.
Public sector organisations tend to have a more established and formal infrastructure to support e‐
learning than the private sector. Higher proportions use Virtual Learning Environments or Learning
Management Systems linked in to their HR systems and offer an intranet with access to learning
content, online books and e‐portfolios.
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• 54% of public sector organisations are using Virtual Learning Environments compared with
only 38% in the private sector and 35% in the not‐for‐profit sector;
• Public sector organisations are twice as likely to use e‐portfolio systems (35% public sector
organisations compared with 15% in the private sector and 17% in the not‐for‐profit sector).
Private sector organisations are using more tools that support on‐the‐job learning such as video
conferencing, virtual classrooms or providing online access to experts. Higher proportions are also
using rapid application development and simple screen simulations. They are also more likely to use
enterprise‐wide information services such as Sharepoint, and Electronic Performance Support
Systems.
• 74% of private sector organisations are using video conferencing compared with 65% in
public sector and only 52% in the not‐for‐profit sector; 54% of private sector organisations
are using virtual classrooms compared with 33% in other sectors.
Across all the tools and technologies surveyed, usage by not‐for‐profit organisations falls behind that
of both the public and private sector, perhaps reflecting the relatively shorter time respondents
have been using learning technologies. The one exception is that the not‐for‐profit sector is much
more likely to take advantage of third party social networking sites such as FaceBook (34% compared
with 22% in the public sector and 19% in the private sector).
• 25% not‐for‐profit organisations are integrating their LMS and HR systems (rising to 46% in
other sectors);
• 19% not‐for‐profit organisations are offering online books (rising to 45% for public sector
and 48% in the private sector).
2.2.1 Trends in learning tools and technologies
Some tools have shown good growth in usage over the past 18 months, notably:
• Mobile devices – 36% using in 2010 compared with 6% in 2008;
• Content Management Systems – 50% using in 2010 compared to 24% in 2008;
• Online assessment and Learning Management Systems are both being used by an additional
14% of organisations in the last 18 months.
However, many of the planned increases in adoption of technologies forecast in 2008 have not been
realised. In 2008 the use of rapid learning tools, podcasting and virtual classroom had jumped
dramatically from 2006 but their growth has remained static over the last 18 months. Where
increases are seen, they tend to be in the more traditional technologies which have been tried and
tested over a number of years, many of which support more formal learning. The table below
highlights some of the changes in technology use over the last 18 months (full details of the trends in
learning technologies can be found in the Appendix3).
3
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Table 2 Growth in usage of learning technologies
Despite the optimism of 2008, the use of social media has not increased as expected. Whilst 50% of
organisations allow access to third party sites, only 16% are harnessing their potential for learning.
The not‐for‐profit sector have been quicker to explore such tools, and recognise fewer barriers to
growth than other sectors, but they start from a lower base with fewer programmes e‐enabled and
using a more restricted range of tools.
The use of social networking to support learning is growing but limited compared to other more
traditional learning technologies. Organisations appear to be sticking to technologies with proven
benefit and are demonstrating less capacity for innovation and experiment than in previous years.
However, when asked about their future plans for the next 2 years, there still remains an overall
optimism and enthusiasm for new and emerging technologies to support learning and development.
Very few organisations are planning to reduce their use of existing technologies over the next 2
years but many are planning to increase the range and types of technology tools in their kit bag, with
social media and tools to support the embedding of learning into workflow expecting the greatest
growth as indicated in Figure 9.
For example, despite the predicted growth over the last 2 years not being realised:
• a further 31% still plan to use mobile apps and podcasting in the next 2 years;
• a further 28% are planning to use Virtual Classrooms.
“We can now offer more content on a better platform which provides us with the new Web 2.0
technologies we're exploring.”
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Figure 9 Predicted increase in social learning technologies
e‐tutor support to learners
Electronic Performance Support Systems
Online access to experts
Blogs by tutors or learners
Professional networking sites (such as LinkedIn)
Social learning tools (trainer supported)
Web 2 technology/widgets for learners
e‐portfolio
Third party social networking sites (such as Facebook)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Used by Increased use in 2012
Despite the optimism of 2008, the use of social media has not increased as expected. Whilst 49% of
organisations allow access to third party sites, only 16% are harnessing their potential for learning.
There was a marked difference between sectors. Public sector organisations are less likely to allow
unrestricted access with only 34% allowing the use of social media. This rises to 63% in not‐for‐profit
organisations and 75% in the IT and Telecoms sector4.
Table 3 Access to third party social media tools
Allow employees access to Do not allow access
third party social media tools
Public sector 34% 66%
Private sector 54% 46%
Not‐for‐profit sector 63% 37%
IT and Telecoms sector 75% 25%
All 49% 51%
However, these tools are much more likely to be used by organisations whose core business is to
provide learning (commercial training providers, Higher or Further Education) than the other sectors
combined (users). For example, over 40% of ‘providers’ are using personalised learning
environments (web 2 technology/widgets) compared with 8% of ‘user organisations. The not‐for‐
profit sector have been quicker to explore social media, and recognise fewer barriers to growth than
other sectors, but they start from a lower base with fewer programmes e‐enabled and using a more
restricted range of tools.
Further analysis of the range of learning technologies used is presented in section 4.
4
Separate IT & Telecoms Benchmark available on request
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More organisations are embedding technology in more skills programmes than in 2008, with
health & safety, leadership & management and foreign language skills showing the biggest
changes. In 2010, there is plenty of additional scope for applying technology to a wide range of
today’s skills issues. However, IT user skills remain the most likely programme to be e‐enabled.
Respondents were asked to comment
on programmes offered:
Top 10 skills programmes for 2010 that are enabled by
learning technology
“We’ve been using e‐learning for ECDL
1. IT User skills (68%) for a number of years. We recently
2. Health and safety (57%) introduced e‐learning for generic
3. Induction (54%) courses.”
4. Company specific skills (52%)
“We use this mainly for compliance
5. Industry specific regulatory requirements (51%)
training e.g. health and safety, data
6. IT professional skills (44%)
protection etc”
7. Leadership and management (44%)
8. Corporate and Social Responsibility, equality and “This is considered useful for
diversity, environmental (43%) organisation‐wide mandatory training,
9. Improving own learning and performance (43%) e.g. Information Security and
10. Communication/interpersonal skills (34%) Corporate Induction”
See Appendix for full list of skills programmes. “We have started using e‐learning to
deliver technical training in
combination with webinars.”
The types of programmes offered in general by organisations have changed little in the last 10 years.
Over 4 out of 5 organisations still offer induction training, health and safety, leadership and
management skills, general IT user skills, communication/interpersonal skills, team working/working
with others, other company specific skills and industry regulatory programmes. What has changed is
the extent to which those programmes are now using technology to support their delivery.
Whilst the ‘soft skills’ of communication, team‐working, problem solving and customer‐service are
currently less likely to be supported by technology, these are the areas where the greatest growth
has occurred since 2008.
Organisations are also increasing the offer to staff to undertake programmes to improve their own
learning and performance, for example to develop new skills that are not directly related to their
current job role.
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Figure 10 Skills programmes enabled by technology
General IT user
100%
Foreign language Health & safety
90%
80%
Basic skills Induction
70%
60%
50%
Sales & marketing Company specific
40%
30%
20%
Team working IT professional
Customer service Leadership & management
Office/admin CSR
Communication/interpersonal Your own skills
% offering skills (n=415) % using technology in offering (n= 415)
CSR includes programmes relating to corporate and social responsibility, equality and diversity and environmental awareness.
In Figure 10 above, the blue line highlights the skills that organisations are currently delivering to
their staff regardless of media and the pink line flags where those skills are being enabled in some
way by technology. Technology is widely used in IT skills (both general and professional) and
compliance (health & safety and industry specific) training; however a significant number of
organisations are still addressing these areas without technology.
Public sector organisations tend to offer more basic skills, IT skills (both user and professional) and
programmes related to health and safety, equality and diversity, equal opportunities, or
environmental awareness.
Private sector organisations offer significantly more customer service, sales and marketing, team
working, problem solving and communication/interpersonal skills. Not‐for‐profit organisations offer
less training in all subject areas but are more likely to support office/admin skills than others.
“e‐learning is being used to prove competence before access is given to certain ICT systems.”
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Figure 11 Variation between sectors in skills programmes offered
General IT user skills
General
Office / admin
Basic skills
Leadership & management
Communication / Interpersonal skills Not‐for‐profit
Soft
Team working Private sector
Problem solving Public sector
Compliance‐
Health & safety
related
N=414
CSR related
Industry specific regulatory requirements
Induction
Technical/
company‐
related
Company specific
IT professional
Customer handling/service
Customer‐
related
Sales & marketing
Foreign languages
2.3.1 Long term trends in skills programmes
In 2008 we introduced the concept of an e‐rating to measure the probability of a subject being
delivered with the help of technology (even if that subject isn’t widely used across the organisation).
So for example if 10 organisations deliver a subject but only 3 include technology in the programme,
then the skills rating for that programme would be 0.3. The higher the skills rating the more likely
the subject will be e‐enabled.
Over the last 18 months the e‐rating for every subject (with the exception of office/admin skills
which fewer organisations are offering in general) has increased, showing that more programmes
are embedding technology in them than ever before. The subjects showing the biggest jump in e‐
rating are health and safety, leadership and management and foreign language skills.
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Figure 12 Comparison of e‐rating between 2008 and 2010
Foreign language
Basic skills
Sales & marketing
Problem solving
Team working
Customer service
Office/admin
Communication/interpersonal
2008 e‐rating
CSR
2010 e‐rating
Leadership & management
IT professional
Industry compliance
Company specific
Induction
Health & safety
IT user
2.3.2 Qualifications and the expectations of external providers
4 out of 5 organisations work with external suppliers to support accredited programmes but over
80% of corporate organisations say that the innovative use of learning technologies will be a
deciding factor in their selection of an external learning provider in the future.
Very few organisations reported that their learning programmes (regardless of media) directly led to
external accreditation. The areas most likely to lead to qualifications are management (28%) and IT
professional (27%) programmes. Public sector organisations are the most likely to offer accreditation
for those programmes where there are widespread existing qualifications.
Figure 13 Organisations offering learning leading to qualifications
Leadership & management
IT professional
General IT user skills
Basic skills
Other sectors
Office / admin
Public sector
Customer handling/service
N=435
Improving own learning and performance
Sales & marketing
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Participants were also asked about their use of external learning providers in general:
• 84% used commercial providers to support professional qualifications;
• 89% used commercial training providers for general training that didn’t lead to
qualifications;
• On average, 67% used publicly funded providers (to deliver apprenticeships, NVQs etc) but
this varies from 83% of public sector organisations to 53% of private sector organisations.
Whilst demand for accreditation overall is low, expectations of providers who deliver the
qualifications to be more innovative in their use of technology was high. Over 80% of organisations
say that innovative use of learning technology will be a deciding factor in their future selection of an
external learning provider in the future. One third report that this is critical today and only 17% did
not have any expectations of their providers in this respect.
This section considers who is offered e‐enabled learning in organisations and where they can
access it. Learning technologies are being used to support learners at all levels in the organisation
but primarily those in senior or desk‐based positions. Learners are increasingly able to access e‐
learning from home and mobile devices.
Top 5 locations where learning is offered Top 5 users of learning
1. At the desk (98%) 1. Middle/Line managers (81%)
2. At home (77%) 2. Professional grades (79%)
3. Other locations away from work (57%) 3. Admin/customer services with PC (76%)
4. At work in a quiet location (48%) 4. Technician grades (67%)
5. At work in a learning centre (41%) 5. Directors/Senior managers (56%)
See Appendix for full details Reported by over half of participating organisations
In terms of audience, the 2010 benchmark establishes for the first time the use of learning
technology in apprenticeship programmes (38% offer this to apprentices) and to support those in
the customer (42%) and supply chain (16%).
Mature organisations continue to offer learning to a wider audience than others, including their
directors and supply chain:
• Mature organisations are 3 times as likely to offer e‐learning to their customers and
suppliers as the ‘novices’.
• Their directors and senior managers are more than twice as likely to be using learning
technologies (81% in ‘embedded’; 33% in ‘novice/sporadic’);
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• They are more likely to be able to access learning technologies from home (87% in
‘embedded’; 67% in ‘novice/sporadic’) or from other locations away from work (68% in
‘embedded’; 42% in ‘novice/sporadic’)
2.4.1 Long term trends in the take‐up of learning technologies
Historically learning technologies were primarily offered to professional grade or a desk‐based
worker with a PC. There has been an increase in the offering of learning to those who are in manual
positions (up from 37% to 55%), or who are travelling or in service jobs (up from 22% to 38%).
Over the last 18 months, IT infrastructure to support mobile and non work‐based access to learning
has increased as shown in Figure 14.
Public sector organisations are continuing to offer access to their e‐learning at learning centres (62%
compared with 28% in other sectors) although there has been an overall decline in use of learning
centres as organisations move away from the more traditional learning locations.
Figure 14 Locations where users can access e‐learning provision
On a mobile phone or PDA
When travelling
At home
2010 N=435
Other location away from work 2008 N=262
At work but not at a desk
At work in a learning centre
At work in a quiet area nearby
At the desk
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
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The barriers holding us back from achieving success with learning technologies in 2010 are within
our power to change! The biggest barriers are the people themselves ‐ at all levels within the
organisation.
The top 10 barriers restricting implementation of e‐learning in
“Employees are not really
2010 are:
warming to eLearning”
1. Lack of skills amongst employees to manage own
“Users don't lack skills, they
learning (63%)
lack the motivation to use
2. Lack of knowledge about its potential use and
implementation (62%) e‐learning”
3. Lack of skills amongst training staff (59%)
4. Reluctance by line managers to encourage new ways of “Suppliers not providing
learning (59%) systems that link into our
5. Reluctance by users to learn with new technology (55%) current systems and allow us
6. Unreliable ICT infrastructure/low bandwidth technical to easily track usage”
restrictions/firewall (51%)
7. Cost of set‐up, development and maintenance (47%) “L&D Trainers think they are
8. Poor past experience (39%) irreplaceable”
9. Reluctance by L&D staff to adopt new technology (33%)
10. Lack of attractive, relevant and high‐quality e‐learning “Active resistance by IT staff”
(31%)
“Senior Management
See Appendix for the full list of barriers. reluctant to adopt new
technology”
The main barriers to implementing e‐learning were consistent across all companies. The not‐for‐
profit sector consistently report fewer barriers than other sectors. There is a perception amongst
public sector organisations in particular, that there is a strong reluctance by users to use learning
technologies and that they do not have the required ICT skills.
The private sector is more concerned about the quality of content and the reluctance of their L&D
staff to use new methods.
It is important to note that this survey is primarily the perspective of L&D professionals – data from
other surveys show that learners are more willing to learn in this way than they give credit for.
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Figure 15 Barriers reported by different sectors
Employee skills/reluctance
L&D skills/reluctance
Not‐for‐profit
e‐learning content and supply
Private sector
Public sector
Manager reluctance N=377
Technical/accessibility factors
There is a demand within business for learning to deliver improved performance 5and Cegos
research with staff shows that there is a real hunger within individuals that matches the hunger of
business itself for change6.
2.5.1 How have the barriers shifted over time?
Fewer organisations now report barriers to the adoption of learning technologies than in previous
research. However, the knowledge and skills of the training staff required to manage the
implementation of learning technologies and understand their potential remain major barriers to
uptake and progress.
In 2004, poor infrastructure was cited as one of the top 3 barriers; in 2006 the cost of set‐up was at
number 1; in 2008 the top 3 barriers were all to do with people: reluctance by staff to engage in e‐
learning, lack of knowledge and a lack of skill within learning and development teams to implement
e‐learning.
In 2010 organisations overall are reporting fewer barriers but the top barriers to success are still
linked to people and culture. The numbers reporting these as amongst the top barriers to learning
are not decreasing significantly over time. It seems that organisations are not learning from mistakes
of the past, poor past experience as a barrier has been growing by 1 or 2% per annum consistently
over the years and is now amongst the top barriers for over a quarter of the sample.
Back in 2006, 17% of organisations claimed that IT skills of their users would still be a barrier in 2
years time. This has fallen marginally to 14%. However, in 2006, 23% claimed inadequate IT
infrastructure would continue to be a concern moving forward. This is still an area of concern for
26% or organisations.
5
CBI report on business over the next 10 years http://www.cbi.org.uk/pdf/20091123‐cbi‐shape‐of‐business.pdf
6
http://www.towardsmaturity.org/elements/uploads/Cegos_2010_European_training_survey_powerpoint_june_10.pdf
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In 2006, we reported that hype from suppliers was a bigger potential barrier than lack of IT skills or
access to PCs. Organisations are less concerned about this (8%) than about the availability of quality
e‐learning content, tailored to their requirements.
Figure 16 Trends in barriers to learning technologies
Reluctance by staff to adopt new technology
Lack of knowledge about potential
Lack of skills to implement and manage
Cost of set‐up and maintenance
Unreliable ICT
Poor past experience 2010 N=377
2008 N=258
Lack of attractive,relevant quality e‐learning
Staff ICT skills
e‐learning too generic for specific need
Suppliers overemphasise benefits
Insufficient staff access to computers
In addition to understanding what organisations are doing (and expecting) from their use of learning
technologies, over recent years this Benchmark Survey has also investigated factors relating to their
implementation in the workplace. Previous studies have allowed us to develop the Towards Maturity
model consisting of 6 workstreams made up of 19 activity areas7. Scores for the 19 activity areas are
calculated from the responses to over 80 individual action statements which participants were asked
to agree or disagree with on a 9 point scale.
71 of the action statements were unchanged from previous years allowing implementation
behaviours to be compared year on year. However, a number of statements were reviewed and
some new statements were added following consultation with industry experts to reflect changing
practices associated with learning technologies.
All the action statements included in the Benchmark continued to show a positive correlation with
business impact.
7
Full details in Annex 3
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2.6.1 Changing implementation behaviour
In comparison with previous studies, a greater number of organisations agreed that their use of
learning technology gives learners more control over their own development (42% agreed in 2010
vs. 26% in 2008). Similarly more organisations are likely to provide recognition to learners for their
achievements (20% agreed in 2010 vs. 13% in 2008).
3 out of 5 organisations consider their programmes to be relevant to current jobs (up 7% from 2008)
and 61% agree that they use video, audio and animation in addition to text in their programme
design (up 9% but still leaving 2 out of 5 organisations delivering predominantly text based content
in 2010).
Overall, just 15 out of 71 actions which were included in both 2008 and 2010 showed improvement.
The majority of implementation behaviours have decreased. For example:
• There is less focus on strategic alignment than before:
o Only 30% agree that there is an organisation wide strategy (43% in 2008);
• e‐learning programmes are more likely to be designed to stand alone than in 2008:
o only 27% agree that their face to face training actively builds on the knowledge
gained through e‐learning (42% in 2008);
o 28% of agree that their trainers provide support to learners (65% in 2008);
• Whilst more organisations agree that their learning is aligned to need, they are less likely to
measure this than before:
o 8% fewer organisations agree that they set measurable targets for e‐learning;
o Organisations are half as likely to measure specific business metrics when evaluating
now than in 2008 (only 13% of organisations agree they do this now);
• In terms of business engagement:
o Organisations are less likely to agree that they communicate successes to managers
(32% agree they do this now compared with 43% in 2008);
o Organisations are less likely to agree that staff will engage without prompting.
In 2008, there was an increased focus on blended learning, supporting learners and alignment to
business needs and strategy. In 2010, whilst overall demand for learning technologies has increased,
organisations are more likely to be delivering stand alone e‐learning programmes than blended
learning solutions that are aligned to business needs and support the learner.
At a time where budgets are under pressure and L&D is in danger of being cut back, organisations
are less likely to measure impact on the issues that are important and less likely to communicate
what they are achieving to those that matter.
The last 18 months have generated great demand but organisations are pulling back from effective
implementation practices that influence success.
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2.6.2 Comparing private and public and not‐for‐profit sectors
There were very little differences between public and private sector implementation behaviours at
the highest levels.
Whilst many of the implementation practices are comparable, the public sector is more likely to
focus on individuals and individual achievement than the private sector. Compared with the private
sector, the public sector is more likely to agree that:
• Their L&D activity has a clear statement of vision (52% vs. 45%);
• That their e‐learning supports the skills that their business needs (55% vs. 50%);
• Individual learners are rewarded or given recognition of achievement (24% vs. 18%);
• They complete pilot programmes before implementing major changes (44% vs. 36%);
• Their trainers provide e‐tutor support to learners (33% vs. 24%);
• They publicise the success of individuals (12% vs. 7%).
Private sector organisations are more focussed on managers and practices that help them embed
learning and integrate their technology systems. Compared to the public sector, the private sector is
more likely to agree that:
• Managers give staff time to learn at home (27% vs. 9%);
• Their technologies integrate with their HR systems (34% vs. 19%);
• They use diagnostic tools to tailor learning to individual needs (15% vs. 10%);
• Use specific business measures of effectiveness (16% vs. 11%);
• Their top managers are involved in promotion (23% vs. 19%).
Generally, not‐for‐profit organisations were less likely to score as high as the others but this is to be
expected given that the majority are very early in their learning technology implementation journey.
However the not‐for‐profit sector is more likely to:
• Encourage peer to peer feedback from learners (43% compared with 38% private sector and
43% public sector);
• Have established good links with IT (57% agree compared with 54% in the public sector and
57% private sector).
The opportunities presented by learning technologies to strengthen the business case for training
have not been exploited. The emphasis over the last 2 years has been on automation rather than
business transformation.
2.7.1 Budget allocation
236 free text responses to the question ‘Has the economic climate affected your use of learning
technologies?’ were analysed. The figure below highlights that for 55% respondents, the economic
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climate has had a positive influence resulting in both increased use and in the positive focus learning
technologies has received by businesses which has accelerated their plans for adoption.
This pattern has been reflected in the way that budgets have been allocated.
Figure 17 Impact of the current economic climate on planned usage of learning technologies
Faster adoption 3%
Budget reduced 9%
42% of organisations believe that they are facing a reduction in their overall training budget over the
next 2 years (compared with only 26% in 2008). Only 17% of all respondents are anticipating any
increase in their overall budget in 2010 compared with 21% in 2008 who expected an increase.
As a consequence of the perceived or actual cost reductions or efficiency improvements achieved
with learning technologies, more organisations have increased the percentage of that budget
allocated to e‐learning than in 2008.
• In 2010, 1 in 4 organisations are now allocating over 30% of their budget to e‐
learning, increasing from 1 in 10 organisations in 2008.
• 7 out of 10 are predicting their e‐learning allocation will increase or stay the same
over the next 2 years (similar to predictions reported in 2008).
However, the proportion expecting a reduced allocation of budget to learning technologies has
jumped from 2% to 26%, despite increased demand for the benefits (Figure 17).
NB. Many budgets have dropped over that time so real spend may not have increased accordingly
and certainly many plans for technology have been thwarted as a result.
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Figure 18 Spending expectations over the next 2 years
2008 predictions 2010 predictions
70% 70%
60% 60%
% respondents
% respondents
50% 50%
40% 40%
30% 30%
20% 20%
10% 10%
0% 0%
Decrease Stay the same Increase Decrease Stay the same Increase
e‐learning as % of budget Overall training budget e‐learning as % of budget Overall training budget
Whilst the trend had been for consistent growth in the implementation of learning technologies
from 2004 to 2006 and many organisations were predicting further increases, the reality has been
that the expected growth in the last 18 months has not been realised.
As the technical constraints of low bandwidth and unreliable infrastructure gave way to a rapid
increase in innovative mobile and social media platforms for learning, with established proven
business benefits for learning technologies, demand for e‐learning was both broadening into new
skills areas and increasing reach and accessibility of innovative methods of supporting existing
programmes.
However, the opportunities which learning technologies might have presented to support
organisations under increasing economic pressure to ‘do more for less’ have not been embraced:
• Reduced cost of development ‐ through the use of in‐house rapid tools, open source
software and cheaper communications;
• Greater demand from a wider audience – extended to customer and supply chains –
potentially reducing the unit cost of delivery;
• Improved management of learners and content allowing greater personalisation of learning;
• Greater benefits delivered and faster, more consistent results.
The recession has instead meant that organisations are sticking to tried and tested methods and are
reluctant to experiment with new technologies. The technologies that accelerated most in 2008
were about delivering business agility ‐ Rapid Application Development, podcasting, virtual
classrooms etc. But these tools have all remained static since. This may be due to fewer staff and
fewer in‐house skills to draw on or due to a lack of confidence to try something new in difficult
times.
Looking to the future, organisations are less confident of maintaining or increasing their training
budget, although 65% still remain optimistic that the overall budget allocation for learning
technologies will increase.
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2.8 Summary
Our expectations of the contribution of technology to learning are higher than ever – a wider
range of drivers have been cited by more organisations in 2010 than in the previous history
of the benchmark with the top 10 drivers cited by 75% or more of all respondents.
Compared with 2008, emphasis has been less on providing service to business and more on
learning efficiency with 8 out of the top 10 drivers linked to improving learning (e.g.
improving reach, access, cost saving).Only 2 out of 10 related to improved business service
(getting new staff onboard and improving rollout of IT systems).
Organisations are reporting fewer barriers overall, but the top barriers are all related to skills
and attitude. Poor previous past experience is the only barrier that is increasing over time
(now reported by 1 in 4 organisations) – a possible warning for the future.
Looking forward, in terms of working with external providers for skills programmes, over
80% 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.
More of the available training budget is being allocated to learning technologies than before.
Technologies
There has been continued growth in tried and tested technologies – with 80% of all
participants now using electronic content, learning management systems online assessment
and surveys.
Whilst no technologies reached the adoption rates predicted in 2008,some have still shown
significant increases in use ‐ mobile learning is now in use by 36% of organisations (up from
6% in 2008) and use of content management systems has doubled with 50% of organisations
now using them.
Mature organisations are using a greater range of additional tools and technologies –
embedded users are four times a likely to be using virtual classrooms and online books (even
though use of these tools has dropped overall since 2008).
The forecast meteoric rise in the use of social media for learning is not evident despite the
fact that nearly 50% of participants allow access to third party social network to staff.
Implementation activity
More organisations are embedding technology in more skills programmes than in 2008 and
are offering learning technologies to more staff in more places than ever before.
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Organisations have higher expectations of external learning providers with 80% stating that
innovative use of learning technology will be a deciding factor in their selection of an
external learning provider in the future.
The implementation behaviours within the Towards Maturity model were each previously
established to correlate to improved performance. Only 20% of the implementation
behaviour has shown any positive improvement. 80% of the 71 behaviours previously
investigated have decreased:
o There is less focus on strategic alignment than before;
o e‐learning programmes are more likely to be designed to stand alone than in 2008;
o Whilst more organisations agree that their learning is aligned to need, they are less
likely to measure this than before.
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There is a general optimism that learning technologies will bring greater benefits than are actually
being realised. On average, some 30% of organisations are still failing to realise the benefits they
seek.
The top 10 benefits achieved in 2010 are: Other benefits cited:
1. Comply with legal requirements (65%) “To create a learning culture”
2. Increase access to learning (61%)
“Allow just‐in‐time learning in
3. Increase flexibility (61%) bite‐sized chunks”
4. Reduce training costs (59%)
“Real‐time access to
5. Reduce time away from the job (56%) knowledge and expertise”
6. Improve quality of learning (55%)
7. Help implement new products and processes (54%)
8. Deliver a greater volume of learning (53%)
9. Implement new IT systems (52%)
10. Extend the reach of training (52%)
Percentage of organisations across the total sample actually achieving the benefit
that they are looking for (n varies as not all are looking for all of these benefits).
See Appendix for a full list of benefits.
The top benefits achieved by organisations differ from the top drivers. Figure 19 highlights benefits
achieved against the top 10 drivers (plus compliance and implementing new IT systems, which were
just outside of the top 10). Nearly 90% of those looking to demonstrate compliance were achieving
this and 70% were able to reduce time away from the job, reduce cost, and implement new
products, processes and IT systems better.
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Figure 19 Top 10 drivers –delivering the benefits sought
Increase access to learning
Improve the quality of learning delivered
Increase flexibility in providing staff training
Improve management and administration
Reduce training costs
Extend the reach of training
Reduce time away from the job
Improve induction training
Achieve greater consistency
Help implement new processes or products
% realising benefit sought % driver
However, three factors stand out as the benefit sought is not being realised:
• Only 50% looking to improve their management and administration of learning at work were
actually achieving this;
• Just over 50% of those looking to improve induction processes were doing so ;
• Only 30% of those looking to improve monitoring of impact measure were achieving this.
A number of questions asked about the extent to which benefits were achieved. Where the benefits
have been quantified by respondents, there are measurable improvements in terms of:
• 8% increase in qualifications gained by staff;
• 9% improvement in customer satisfaction;
• 8% improvement in staff satisfaction/engagement with learning;
• 9% improvement in ability to change procedures or products;
• 12% improvement in efficiency in demonstrating compliance;
• 13% extension of reach of learning to staff;
• 11% increase in speed of rollout of new IT applications.
Respondents also cited benefits to their learning and development staff in terms of:
• Improving trainer professionalism;
• Expanding the skills base of the trainers.
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They noted particular benefits in terms of:
• Improving technical understanding of difficult and demanding applications;
• Staff using technology within 60% of time normally taken;
• A culture change towards 'self‐service', support for other HR processes, reduced duplication;
• Real time access to knowledge and expertise.
3.1.1 Change in benefits over time
More organisations are reporting benefits from implementing e‐learning than in 2008, with
compliance, increasing volume and reducing cost showing the greatest increases. Figure 20
illustrates those benefits delivered which have increased since 2008.
Figure 20 Change in benefits delivered with time
Improve access
Increase flexibility
Demonstrate compliance
Reduce costs 2010 N=377
2008 N= 261
Improve induction
Improve adminstration
Deliver greater volume
Comparing the benefits being realised across sectors, the private sector is most likely to report more
benefits than the others. The top benefit reported by private and public sector was demonstrating
compliance and the top benefit for the not‐for‐profit sector was increasing access and flexibility.
Overall benefits reported by the not‐for‐profit sector were lower than the others but this is probably
due to the fact that a higher proportion of organisations in the not‐for‐profit sector consider
themselves to be novice or sporadic users of e‐learning compared with other sectors and have been
using technology for less time overall (see Figure 6 on page 11).
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Figure 21 Variation in benefits between sectors
Increase access
Increase flexibility
Reduce training costs
Reduce time away from the job
Help implement new IT systems
Not for profit
Comply with legal requirements Private sector
Public sector
Achieve greater consistency
Extend the reach of training N=377
Improve induction training
Improve quality of learning
Deliver greater volume of learning
Increase productivity
3.1.2 Maturity and benefits
Those who are more mature in their use of learning technologies report more benefits. This has
been consistent over 8 years of benchmarking.
Those that have successfully embedded e‐learning are realising greater benefits than the novice or
sporadic users across all areas studied and also reporting a wider range of benefits. When compared
to sporadic and novice users, more mature users (established and embedded) are 3‐4 times more
likely to report improved productivity, staff satisfaction and respond faster to business demand and
they are 5‐6 times more likely to report improved monitoring of their impact measures.
This may be because some benefits may be harder to achieve than others, noticeably where
organisations are at different stages of maturity.
Easier to achieve – reported by organisations at More difficult to achieve – only reported by
all maturity levels those with embedded e‐learning
Compliance Improve monitoring of impact measures
Improve induction training Engage new types of learners
Achieve greater consistency Improve staff satisfaction
Reduce time away from the job Improve learning management & administration
Help implement new IT systems Increase productivity
Develop a better qualified workforce Respond faster to changing business need
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Not only are the more mature organisations reporting greater benefits, but they are also more likely
to be able to quantify the benefits they are realising. For example:
Table 4 Measurement of benefits by mature organisations
To date, the measure of e‐learning maturity used has been self‐selected by respondents. Whilst
comparisons between maturity segments can provide helpful pointers towards those
implementation activities that influence business results, it gives a very subjective way of
benchmarking progress and determining ways in which organisations can accelerate their
performance. Many organisations have requested the requirement to have clear specific
performance indicators allow them to compare their performance with other organisations and
measure their own improvement over time.
In 2010 a new Towards Maturity Index (TMI) has been developed to help organisations compare
their implementation practices with others and provide a reference point to support
improvement. Those in the top quartile of best practice are reporting 10% more cost saving, and
are able to double the reduction in time to competency compared to the average.
In previous studies we identified 6 workstreams of behaviour that influence the successful use of
learning technologies in the workplace. These workstreams define the Towards Maturity Model.
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The workstreams can be broken down into 19 activity areas and 95 statements which describe best
practice gleaned from 7 years of investigative research with high performing organisations.
In 2010 we have used organisations’ feedback on where they stand against this previously identified
best practice to compile a new Towards Maturity Index – a composite measure on a scale of 1‐100
that provides a single benchmark of implementation maturity across the 6 workstreams. Rather than
rely on subjective assessments, the TMI provides an objective, authoritative measure of maturity in
an organisation's use of innovative learning methods.
In addition, the TMIs averaged across all organisations, provides a measure of the health of the e‐
learning industry. Year on year comparisons derived from its annual recalibration, will indicate the
degree to which technologies are being successfully implemented in learning and development
activity.
The 2010 value for the TMI sets the baseline for future research.
The average value of the TM Index for 2010, across all organisations measured, is 48.46
3.2.1 Calculating the TMI
The TMI is calculated independently from respondents’ quantitative estimates of benefits delivered,
allowing the differences in practice between high scoring and low scoring organisations to be
investigated. 100%
90%
We asked respondents to rate their agreement with
over 80 statements that described the best practice 80%
established over the last 7 years of research on a
70%
scale of 1 to 9, where 1 indicated no agreement, and
9 indicated complete agreement. 60%
50% Disagree
For example: Unsure
40% Agree
“There is an organisation‐wide e‐learning strategy”
30%
TMI Top quartile average rating 6.8 out of 9
20%
TMI Q2 4.5
10%
TMI Q3 3.5
0%
TMI Bottom quartile 2.5 Top Q2 Q3 Bottom
quartile quartile
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The graph illustrates, for this one statement, the distribution of scores within the quartiles of TMI
(where ‘Agree’ = scores of 7 and above, ’Unsure’= scores of 4‐6 and ‘Disagree’= scores of 3 or
below).
The TMI was determined by Principal Component Analysis, minimising the variation across all
responses.
3.2.2 Results reported by top quartile organisations
The new TMI allows us to compare the results and behaviour of those in the top quartile of good
practice (the 25% of organisations with the highest TMI score) with the averages across the sample
to understand how implementation behaviour influences results.
Those in the top quartile of implementation best practice (as identified by the TMI) were at least
three times as likely to report the following benefits as those in the bottom quartile.
• Improved staff satisfaction (7 times as likely);
• Increased productivity (6 times as likely);
• Improved monitoring of impact measures (5 times as likely);
• Improved management and administration (3 times as likely);
• Improved customer satisfaction (3 times as likely).
Those in the top quartile of implementation good practice were at least twice as likely to report all
other benefits as those in the bottom quartile.
They are more also likely to report:
• Increased allocation of budget for e‐learning;
• Their Directors and Senior managers are using e‐learning;
• Their e‐learning is being used by their staff at home as well as at work.
They are less likely to report:
• Barriers to implementation;
• Restrictions on the use of social media.
These differences are explored further in section 4.
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Best practice continues to improve impact significantly, those in the top quartile of best practice
are reporting 10% more cost saving, and are able to double the reduction in time to competency
compared to the average.
The Towards Maturity benchmark 2010 measured the overall productivity improvements:
• 65% (215 out of 333) companies found technology improved the ability to deliver learning
rapidly although 27% do not measure this;
• 28.5% (130 out of 322) companies found their learners reached competency in their jobs
more quickly when e‐learning was part of the delivery blend (52% do not measure this);
• 53% (164 out of 308) companies delivered more learning than before.
In addition to the general benefits, TMI top quartile organisations are realising significantly greater
cost savings, reducing overall study time and their staff are becoming competent in their jobs more
quickly than those in other quartiles.
The benchmark research has isolated several new Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to help
organisations compare the impact their implementation of learning technology is having on their
business with other organisations. The KPIs are grouped according to:
Take up of e‐learning
Percentage of potential audience that are using learning technologies
Percentage of formal learning that is e‐enabled
Efficiency
Cost – average saving in delivering learning
Volume – average increase in volume of learning delivered
Time – average study time saved as a result of using technology
Business agility
Rapidity: speed of delivery
Time to proven competency
Each of these KPIs is shown in the tables overleaf for those in the top quartile of the new TMI, those
in the bottom quartile and an average score across all respondents.
The Industry Benchmark scores represent the KPIs exceeded by the top quartile of organisations
as measured by the new TMI.
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3.3.1 Take‐up
The take‐up KPIs are taken from direct questions to establish the percentage of audience using e‐
learning and of formal learning that is e‐enabled.
3.3.2 Efficiency
Efficiency KPIs are aggregated from responses to multiple choice questions (for example a
participant ticking that they have saved 15% or more in time, cost etc would only be counted as
saving 15% even if their saving may have been 50% or higher.
3.3.3 Business agility
The Business Agility KPIs consider the ability of both learners and L&D teams to respond faster to
changing business needs. Where we exclude those organisations that did not respond, or did not
measure business agility, learning was delivered on average 26.7% faster (up from 19.6%) and time
to competency was reduced by 18.5% (improved from 8.9%).
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3.3.4 Comparing Key Performance Indicators across sectors
Private sector organisations score consistently higher than other sectors in the new Take‐up and
Efficiency KPIs. They are also more likely to measure their performance. Sector KPI scores are listed
in Annex 4.
Although differences are not marked, public sector organisations are achieving the highest KPIs for
Business Agility. Figure 22 below illustrates both the values of the KPIs across the whole survey and
the values when non‐measuring organisations are excluded and the sample size reduced.
Figure 22 Comparison of sectoral KPIs against the industry benchmark
Time to competency (excluding no metrics) 28%
Business Agility KPIs
Time to competency (all respondents) 21%
Rapidity (excluding no metrics) 37%
Rapidity (all respondents) 31%
Private sector
Cost reduction 21%
Take‐up KPIs
% formal learning e‐enabled 36%
% who use e‐learning 76%
NB. Industry benchmark indicated by TMI Top Quartile boundary
Those in the top quartile of implementation practice are reporting increased benefits of
e‐learning. Learning technologies are transforming their business and facilitating organisational
change. The Business Impact KPI and Staff Impact KPI summarise performance independently from
the TMI.
Those in the top quartile of implementation practices (as identified by the TM Index) are at least
twice as likely to report benefits identified in Figure 19 as those in the bottom quartile. We also
analysed the data to provide 2 additional overall Key Performance Indicators – Business Impact KPI
and Staff Impact KPI. These measures are derived from survey data, calculated entirely
independently from the TMI.
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Business Impact KPI is derived from overall benefits reported relating to cost, time saving and
perceived management perception of business benefits (on a scale of 1 to 9) in terms of:
• Cost Reduction – reflected in reduction in the cost of learning provision and in direct
contribution to revenue and productivity improvement;
• Time Saving – reflected both in study time and in the time to competency;
• Quality Improvement – reflected in managers’ realisation of intangible benefits.
• Increase in the volume of training.
Staff Impact KPI is derived from the benefits reported relating to staff motivation, satisfaction,
qualifications and quality of learning which the company is delivering as a result of implementing
learning technologies (on a scale of 1 to 9):
• Learner engagement – reflected in availability and take up of learning and qualifications;
• Managerial support – reflected in the commitment of line and senior managers to support
and use learning technologies;
• Learning and Development team – reflected in their skills to use new technologies.
It is not a measure of uptake which is shown separately in the new Take‐up KPI above.
Private sector organisations report greater benefits in terms of both business and staff impact than
other sectors.
Figure 23 Comparison of sectoral impact KPIs against the industry benchmark
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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3.5 Summary
More benefits are being reported by more organisations than ever before:
• More are reporting a reduction in cost up to 55% since 2008), improved induction (up 10%
to 43%) and improved efficiency in meeting compliance requirements (up to 53%);
• However, on average, 30% of organisations are not yet realising the benefits they are
looking for;
• Private sector organisations are more likely to be realising benefits than public or not‐for‐
profit ones in the areas that the public sector has flagged as key drivers. E.g. reach, reducing
cost, reducing time away from the job;
• In order to analyse the extent to which mature organisations are delivering more this report
introduces the Towards Maturity index;
• Those in the top quartile of the Towards Maturity index are reporting 10% more cost saving,
and are able to double the reduction in time to competency compared to the average;
• Private sectors score consistently higher on efficiency and take up than the others, the
public sector scores marginally higher on agility.
The new Towards Maturity Index and KPIs form a foundation for industry benchmarking to support
performance improvement.
The KPIs allow comparisons against industry sector, organisation size and type, geographical spread
or even departments within a single organisation. Even for the top performing organisations in terms
of TMI, the KPIs can point to areas where further improvements can be focused to maximise impact
from learning technologies.
“Benchmarking activities such as this is an excellent barometer for us. It is also useful to
understand against specific industries or organisations with similar numbers of personnel
(for example), what interventions work well and share the successes.”
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4 Accelerating Performance
Top quartile organisations report the greatest benefits from innovative approaches to e‐learning,
in terms of efficiency, take‐up and improved business agility. This section highlights some of the
implementation practices that differentiate these top performers that will help others to
accelerate their own performance.
At the start of this research programme 7 years ago, the majority of the use of technology in
learning was targeted at traditional e‐learning programmes. At that time, the concept of maturity
within an organisation was limited to the extent to which e‐learning programmes were successfully
accepted and used across the organisation. Delivery of structured learning interventions where
experts disseminate content to learners (either face to face or online) does not address the myriad
ways in which individuals build the complex skill sets required to do a continually changing job in the
21st century.
As a result, a number of new models of learning8 are increasingly being considered and applied.
These still advocate an element of formal learning with specific programmes planned and structured
to deliver new skills. However these are now balanced with an understanding that most learning is
picked up on the job through application, 100%
reflection and interaction with the wider
90%
community or through the support of mentors
and coaches. Technology is a key enabler of 80%
these new approaches. 70%
Most of the organisations in the top quartile of 60%
Embedded
the TM Index describe their use of learning Established
50%
technologies as ‘embedded’ or ‘established’ Developing
throughout all courses and all departments ( 40% Sporadic
Novice
Figure 24). Conversely, 70% of the
30%
‘novice’ organisations fall in the bottom quartile N=372
for the TM Index reflecting the fact that many 20%
are new to using technology. Most of those in 10%
the lower 3 quartiles are developing or sporadic
0%
users and could have been using technology for
Top Q2 Q3 Bottom
a while without realising its full potential. quartile TMI quartile
Figure 24 TMI related to e‐learning maturity
8
See L&D 2020 research by Training Journal; the 70:20:10 model; Internet Time Alliance workscapes model and others.
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But are those in the top TMI quartile, typically describing themselves as ‘established’ or ‘embedded’
users reflecting new models of experiential workplace learning? Are they harnessing the formal
learning opportunities that traditional e‐learning offers more effectively? Or is it a combination of
both? Are there lessons to be learned from these practices that will help others to accelerate their
own performance improvement?
4.1.1 Approach to analysing top quartile behaviour
This section explores these questions by analysing the behaviour of top quartile organisations,
comparing tools used, skills offered and audiences supported. It also highlights specific aspects of
implementation approaches that are more likely to be reported in the top TMI quartile than any
other to understand how they differ.
The TM Index (TMI) has been calculated to provide a single Benchmark of implementation maturity
across the 6 workstreams of good practice as defined by the Towards Maturity Model (see Annex 3
for a full description). As a result those in the top quartile of the TMI, by definition, will score higher
across all of the action areas within this model.
Figure 25 Typical TMI profile of performance 'Accelerator'
Accelerators There is an organisation‐wide
e‐learning strategy
However, a number of specific actions 70%
within the Towards Maturity Model were at 60%
% of quartile agreeing with statement
least twice as likely to be implemented in
50%
top quartile organisations than in any other
quartile. 40%
This pattern is illustrated in Figure 25. 30%
20%
We explore those top quartile behaviours in
more detail below as potential accelerators 10%
of improved performance.
0%
Bottom Q3 Q2 Top
quartile quartile
TMI
4.2.1 Tools and technologies
The tools most likely to be used by the majority of organisations, regardless of their maturity or
performance, are those that underpin formal learning interventions where learning is planned and
activities are set in a structured setting for learning (either on‐line or face to face). Tools that
facilitate formal learning include electronic based learning materials (e‐learning content),
assessment, surveys, simple screen simulations, administration systems and the like.
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A similar pattern emerges in the use of learning technologies to facilitate formal learning appeared
across all four quartiles of TMI. This pattern highlights that organisations are embracing the tools
relating to formal learning in a consistent manner, albeit at a different pace (Figure 26).
Figure 26 Learning technologies supporting formal learning
Top quartile
Electronic‐based learning Q2
materials Q3
100%
e‐portfolio Online assessment Bottom quartile
80%
Competency Management
Surveys and questionnaires
System
60%
40% Intranet with web learning
Skills diagnostic tools
resources pages
20%
0%
LMS integrated with HR/ERP
Video conferencing
systems
Enterprise wide information
Simple screen simulations
services
Virtual Learning Environment Content Management System
NB. A score of 100% indicates that every respondent reported using this technology
These tools typically facilitate the automation of the training delivery process from assessment,
content design, and basic management of resources and assets. Top quartile organisations on the
whole use more of the core tools but those in the top quartiles are also more likely to introduce
tools that:
• manage programme delivery more efficiently (content management systems, integrated
learning management systems and virtual learning environments);
• target offerings more effectively (skills diagnostic tools and competency management
systems);
• speed up delivery and development of programmes, while continuing to drive down cost by
bringing development in house (e.g. rapid tools, video conferencing and virtual classrooms);
• support reflection and application of learning (such as enterprise wide information services
such as SharePoint and e‐portfolios).
Top quartile organisations are also more likely to support more flexible access to learning for those
working away from the office. For example, 54% of top quartile organisations make learning
available on mobile devices vs. 27% of bottom quartile, 91% of top quartile organisations make
learning available via laptops or tablet PCs vs. 62% of the bottom quartile.
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4.2.2 Audience profile and skills offering
Top quartile organisations are extending the reach of their offering to their suppliers and
customers and are proactively engaging directors as learners.
Whilst high performing organisations in terms of TMI have a greater proportion of their staff overall
using e‐learning, Figure 27 illustrates that these organisations have significant engagement from
their Directors and Senior Managers and are also most likely to provide learning opportunities to
their customer and supplier communities.
Figure 27 Users of e‐learning related to TMI
100%
90%
80%
Director or senior management
70%
Middle/Line manager/Shift
60% supervisors
Professional grades or equivalent
50%
Technician grades or equivalent
40%
Administrative or customer
30% service positions with a PC
Our customers/service users
20%
Our suppliers
10%
0%
Bottom Q3 Q2 Top quartile
quartile TMI
This continues to highlight the importance of directors as learners for high performing organisations
with 46% of top quartile organisations agreeing that their top managers are seen to use e‐learning
vs. only 2% of the bottom quartile.
4.2.3 Skills programmes offered
In all skills programmes the top quartile, on average, are 2.3 times more likely to deliver e‐enabled
programmes across the full range of subjects. However there are no areas where usage in the top
quartile is significantly greater than any other quartile. The table below highlights the skills
programmes that are e‐enabled by 50% or more of the top quartile organisations:
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Table 5 Skills areas e‐enabled by TMI top quartile organisations
Skills area % e‐enabled by
TMI top quartile
General IT and web user 80%
Company specific 76%
Induction 67%
IT professional 64%
Health and safety 64%
Industry specific regulatory 64%
Your skills 63%
Leadership and management 56%
CSR 55%
4.3.1 Defining Need
As organisations mature they are more likely to be increasingly
focussed on 2 activity areas to help them define need. They are more
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 more tactical level, they will also be
focussed on business alignment to ensure that learning is relevant to
the job in hand.
Within the defining need workstream, 2 action areas set the top quartile apart from the rest:
Whilst these actions may not have a direct causal relationship with performance indicators, the fact
that the strategy is no longer piecemeal across the organisation may introduce efficiencies and
profile of the solution that impact KPIs. Increased focus on measurement flags a potential increase in
accountability to the business which may raise profile and influence both design and assessment of
skills projects.
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4.3.2 Learner context
As organisations mature they are increasingly likely 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).
Within the learner context workstream, two interlinked action areas stand out for top quartile
organisations over the rest:
Despite the opportunity that technology provides to link learning programmes more seamlessly to
career paths, less than 1 in 4 organisations overall are taking advantage of the ability to align to
career aspirations of staff. The differentiating behaviour in top quartile is their focus on integrating
their learning programmes with career management strategies.
4.3.3 Work Context
As organisations mature in their use of learning technologies, they
are increasingly likely to proactively build IT relationships, integrating
with existing technical infrastructures to increase options for
learners. They also offer more managerial support to staff,
embedding learning within appraisal and talent management
systems.
Within the work context workstream there are 2 main accelerators for top quartile organisations:
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There appears to be a higher level of trust in top quartile organisations with managers and IT
departments providing opportunities for staff to use the web and learn from home. These cultural
differences may influence both formal learning opportunities and workplace learning opportunities
discussed later.
4.3.4 Building capability
As organisations mature in their use of learning technologies, they
are increasingly likely to be proactive in building skills in their L&D
workforce focussing on designing learning, assessing achievement,
supporting learning and facilitating collaboration.
The learning and development professional is at the heart of formal learning provision and this
workstream highlights that the more skilled they are the better the results. However there are a
number of action areas that set the top quartile apart from the others:
In the top quartile, organisations are more to likely introduce solutions that target learning (via
diagnostic tools). Rather than the traditional e‐learning stand‐alone course, they are creating
solutions that harness technology across the learning intervention to provide staff with more
support (via subject experts or L&D staff) and opportunities to engage with learning for both
assessment and practice.
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4.3.5 Ensuring engagement
As organisations mature in their use of learning technologies, they
are increasingly likely to 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.
Whilst 56% engage with trainers in the design of e‐learning, overall this is one of the weakest
implementation workstreams for organisations, with less than 1 in 3 agreeing that they are actively
implementing the individual actions within the workstream. The accelerators that set TMI top
quartile organisations apart from the rest are as follows:
TMI Top quartile organisations are proactive in engaging top managers as stakeholders and ensuring
that management teams are equipped to encourage learning back in the workplace. Trainers are
also engaged with providing learner support on‐line.
4.3.6 Demonstrating value
As organisations mature in their use of learning technologies, they
are increasingly likely to 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.
67% of the total sample routinely gathers feedback from learners following a course. However, this
is too often the key focus for the majority, making this the weakest workstream of the Towards
Maturity model. Less than 1 in 4 are proactively implementing the rest of the action areas in this
workstream. There are some accelerator practices that stand out in the TMI top quartile:
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Top quartile organisations are also more than 4 times as likely to use online tools for evaluation of
the business impact of their e‐learning. They are not only identifying key business metrics with the
business, but are closing the loop by measuring and reporting back against those metrics. Only 1 in
10 organisations publish individual successes (rising to 3 in 10 for top quartile organisations).
4.4.1 Tools and technologies
When it comes to tools and technologies to support social and experiential learning, overall the
adoption is much lower. However, the difference between the practices of the high and low scoring
TMI organisations is much more pronounced as shown in Figure 28.
Included in this category are tools that support what Marcia Conner and Tony Bingham9 term the
‘new social learning’:
• Information sharing – for example through online access to experts, online books, video on
demand, mobile apps, electronic performance support systems and communities of
practice:
o top quartile organisations are 4 times as likely to use Mobile Apps as organisations in
any other quartile.
o 75% of top quartile organisations encourage the use of communities of practice
(compared with 28% of bottom quartile).
9
http://www.thenewsociallearning.com/
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Figure 28 Learning technologies supporting informal learning
Top quartile
Q2
Communities of practice Q3
Online collaboration between
Virtual Worlds 100% Bottom quartile
learners
Games and complex
Online books
simulations 80%
Third‐party social networking In‐house social networking
60%
sites sites
40%
Web 2 technology/widgets Wikis
20%
Twitter 0% Podcasting
Electronic Performance
Submission of work to tutors
Support Systems
Mobile apps Professional networking sites
• Collaboration ‐ for example through in house social network or third party sites, professional
networking sites or communities of practice, or virtual worlds such as Second Life and
Twitter:
o 20% of top quartile organisations use virtual worlds in learning vs. 1% of the bottom
quartile.
o 62% use in house social networking sits vs. 20% of bottom quartile organisations.
• Co‐creation of content – sharing experiences and working on problems for example via
podcasting, wikis and blogs
o 53% of top quartile organisations encourage blogs by learners or tutors vs. 12%
bottom quartile.
o 61% top quartile use podcasting vs. 25% of bottom quartile.
This research did not investigate specifically how each of these tools is being used, but the
implementation priorities of the top quartile organisations (Table 6) imply that these technologies
are being used to support workplace and experiential learning and not just enhance formal learning:
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Table 6 Rise in social networking and informal learning
Use of these tools is limited in less mature organisations. Where social media is being used in the
other quartiles, it is more likely to be in the areas of Communities of Practice; LinkedIn or other
trusted professional networking sites rather than third party social network sites such as FaceBook.
4.4.2 Impact of access to social media
The IT policies of TMI top quartile organisations are almost twice as likely to allow users unrestricted
access to the web as others. 71% of these organisations also allow staff access to social media such
as FaceBook and Twitter (39% in TMI bottom quartile).
On average those providing open access to social media are starting to reap additional benefits:
• Take‐up of e‐learning increases (from 36% for those without access to 46% for those with
web access);
• Estimated reduction in the cost of training as a result of e‐learning reduces from 20% to
16%;
• Access to social media in work encourages learning outside of the workplace:
o Those that learn whilst travelling increase from 19% to 45% with access;
o Those that are accessing e‐learning at home increase from 72% to 84%;
o Those that access at a location away from work increase from 46% to 69%;
• The saving in time to prove job competency increases from 6% to 11%;
• Average TM Index improves from 44.8 to 52.2.
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Those that are using social media are also finding significant increases in customer satisfaction and
staff impact. They are also finding that they are making greater cost savings as a result of
implementing learning technologies.
Figure 29 Cost savings as a result of implementing e‐learning
35
30
25
20
Allow social media
15 Do not allow
10
0
More than halved Reduced by at least Reduced by at least Stayed the same Incrreased
25% 10%
A more open approach to providing access to the web for staff appears to pay some dividends which
may be a result of a number of factors. More access to free tools and communities might help drive
down cost as well as increasing collaboration. Staff may feel more trusted which may contribute to
staff being empowered and confident about to finding and sharing learning online.
It was beyond the scope of this particular study to investigate these factors further. Generally
learning that takes place in the workplace through the use of social media is not reliant on the L&D
function. Whilst it is not necessarily L&D’s job to own or control the learning and collaboration that
takes place in the workplace, our research shows that they have a powerful role in facilitating social
learning with those encouraging sharing and collaboration reporting significantly better
performance.
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Technology can open up significant new opportunities, but organisations are still reporting that
they do not have the necessary skills and knowledge to exploit their potential.
Only 1 in 5 of organisations in the bottom quartile agree that they know what learning technologies
can do for them and have the skills they need to implement them effectively compared to 4 out of 5
organisations in the top quartile.
Top quartile organisations report fewer staff‐related barriers. All the top 5 barriers referenced
earlier drop dramatically as issues for organisations in the top quartile of the TMI.
• Lack of knowledge about its potential use and implementation;
• Lack of skills amongst training staff to implement and manage e‐learning;
• Lack of skills amongst employees to manage own learning;
• Reluctance by users to learn with new technology;
• Reluctance by line managers to encourage new ways of learning.
Table 7 Top 5 barriers to implementation related to TMI quartile
Top quartile organisations are being proactive in addressing the skills and knowledge needed
amongst themselves and amongst their stakeholders to embrace new ways of learning. (As a result,
one of the only barriers that increase with maturity is an intolerance of suppliers overhyping their
solution!)
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The higher performing organisations are investing in the skills of their L&D staff to equip them more
effectively. Table 8 below highlights the actions being taken by top quartile organisations to improve
the skills and knowledge of L&D staff and the impact on the confidence of L&D teams in the use of
new media.
Table 8 TMI Top quartile focus on skills of the training function
Despite the vast array of opportunities for L&D staff to learn about how to leverage new media in
learning, the immense potential is largely untapped as only 2 in 5 organisations feel that their L&D
teams are confident with the tools.
4.6 Summary
In supporting formal learning, top quartile organisations are more likely to:
• Target offerings more effectively;
• Support reflection and application of learning;
• Support more flexible access to learning for those working away from the office;
• Extend the reach of their offering to their suppliers and customers and are proactively
engaging directors as learners.
In supporting social learning, top quartile organisations are more likely to:
• Use technologies that allow information to be shared more innovatively;
• Encourage collaboration;
• Allow co‐creation of content by staff.
There is an argument that it is not the role of learning professionals to influence informal social
learning, that it will take place without them which is undoubtedly so. This study shows that those
reporting more impact overall are not leaving social learning to chance and are creating
opportunities to encourage sharing and collaboration.
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Annexes
The online review was designed in 2 parts – a survey element asking factual questions and an
implementation benchmark review that investigated opinion.
Initial questions captured estimates of changes in study time, time to deliver to the target
population and time to competency resulting from implementing Learning Technologies. Research
completed by Towards Maturity as part of the Evidence for Change programme shows that these are
three key results derived from implementing Learning Technologies. Later questions captured
estimates of cost and volume of learning delivered attributable to different types of technology.
The benchmark review primarily consisted of 80+ action statements which participants were asked
to agree or disagree with on a 9 point scale. Questions were largely opinion‐based and used a variety
of subjective and objective scales. For example, in the first question respondents were asked their
best estimate of the change in the study time of their learners that Learning Technology had brought
about. A quasi‐numerical scale was used; two of the five options included: “less than a quarter of the
time is taken”, “between half and three quarters of the time is taken”. This approach opened up the
possibility of estimating the average time saved across all organisations responding. Similar scales
were used for increase in the total volume of learning, cost saved, time to deliver learning
interventions and time taken to reach competency.
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 1 June – end July 2010. In addition, the survey was
supported by twenty partner organisations all of whom distributed information and links about the
survey to learning and development managers.
Analysis
In most cases the analysis and data presentation is a straightforward summary of the data collected.
Organisations are segmented on the basis of several factors.
1. Respondents were asked for 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 four years in the Towards Maturity reviews and questionnaires.
2. The quartiles for the Towards Maturity Index.
Responses to some questions have been aggregated to gain an estimate of Learning Technologies’
impact across the population of organisations responding to the survey. For example, in the question
relating to the volume of learning two responses were: “more than ten times as much learning”;
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“more than five times as much learning”. To estimate the average increase of e‐learning across all
organisations the number of respondents answering ten times is multiplied by ten, those saying
more than five times as much is multiplied by five; those saying twice as much is multiplied by two.
These figures are then aggregated giving an estimation of a conservative average figure of an
increase in e‐learning delivered which can be attributed to a particular learning technology. This
enables us to indicate which type of learning technology will show the fastest return of either
increased volume of learning or decreased cost.
Otherwise the report presents straightforward actual values or percentage data. Percentages are
calculated from the number of respondents engaging with a particular question and the total
number of respondents is reported with the graph or table within the report. Because of both the
dropout rate and the fact that some respondents skipped questions these total numbers change
throughout the data set.
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Over the past 7 years, 1200+ 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 (including efficiency savings).
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.
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”.
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 marked in bold below against
which organisations can benchmark
themselves. The 19 activity areas
are made up of over 90 individual
actions and behaviours.
New for 2010: Two additional action areas have emerged in 2010 relating to the importance of Facilitating
Collaboration and to building the IT Relationships that support informal learning
The model has been proven in the private, public and not‐for‐profit sectors.
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Workstream 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 more tactical level, they will also be focussed on business
alignment to ensure that learning is relevant to the job in hand.
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 with existing technical
infrastructures to increase options for learners. They also offer more
managerial support to staff, embedding learning within appraisal and
talent management systems.
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.
Over 70% of respondents stated that simply taking part in the Benchmark had provoked food for
thought and generated new ideas to aid implementation.
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/
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Towards Maturity is a not‐for‐profit benchmarking practice which provides independent
expert advice and support in the application of learning innovation to accelerate business
performance. Uniquely among research‐based organisations in this space, Towards
Maturity leverages the wealth of data provided by its ongoing benchmark ‐ an internationally
recognised longitudinal study based on the input of 1,200 organisations and 3,000 learners over 7
years. This powers a new authoritative standard of measurement: the Towards Maturity Index.
In January 2011, Towards Maturity is launching its Benchmarking Centre, an online service that helps
organisations wishing to accelerate their performance through the application of learning
innovation. Visitors using the centre are taken through a structured questionnaire that enables them
to review their learning practices and compare their level of performance against evolving good
practice. They are given their own Towards Maturity Index* (TMI) – a snapshot assessment of their
current level of maturity. More detailed personalized feedback highlighting priority action areas for
improvement is also offered. The site also provides further help in the form of targeted resources,
tools, checklists, hints and tips, as well as information about the more formal support Towards
Maturity provides, alongside its partner network, through coaching, mentoring and workshops.
www.towardsmaturity.org/mybenchmark
Towards Maturity have undertaken research with 3000 learners and will be further developing the
learner benchmark to help organisations understand learners more effectively and adapt strategies
accordingly to encourage learner engagement.
To find out more about our Learner Benchmark contact Laura@towardsmaturity.org
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 we work with
• Encouraging excellence from within
• Celebrating success
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Founding Ambassadors
Brightwave LM Matters
Epic Plateau Systems
GlobalEnglish Redtray
Line Communications The Charity Learning Consortium
Visit www.towardsmaturity.org/ambassadors to find out more about the Ambassador Programme
Towards Maturity Step Change workshops help organisations turn good ideas into good practice.
They include:
First Steps ‐ increasing awareness of the whole L&D team
The First Steps workshop explains what learning technologies have to offer L&D professionals today,
the benefits that organisations are reporting, and the skills that trainers will need in order to engage
productively with the new learning technologies. It builds on the highly‐successful booklet, What
every L&D professional needs to know about e‐learning.
Next Steps ‐ building and effective e‐learning strategy
The Next Steps workshop is a blended solution aimed at the supporting the development of an
effective learning strategy and engaging key stakeholders with change. Using the Towards
Maturity Model as a framework, this workshop helps organisations to identify a practical action plan
to ensure that their investment in learning innovation delivers results, avoids costly mistakes and
realises the full potential of learning technologies.
Visit www.towardsmaturity.org/stepchange to find out more
Free resources are 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 at www.towardsmaturity.org.
You are also invited to join our LinkedIn group – New Learning Benchmarks
Contact Us
Email: Laura@towardsmaturity.org or elearning@towardsmaturity.org
Tel: +44 (0)208 542 2331
URL: www.towardsmaturity.org
© Towards Maturity CIC 2010
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