5 Perks of Using Analytics To Set Your Organization’s Performance Benchmarks

We’ve all heard the sayings: “if you can measure it, you can manage it,” or, even better, “if you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist.” Even if you wouldn’t take it quite that far, there’s no arguing that data is a huge part of maximizing performance across our organizations and certainly within eLearning. That said, analytics can be overwhelming! Here are some of our favorite ways to use analytics data to help create benchmarks for your organization.

How to Use Analytics Data to Create Benchmarks

1. Real Time Data

There’s a lot to love about real time data! The more relevant data is to you, the more easily you can utilize it to make an impact. Real-time analytics allows you to get a deeper understanding of the data you’re collecting and gives you the flexibility to make immediate adjustments. Here’s an example from the eLearning world: by providing a survey immediately after a learner completes a course, we’re able to harness that feedback and, if needed, make an immediate adjustment, optimizing the performance of that course. We then can apply those learnings across our products, deepening the impact of that data.

2. Better Data Visualization

Even the most data-loving engineer has to admit, it’s just more fun to work with data when it’s visually interesting! And, for most of us, the spreadsheet isn’t exactly the most aesthetically pleasing form of data presentation. Analytics gives you comprehensive charts and graphs that make your valuable data easier to see, more organized and make decision-making easier. Without data, we may not understand why a particular course is not performing the way we want it to - but, when you can clearly see the area where learners are dropping off, it gives you intelligent, actionable data to make an improvement that can dramatically change the course’s efficacy.

3. Easily Identify Patterns & Follow Progress

Seeing the data presented clearly shines a light on pitfalls and patterns that you may not be aware of. By clearly bringing those issues to light, you’re better empowered to combat them by setting a specific and achievable goal. Then, the data can keep you constantly updated on where you are in the process of achieving it. In eLearning, an example would be a “training gap,” where we identify that there is a specific skill or training area that employees are missing. By updating our material and tracking outcomes to compare them to before the update occurred, we can ensure that the gap is resolved and that we’re achieving our goal of learner engagement and material retention in that area.

4. Plays Well With Others

By gathering all your data from multiple “big data” software and platforms like incident management solutions, you get a holistic, comprehensive view of what is happening and can more easily make informed decisions. Here at Vector Solutions, we have seen how analytics can leverage data from LMS platforms to provide on-demand training opportunities. Termed “predictive learning,” this method of providing training in real-time in both proactive and reactive settings for learners allows them to gain skill-instruction in the moment of need, or receive training to supplement a weakness after an incident.

5. Efficiency & Inclusivity

Analytics helps you understand how your resources are being leveraged, so you can determine which elements are successful, and then use this information to maximize efficiency and performance by allocating resources accordingly. Because the data is available to you in real-time, it allows for fast decision-making, but also smart decision-making. And its clearly visualized data output makes it more available and consumable for everyone at your organization, allowing for teamwork, collaboration and the inclusion of different voices to give their perspective on actionable outcomes and decisions. Inclusiveness has a profound impact on business impact; inclusive teams and companies are more innovative, creative and retain talent better. Capturing and analyzing data through surveys, town halls meetings, lunch and learns are just the beginning - in the future analytics may be able to confidentially provide employees with metrics based on their workplace communication and messaging programs, like “a fitbit for your career.”

Spoiler Alert: It’s All About Learning.

Performance Optimization is one area of our world that we never get to check “complete” because we are always learning and improving. Luckily, at Vector Solutions, learning is kind of our thing. We are constantly harnessing the power of real time analytics to improve our products and drive efficiency. When you know where you are and where you want to go, analytics will tell you how to get there - and, inevitably, how to course-correct along the way.