Increasing L&D’s Value: Using Data to Build Skills With Laura Paramoure

Using data effectively is a hot topic in L&D and is a growing priority and skill set for our profession. As we see real growth in this area, an exciting opportunity is presented to us to really start making a difference in our organizations.  

However, to get there, we need to use the data that resonates with our stakeholders so we can plan and measure the real success of our learning interventions.

In this article, with the help of Laura Paramoure, CEO of eParamus, we explore how crucial data is to making a measurable impact in our organizations, including what data is the right data, and how designing courses around specific skills will improve your L&D practice.

Related: Using Data to Build Skills With Laura Paramoure

Look forward: Leave rearview mirror data behind

A common trend in L&D is focusing on metrics that aren’t critical to how organizations measure success. 

Learning and development has always been able to obtain information on course completion and attendance, and our LMSs give us a lot of data, but looking across the other departments in our organizations, they are getting more refined in how they provide the data relevant to business goals.

“But we don’t really have information on what’s working and what is not working in our industry. We’re just showing that we can show evidence that something is changing,” Laura Paramoure, CEO of eParamus. 

The data we harvest on our activities and interventions differs from the data businesses need to make decisions. I’ve heard it is described as L&D having always sought rearview mirror data. Instead, we need to shift to big data and understand where we should be and what we should look at to make an impact. 

L&D teams can show our stakeholders how we are truly helping the business by presenting empirical, quantifiable data proving that our learning interventions impact the metrics that define our organization’s goals. 

A laser focus on skills: Leverage the right data 

If L&D teams want a seat at the table, we need to demonstrate our value beyond presenting data on the activities and courses we deliver.

“We have to either view ourselves as part of the business and making the business happen or as delivering courses—those are two very different things,” Laura Paramoure, CEO of eParamus.

To get a seat at the table, we need to deliver the right data to our stakeholders and have that data readily available. In doing so, L&D teams will be known within our organizations as the people who create capability and develop skills in our employees. 

The correct data for getting a seat at the table shows which skills we are adding to the organization and whether those skills increase the productivity of our employees. We need to harvest information on the skills in our organization and whether those skills are transferred on the job. 

Skills data is the right data because skills is the language of our business leaders. They are looking at the skills shortages or gaps in our organizations with a keen eye for solutions. Because leaders think about the skills they need, L&D teams have an excellent opportunity to align ourselves with our stakeholders. 

Design skill-specific learning interventions

To make an impact, you should design courses by identifying skills and measuring them against employees’ ability to do them to the level your business leaders expect. 

For example, if you start with five skills that employees have and identify how you will measure them from the start, you can measure whether they already have that skill and to what extent (proficiency). If they already have the required level of skills, you can return to your stakeholders and show that something else is affecting business.

If your employees lack those skills, you can run the same assessment at the end of the intervention to verify that they gained them. If one or two people haven’t gained the skills, that may be a competency issue, but if everyone has an issue with learning the skills, that may be a problem with your design, and you’ll need to iterate.

“That’s the holy grail because that tells us what we are doing is actually creating the change and what we’re doing that might need to be improved to create the change,” Laura Paramoure, CEO of eParamus.

The key to measuring skills is understanding what people in your organization are expected to achieve. Learning and development in the context where we can identify where people are expected to perform and get results is faster, cheaper, easier, more targeted, and less risky.

2 tips for raising your data and upskilling game

Here are two tips to help you start elevating your data and upskilling efforts:

Tip 1: When designing interventions, ensure they include identifiable skills, corresponding assessments, and data collection mechanisms. The data will measure the success of interventions and demonstrate your organization's unique ability to develop skills.

“The bottom line is we create skills for the organization. That’s how they need to know us immediately,” Laura Paramoure, CEO of eParamus.

Tip 2: Shift your team's mindset to view themselves as problem solvers within the business rather than just creators of courses. This perspective shift fosters better conversations and helps to highlight valuable skills that we need to target and grow.

Explore further insights on leveraging the right data in the episode on The L&D Podcast: Using Data to Build Skills With Laura Paramoure (stream below!)

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