With inflation, war, supply constraints, and a major reshuffling of the global workforce, it’s never been harder to predict the future. But at the same time, it’s never been more important for businesses to find a way to do just that.
Company leaders don’t have a crystal ball. But most businesses have a trove of data that can help them stay nimble and adaptable in a world where the pace of change is unrelenting and unlikely to slow down. And most companies are sitting on this data, unaware that they can effectively use it to inform their decision-making. It can even help them prepare for an unpredictable future.
Whether they are mining copper or mining Bitcoin, every company today wants and needs to make data-driven decisions that will help the business thrive. And many companies are using data for this purpose. However, the majority are looking at data that pertains to the past and present but does not offer clues to the future. This can change when companies learn to look where many least expect to find the most valuable information: in the departments responsible for training and upskilling workers.
Training departments, often overlooked or considered less important than finance, legal and other departments, hold extensive data on which employees have what skills and which training programs are the most effective. Training teams know more than other teams do about why people quit their jobs, why they leave one industry to join another, and how agile the workforce is likely to be if the company’s roadmap includes some unexpected twists and turns.
This kind of information, which sheds light on how employees learn and why they make certain decisions, is critical for companies that want to stay out of rapid-fire changes. We are in the early days of the Great ReshuffleOpens a new window , where record numbers of people are rethinking their careers and going in new directions. Understanding these employees–their skills, gaps, and how they make decisions–is the new Holy Grail when it comes to making data-driven decisions.Â
And training teams have the data that can help a company understand the past and present, and begin to plan for a future that is unknowable.Â
The key to using this data effectively is to create a learning analytics blueprint.
The Blueprint
A learning analytics blueprint, built with data that currently sits siloed in many training departments, is how a company learns how adaptable it is to change and offers essential clues on how a business can become more nimble as time goes on. Creating the blueprint begins with understanding four different types of analytics, which are foundational reporting strategies and themes that move an enterprise further in the direction of data-driven decision-making.
Descriptive Analytics
Descriptive Analytics is what most companies rely on today. This information is a historical outlook of the performance and effectiveness of training programs and is valuable. But unfortunately, many companies’ entire blueprint consists of this snapshot of the past when it should be one of several layers of an effective plan.
Diagnostic Analytics
Diagnostic Analytics goes deeper into the data of descriptive analytics to unearth correlations between why training outcomes happen and what those outcomes could mean for your organization moving forward. Identifying variables and rates of change is the beginning of turning data into an engine of growth. With diagnostic analytics, companies can start identifying trends and insights in their data that have broader implications on organizational objectives and business goals.
Predictive Analytics
Predictive Analytics builds on diagnostic analytics and further applies mathematical models to forecast likely future scenarios that may happen. Leveraging data from internal operations and factoring those against external indicators of change or innovation allows you to begin forecasting how to innovate and optimize your training operations and initiatives. With predictive analytics, training leaders can start to lead their organizations in identifying why, where, and how to focus efforts to maintain a competitive advantage.
See More: Predictive Analytics: Key to Streamlining Project ManagementOpens a new window
Prescriptive Analytics
Prescriptive Analytics is the closest thing to a crystal ball a company can have. Building on predictive analytics–which formulates insights on trends and forecasts what could happen based on those trends–prescriptive analytics goes further. These analytics apply patterns to those trends and seek to model the most likely outcomes based on what is revealed in the patterns. From there, the best possible actions are suggested in response to the data. After predictive analytics compile the trends that hints at what might happen, prescriptive analytics then inform us what should happen.
Each type of analytics represents a deeper interaction with training data and provides increasingly valuable information about the people who make up your company. How and why do they learn new skills? Why do some leave and some stay?Â
These questions are more important today as the Great Reshuffle continues. But, answering them means answering an even more pressing question: How adaptable is my organization in the face of change, and how can we be more nimble in the future?
Anticipating change and becoming proactive is an organizational imperative when so many headwinds are blowing. And with continuing geopolitical tensions, supply problems, and other economic challenges, it is certain that more fast-paced changes are on the way.
Training leaders and teams can provide the mission-critical data to forecast where and how a company can adapt to the changes. Businesses need to know where to look for it.
Building a learning analytics blueprint is not the same as having a crystal ball. But with so much valuable data sitting unused, it will seem like the next best thing for many companies.
How do you think learning analytics blueprint can help organizations to streamline their operations? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you.
MORE ON BIG DATA
- The Ultimate Set of Tools You Need To Ace Data AnalysisOpens a new window
- How Brands Can Keep Pace With Third-Party Data ChangesOpens a new window
- The Good Thing about Big Data Getting SmallerOpens a new window
- The Role and Benefits of Big Data in Digital MarketingOpens a new window
Â