Don’t Survey Learners About Preferences – Do This Instead

We can create a more predictable future, a reliably successful program, with a few strategic moves. One of them is defining your program’s mission. Mission = Identify the problem you’re solving for whom.

Often when we talk about mission, we often immediately think about our organization’s mission -- our association’s mission to provide education that will help members grow their career, professionalize the industry, keep us in business.

Yes, AND.

There’s another really important perspective here.? We want learners to buy our programs, right? That means we have to give them a reason. We need to understand their mission. Just starting with “is this new initiative in alignment with our mission” is not the whole question. You’ve got to make sure it’s aligned with the outcomes your learners need too.

Your association is member-centric. Education must be learner-centric.

It’s not uncommon for a stakeholder group to get together to decide we need to introduce a trendy new format and plug in “x” hot topic. How do we know if that’s the right format or the right topic for the target learner?

Whenever we’re laying down a strategy for a new learning initiative, whenever we’re designing an experience or marketing it, we have to be tapped into the mission of our target market -- embrace the mission of our learners. Think broader than topics and lean into what will inspire people to improve their performance, their lives, their careers.

I’ve worked with organizations where the stakeholders were confident they knew what a particular target audience needed to learn about, but when we surveyed that audience, pulled them into focus groups and interviews, they were like, “Nah. It’s actually THIS.” If you go to market with a new learning initiative and move forward because it’s YOUR mission and not THEIRS, don’t be surprised by lackluster results.

In instructional design, we start with a learning needs assessment. We start with Why. What specific outcomes are we seeking for our business and the learner.? What problem are we solving for the learner? What challenges need addressing? What concerns the learner? What does the target learner aspire toward? What skill or mastery level is required to achieve what our learners want to achieve? And then, what learning structure will provide that level of value?

The purpose is to accurately identify the needs so you can design a solution to meet those needs.

??CAUTION: Be careful asking about preferences, because preferences alone do not convert to registration. Have you’ve ever deployed a member survey asking what format or topic people are interested in and then produce a program in that format and the results are disappointing? Yea, that happens. Here’s the thing, preferences are not statistically linked to buying behaviors. Learners buy results. They buy outcomes, not formats. So it’s time to switch it up and get at the heart of what challenges and outcomes learners are seeking that are within your mission to meet. The intersection of missions – yours and theirs.         

What exactly is a Learning Needs Assessment (LNA)?

Learners want to be or do something new, different or better. Do you know what that means to them? What will trigger that “this is for me!” feeling that converts to paid enrollment?

No? Then you need to ask.

A needs assessment is a data gathering process to determine gaps between current conditions and ideal conditions (outcomes). These gaps may be addressed by learning, communication, advocacy, etc. Not all challenges are solved with learning.

A learning needs assessment identifies how learning can help achieve the desired outcome and close the needs gap through multi-stage data gathering and analysis process. The LNA results ideally specify the knowledge and skills sequencing required to result in the desired ability or performance outcome.

In a Learning Needs Assessment, we clarify key insights such as:

~What specific outcome(s) are we targeting for this learning initiative?

~What critical need(s) will this program address that our target audience is eager to resolve? What evidence is there of these needs?

~What concerns our learners? What do they aspire toward?

~What do employers see as learning gaps that need to be addressed?

~What barriers prevent professionals from bridging the gap we’ve identified or solving the challenge we are addressing?

~What skill or mastery level is required to facilitate the achievements our target learners are looking for?

~How we’ll measure we’ve achieved the desired outcomes?

And more, tailored to the data you need to inform program design and marketing choices.

The purpose is to accurately identify the needs so that you can design learning solutions to meet those needs, and then measure results.

How do I know if my org needs a Learning Needs Assessment?

If you identify with any of these conditions, an LNA would be valuable to you to pave the runway to reliable success for your program.

??Introducing a new program or format

??Frustrated by course registration

??Desire to grow participation by a particular learner segment

??A legacy program needs a refresh

??Stakeholders choose topics without input from LNA data

??Want to appeal to young professionals

??Members said they want a course on a specific topic but they aren’t enrolling in it

??You’ve never conducted a learning needs assessment before and are ready to get strategic about your education portfolio and make data driven decisions ??

Looking for a partner to get started? Reach out!

Tracy King, MA, CAE (she/they)

As Chief Learning Strategist & CEO of InspirEd, Tracy King leverages more than 20 years in workforce development consulting with organizations on education strategy and learning design. Tracy is the author of the award-winning book?Competitive Advantage, and they advise on how to grow reliably profitable and sustainable continuing education programs that transform learners. Tracy specializes in the intersection of learning science and technology. They are a thought leader, master learning designer, trainer-facilitator, coach and DELP Scholar. Their work has been featured on NBC, ABC, FOX, USA Today, Forbes, The Star Tribute and hundreds of nationally syndicated television, newspaper, and magazine outlets. For more information, please visit them online at www.inspired-ed.com

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