Mind The Engagement Gap (Your Barrier To L&D Success) | Death of the LMS

3-6%. That's the average course completion rate according to Harvard University.

So, why are so few people connecting with learning?

Most L&D teams will tell you it’s a time issue. Sure, that’s part of it, but people make time for what they think is important.

The bigger issue is that employees aren’t engaged with learning. And without engagement, L&D is like a car with no wheels - it’s going nowhere.

This is what we call The Engagement Gap.

And it's why most companies so frequently fail to build the skills needed to seize opportunities.

So, what's the first step to fixing this issue? Understanding why your people aren't engaging with your learning.

Telltale signs that you’re dealing with an Engagement Gap

Whether it's the hard numbers that show people aren't connected with your learning or conversations that indicate people's perception of L&D is miles away from where you want it to be, there are common indicators of Engagement Gaps.

• Licences for your software and course libraries are currently unused.
• Usage metrics for tools are low.
• L&D’s reputation in the business isn’t exactly a glowing one.
• There’s a lack of board-level buy-in for your learning efforts.

The most common reasons why people aren't engaging

People may not be engaging with your learning for a number of reasons. They might be struggling to find the resources you're creating, or it could be that you're sending out content with no immediate relevance.

It could be that you're creating content too slowly to help them solve problems when they're most pressing or that you're dragging people out of the workflow to effectively learn and apply what they're learning.

But there are two major drivers of poor L&D engagement that we've identified from working with over 10,000 global teams...

Engagement Gap driver one: Outdated tech that’s not fit for purpose

There’s no point beating around the bush.

Most companies encounter Engagement Gaps because the tech they’re currently using doesn’t align with how modern employees want to learn.

According to LinkedIn Learning:

• 49% of people want to learn at the point of need.
• 58% of employees prefer to learn at their own pace.
• 68% of employees prefer to learn on the job at work.

And that translates to three simple things:

They want to learn in the flow of work, have access to resources on-demand, and translate that to real-life, on-the-job situations.

The trouble is, the traditional LMS wasn’t built for those things, offering learning that’s detached from people’s daily workflow and pulling them out of the tools where they could apply learning.

L&D Leaders know the LMS isn’t cutting it.

Association for Talent Development (ATD) research shows that while 83% of L&D pros were using an LMS, 33% said it had limited capabilities, and 25% stated their intention to move away from their current provider.

Meanwhile, employees are outright telling us that they’re frustrated with legacy tech that no longer aids their productivity, output, and development.

Engagement Gap driver two: Approaches that prioritise content over skills

“This content's great, I can’t believe nobody is engaging with it!”

We can. Because the content-first approach isn’t working. It’s one-size-fits-all and reactive, delivering content at times when it’s not immediately relevant.

And that makes learning feel like an unwanted interruption! Even worse, an interruption that does little to build, track and measure skills, giving little influence over performance.

The numbers speak for themselves:

• 3-6% average course completion rate for online courses.
• 75% of employees are dissatisfied with the company's L&D function.
• 88% of employees reported not applying what they learned at work.

Sources: Harvard University, McKinsey

So, what if there was a better way?

It's time to take a skills-first approach - the common language that business speaks.

According to Laura Overton, Founder, Towards Maturity,

“For L&D to add value to the skills agenda, we need to look at more than reporting. Skill building – ensuring that individuals are genuinely equipped and ready – involves more than sharing new knowledge, it involves transfer of learning in the workplace, practice, building confidence and capability."

She continues, "If L&D wants to be known for our role in this, we need to define how and where we can add value back into that process. We then need to define with our stakeholders what success will look like and determine the leading and lagging indicators we need to track."

Want to close your Engagement Gap? Join our next webinar!

Join us live: Wednesday, 10 May, 11 AM BST.