The best way to see learning results in your organisation is to track, review and adjust your training. By collecting and analysing data, you’re able to identify trends or patterns, understand engagement, see completion rates and ultimately ensure learners are getting the most out of their learning experience.  
 
Once you determine ‘why’ you’re tracking employee training, you can establish the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. It’s important to focus on key outcomes and avoid giving attention to areas that might not actually have that big of an impact. Here are several items you might want to measure: 

• Completion rates: See how many employees have accessed and finished a course. It’s important for both compliance training and learning engagement.
• Course attempts: Better understand users while also tracking drop-off rates at a macro level – an indicator of overly dense or long courses.
• Learner progress: See how learning content is being received and if it’s effective on a macro level, and better understand employee’s progression and comprehension rates at a micro level.
• ROI: Tracking the efficacy of a training program and its various elements will allow you to adjust them as needed, which ultimately helps you stay ahead of the curve and abreast of issues that could be costly in the future.
• Feedback: Learner feedback is the best way to understand – straight from the source – what is and isn’t engaging, what is and isn’t effective, and the aftercare needed post-training.

Once you know ‘what’, you then need to look at ‘how’. eLearning platforms such as the learning management system (LMS) often come with some of the best KPI tracking tools. 

• Automated Tracking: Look for a learning management system with an in-built learning record store (or the ability to integrate with one). They effectively store all data which is then used for reporting and analytics within the platform. Notifications, due dates and scheduled reports all help L&D leaders track KPIs in real time, improving the effectiveness of learning.
• Custom Tracking: A more technical approach to monitoring data. It often requires users to input their own information and for administrators to monitor and ensure the right information is being put in.
• Manual Tracking: This is usually only ideal when you require a small snippet of data or have no other options. It might involve a learner manually forwarding a completion certificate onto a course administrator who then manually tracks each individual completion.

To successfully monitor learning, it’s important to make changes that address skills and knowledge gaps in the organisation based on what you see: 

• Training vs Enablement: The goal of training is to teach an employee a skill, knowledge or attitude they can utilise in the workplace. Enablement works off the belief than an employee can already do their job effectively but with the caveat they could do it better. It focuses on removing obstacles that may prevent success.
• Link training to the day-to-day: Understanding the nuances of the everyday challenges and tasks employees face will help you create a more meaningful and impactful learning experience. Reworking training to create opportunities for employees to learn in the flow of work will encourage better skills and remove disruptions to knowledge retention.
• Organise & arrange training intuitively: If employees have to jump through hoops to access content, you can bet they just won’t. Discoverability is a big player in engagement rates. Content should also be delivered in a relevant and engaging way e.g., a short video as opposed to a 100-page textbook. Intuitive design makes content delivery inconspicuous so the user can retain information effortlessly.

Collecting and analysing learning data will help you identify the trends that denote what learners are getting out of the learning experience, which ultimately helps you create a culture of ongoing learning that drives organisational success.  
 
For a more in-depth look at tracking learning, have a read of the full article.