Thursday, 23 January 2025

6 Reasons you don’t need an L&D dashboard

Creating a learning and development (L&D) dashboard provides many benefits, including getting your data in good shape, getting an overview of L&D activities, and finding insights to help you make better decisions. 

But is it right for you? Here are six reasons you don’t need an L&D dashboard. 

1. You already have an at-a-glance training report (and it's accurate)

If your current system already provides a clear and comprehensive view of completed and planned training, you don’t need an L&D dashboard. But you do need to check that the data is accurate, and up to date. Have employees reviewed their own training data? Can they correct mistakes? Is it complete, or are their gaps in time or for people? Have you verified historical records? 

Data is only valuable if it is correct; otherwise, you risk basing decisions on a shaky foundation. And that’s all the most important if you are considering how to use AI. 

2. Your L&D activities are closely aligned to business goals (and are clear to everyone)

When people understand why the training is important, and what role it plays in achieving organizational goals, you get the greatest bang for your L&D buck. But aligning training with business objectives, and making it visible, isn’t always easy. 

A well-designed L&D dashboard provides this visibility, ensuring stakeholders understand the purpose of what they are doing. If your L&D reporting achieves this level of clarity, you are probably already getting big paybacks for your clear thinking. If not, business goals are a great place to start when thinking about what you want your L&D dashboard to achieve.

3. Your employees are engaged in their learning plans (and can see their training history)

Engaged employees are key to the success of any L&D program. This requires employees having access to their learning plans and a view of what they have already completed. When people understand how their training connects to business strategy, they become more invested in their development and make better decisions.

For organizations with well-designed L&D dashboards, these tools enhance employee engagement. They already know that implementing a dashboard is a game-changer for improving transparency and motivation.

4. Skills gaps are clearly visible (based on today’s and tomorrow’s objectives)

If your systems enable you to identify skills gaps, and prioritize training based on current and future business objectives, you’ve got this covered. 

But for many, a well-designed L&D dashboard can help to identify high-priority areas like onboarding new employees, addressing compliance gaps, or upskilling for emerging technologies. Nothing stands still with L&D.

5. Your L&D data is being linked to employee performance (and metrics are hotly debated)

Organisations that are working on measuring the impact of L&D on employee performance already have a competitive advantage. Metrics such as productivity, quality, and employee retention are being used together with data for training, coaching, and other L&D initiatives. Dashboards help to communicate both data and insights and get everyone thinking about how to improve.

If you’ve started on this journey, you already know the benefits. However, for those ready to explore these connections further, a highly visual dashboard can provide the impact needed to communicate insights effectively to busy stakeholders.

6. Your L&D activities are visible (and everyone is engaged)

Organizations that make L&D activities understandable for all stakeholders tend to achieve better results. Transparency encourages both trust and accountability. 

If your current systems already provide this level of transparency, an L&D dashboard might not be necessary. However, for organizations looking to enhance visibility and collaboration, dashboards can play a vital role.

Conclusion

An L&D dashboard is a valuable tool at every stage of the learning and development journey. With AI helping us make better decisions, accurate and actionable L&D data has never been more important. The key is to evaluate your current capabilities and ensure your data is accurate and up to date.

Whether you need to refine your reporting systems or explore tools like Microsoft Power BI or Microsoft Fabric, the right solution starts with accurate data. Contact us to discover how we can help you build meaningful insights and communicate them effectively.


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