TLB #40🧠 From gut feelings to data-driven L&D
A bi-weekly inside scoop on all the hottest events, juicy discussions, and oh-so-many other exciting things happening in our dynamic L&D community. 🧡
Hello Shaker,
Here’s all that you’ll experience in today’s issue:
💡Learning Bites: Learnings from Google’s People Analytics to supercharge L&D
🗓️ Community Calendar: Be a part of cool local hub meet-ups happening in Birmingham, New York and Cluj-Napoca and AI Learn-tini series.
🖌️ Community Creations: Announcement for L&D Means Business Hackathon
🔖 Resource Reel: A collection of resources on Accountability, AI in L&D, Behavioural Science and many more.
🎤 Shaker's Stage: This week’s stage is taken by Novella Cocetta.
Learning Bites 💡
The core idea—people decisions should be based on data, not just gut feelings stuck with me throughout a course I recently took by Prasad Setty, Former VP of People Analytics at Google.
We often assume we’re making the best choices for talent and learning, but too many decisions are based on gut feeling, instincts or ad-hoc basis. People Analytics changes that. It’s about using data to make smarter, more objective decisions and creating a culture where performance is driven by evidence, not assumptions.
Top Three Takeaways
Data-Informed, Human-Approved Decisions: People analytics brings objectivity to human resource decisions, from hiring to promotions. It’s not about replacing human judgment but complementing it with data. For example, at Google, they discovered through data analysis that conducting more than four interviews for a role didn't improve the quality of hires but did frustrate candidates, slowing the process. This led to a policy change that streamlined the hiring process without sacrificing effectiveness.
The Flow of People and Learning: Prasad emphasized looking at the entire employee lifecycle: recruitment, onboarding, development, and exit. Data on the flow of talent—such as where people come from, why they leave, and how they progress—provides insights that can enhance development strategies. For instance, analyzing attrition rates can show if employees are leaving due to a lack of growth opportunities, which signals a need for stronger learning initiatives.
Psychological Safety as a Core Team Dynamic: Google’s research, through projects like Aristotle, shows that psychological safety—the ability to speak up without fear of negative consequences—is the most critical factor in high-performing teams. Teams with high psychological safety are more innovative and collaborative.
What This Means for Practice
Align L&D Strategy with Business Goals: As you plan your 2025 L&D strategy, don’t rely on assumptions about what employees need. Instead, leverage data to identify skill gaps, development needs, and future talent trends.
For example, use performance data to pinpoint which skills are most correlated with success in your company. This will help you prioritize learning initiatives that will have the greatest impact on business outcomes. AI tools can also assist here by analyzing vast amounts of employee data to suggest personalized learning paths based on job roles, performance metrics, and future readiness.
Action to consider: Conduct a skills audit by collecting data on current skills versus needed skills across departments. Use AI platforms to automate this process, flagging where gaps exist and recommending specific learning interventions to bridge them.
Enhance Employee Development Plans with Data: When it comes to creating employee development plans, use analytics to track progress, engagement, and performance. For instance, data can show whether an employee’s current development plan is helping them meet their goals or whether adjustments are needed. Google’s people analytics team uses real-time data to help managers tailor development plans that are responsive to each individual’s growth trajectory.
Action to consider: Use AI-powered tools to automate feedback collection and progress tracking. This can include post-training surveys, performance appraisals, and peer feedback. Based on these insights, you can adjust learning paths in real time, ensuring development plans stay relevant and effective.
Improve Learning Program Efficiency: People analytics can also enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of your learning programs. Just like Google’s data showed that four interviews were optimal for hiring, your L&D team can use data to determine the right frequency and format of training. For example, if data shows that shorter, more frequent micro-learning sessions lead to better knowledge retention than long, infrequent seminars, you can adjust your learning programs accordingly.
Action to consider: Leverage learning analytics to track engagement across different formats—virtual, in-person, or blended learning. Use AI tools to analyze learner behaviour to determine the optimal format and duration for training.
Measure the ROI of Learning Programs: People Analytics can also help you quantify the return on investment (ROI) of your learning programs. By tying learning outcomes to performance metrics—such as employee engagement, promotion rates, or even customer satisfaction, you can provide leadership with solid evidence that L&D initiatives aren’t just a cost but a strategic investment.
Action to consider: Build a dashboard that integrates learning data with key business outcomes. Track individual development plans and link them to performance metrics like sales figures, productivity improvements, or customer feedback.
These are just surface-level applications of People Analytics in L&D. With deeper research and exploration, we can uncover more sophisticated ways to integrate data into your L&D strategies for 2025 and beyond.
O.G. Anamaria wrote an article on similar lines some time ago, and I thought it was worth resharing again since we’re talking about data. Read about it here.
In the end, I would like to quote the words of Prasad Setty,
"Data helps guide human decisions, but it should never replace them."
Coming Up Next
Community Calendar 🗓️
Looking for ways to connect, learn, and grow with fellow professionals?
Our upcoming events are just around the corner, designed to inspire and inform. Make sure you're on the list—register using the link given below!
AI Learn-tini by L&D Shakers
Shake things up this October with the final sessions of our AI Learn-tini series! If you haven’t joined us yet, now’s your chance to dive into the world of AI with fellow L&D pros.
Community Creations 🖌️
Ever wondered what happens when a group of L&D pros come together, roll up their sleeves, and tackle a real-world business challenge? Well, you're about to find out!
What is the L&D Means Business Hackathon?
The Hackathon is for current L&D Managers or People/HR managers with an L&D remit who want to sharpen their business acumen and strategic skills to become a strategic partner. The Hackathon will train L&D managers to move from "consulting" to speaking commercial and L&D language and suggest real business solutions.
What kind of company and challenge are we looking for?
The client can be from any industry of any size. The Challenge should be strategic and/or business-wide and linked to a corporate priority or an OKR. For example, it could be about developing a leadership development program, resolving customer satisfaction, etc.
What will you take away?
—Free advice and practical solutions from experienced L&D professionals
—Reflect on your own strategies
—Fun learning experience
—Help your peers experiment with something new so that we can all learn as a community
What do you need to do?
Be available for:
—The Pre-meet on 19th November (4-5 pm CET/ GMT+1)
—The Hackathon on 21st November (join at the start to present the challenge and at the end to see the solution pitch)
—Provide a case study on your company, including the strategic goals/OKRs and L&D challenge (we can help write this!).
To bring a case and become a client:
Please complete this short expression of interest form as soon as you can or by Wed 30th October. We'll contact companies shortly after. If you would like more information, please contact Kris Olsen, M.S. Wheeee
If you want to join as a participant in the Hackathon, please sign up for both sessions below:
L&D Means Business Hackathon—Pre-meet on 19th November
L&D Means Business Hackathon Event—21st November
Cool Stuff You Don’t Wanna Miss Out
Resource Reel 🔖
A Manager’s Guide to Holding Your Team Accountable by Dave Bailey offers practical strategies for holding people to account, giving constructive feedback, and fostering a culture of growth and self-awareness.
AI in L&D: Intention and Reality by Donald H Taylor and Egle Vinauskaité examines how L&D is leveraging AI two years after the launch of ChatGPT. Based on a survey of 420 L&D professionals from 50 countries, it highlights both progress and stagnation and introduces a new "Immaturity Model."
L&D Detective Kit for Solving Impact Mysteries by Kevin M. Yates solves measurement mysteries and investigates how learning activates performance and business goals using facts, clues, evidence, and data.
Google re:Work has relaunched and it features themes like innovations, teams, L&D, and people analytics with guides to explore proven practices, real examples, and research from Google and other institutions to foster a people-first approach that drives success for your organization.
Management Tips Part One and Two from Harvard Business Review adapted from digital articles and other content, these tips offer quick and practical advice
on how to manage yourself and your team.
14 books If You Want To Use Behavioural science to Change Behaviour Or Culture At Work by Matt Furness. How many you’ve read?
Community Corner:
Shaker's Stage 🎤
Let’s welcome Novella Cocetta, Fractional Lead - Human & Career Skills at Develhope to take the stage.
What was a pivotal moment in your career?
-It was 2011, I was in the car with Sue Kazor, from Dale Carnegie USA. She turns at me with those gentle and decisive eyes and says: I am sure you'll be a great coach. I miss you.
What are you currently learning?
-I have many different professional projects running parallel, as an external consultant, coach, as a fractional lead. I am learning more about how to manage my projects and how to navigate sudden changes far from my own control. I cannot sugar-coat things: it is sometimes hard to stay motivated. What keeps me here is the quality of the people I work with: I'm not compromising on it. And this is a never-ending learning journey!
What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting out in your career?
-L&D can be a place of freedom. If you take resource constraints and make them your friend. If you listen carefully, if you don't come in biased and if you accept your own mistakes and others', L&D is the best place to express your true self and help others develop outside of what they allow them to be.
What does being an L&D Shaker look and feel like for you?
-I'm part of L&D Shakers from the early days and I am proud of what this community has become. And very proud of how Anamaria has generously shaped L&D Shakers making it a place where L&Ds of every sort and every part of the planet have found a place to feel heard, seen and most importantly helped. L&D world was a bit cloudier, before!
〜See you soon
Till then, keep spicing up your learning! 🧠🧂
Sejaal
💡