“Just because you aced a test, it doesn’t mean you’re better at your job” - that right there is why you should measure skills over completion. Read why here.

“Just because you aced a test, it doesn’t mean you’re better at your job”.

That’s the trap we often fall into when it comes to training, but really it’s just a means to an end. That end is acquiring skills, but how many organisations really know which skills are developed among their people? When our CEO and Co-Founder Nelson Sivalingam put that question to Rita Trehan on the Daring To podcast, she answered none.

There was a chuckle and a bit of sarcasm admittedly, but it highlights that generally speaking not many are measuring skills to any great extent. Too many are fixated on completion rates, but that won’t help them progress.

Measure skills, close the gaps and progress

What’s more useful, telling a manager that X amount of people completed a course or here are your skill gaps and the internal experts on that particular topic? Almost certainly the latter.

Not only do you now understand where that skills gap exists, you can help close it by facilitating coaching and knowledge sharing. Without a platform that helps you understand skill levels, you’ll struggle to do any of this particularly effectively.At HowNow, we collect and analyse more than 500,000 live job roles to work out the most in-demand skills for a job role.

So, when you login to the platform for the first time, we understand which skills are related to what you do and give you a simple way to grade your proficiency. All that data we collected also allows you to benchmark skills against what’s in demand, simplifying how you identify your skill gaps.

Once you can identify those gaps, leverage HowNow to personalise learning in a way that directly addresses and closes them at the speed of business. By the same token, we’re helping people identify who needs to reskill to be relevant to the business today.

Convincing CEOs to buy in

Is it all about mindset? Typically, L&D is viewed as a cost centre, but it really should be viewed as a profit centre.

Here’s how you can make that argument. You’ll have your goals as business, but you’ll get their faster if you identify what’s holding you back from a capabilities perspective, and by plugging those skill gaps.Look at L&D as someone who can help you mobilise your talent in a way that wasn’t possible before.

That’s the cultural and mindset change we need to see more of.Need some more tips on how to get people to buy into your plans for a new L&D strategy or learning platform, we've got just the guide for you! Check out Building a business case for a learning platform (LMS & LXP) | The definitive guide.