Here’s a conundrum for you. As previously mentioned, demonstrating the value of learning is the number one challenge reported by learning executives today. Consistently, persistently, it tops the list of survey after survey. And yet, the same research also shows that at least three-quarters of organisations do not measure the impact of learning on the business. In fact, a 2009 survey of Fortune 500 CEOs showed that while 96 per cent of executives wanted to see information on the business impact of learning initiatives, only 8 per cent were receiving it. So on the one hand learning leaders report feeling acutely aware of the need to show the value of what they do, but on the other hand they do not appear to be doing anything about it. Or at least, not anything successful. It’s as if we are stuck in a rut and unsure of how to get out of it. Which begs the questions of how did we get here in the first place, and what exactly do we have to do to get out?

What makes this situation particularly intriguing is that for most readers it is probably old news. Commentators were noting the inadequacy of learning evaluation over forty years ago and not much has improved since then. Indeed, perhaps the bigger conundrum here is how we appear to have got away with not auditing what we do for so long. For despite our inability to prove value, organisations continue to invest billions of dollars on formal training and development programmes and probably a similar amount on informal initiatives, effectively on faith alone. It is hard to imagine any other area of business in which such significant and sustained investment would be matched with so little audit or follow-up for so long.