ATD Research Explores Effective Ways to Report on Learning Evaluations

Assessing learning outcomes and measuring the impact of training are critical responsibilities within the talent development function. These processes act as essential quality control mechanisms, ensuring programs deliver their intended results and demonstrating how learning initiatives align with and advance the organization’s mission and goals. However, evaluating the impact of learning is one area that learning professionals often struggle with. Only 40 percent of those who completed the Talent Development Capability Model™ self-assessment ranked themselves as proficient at evaluating impact, according to benchmarking data from the third quarter of 2024. This is clearly an area that needs improvement.

In April 2025, ATD Research published The Future of Evaluating Learning and Measuring Impact: Improving Skills and Addressing Challenges, sponsored by Zensai. In this research report, 277 talent development professionals answered questions about how an organization’s evaluation efforts support its learning goals, the data sources and methods involved in evaluating learning, and how measurement and evaluation might change in the next two years.

One crucial element of the evaluation process is reporting on the results of evaluations to stakeholders. This allows them to make informed decisions about programs and guides future action. The study found that written reports were the most common way that results are communicated, followed by oral presentations and dashboards. Scorecards were used less frequently. On average, organizations use two of these communication channels to report on the results of evaluations. But no matter which methods are chosen, it’s important to tailor your reports to the needs of the stakeholders. Managers may need data on the performance of their employees, while executives and senior leaders need big-picture data that’s focused on progress toward strategic initiatives.

When it comes to reporting to the C-suite, streamlined is better. “If you show up with 10 slides for the C-suite that have a bunch of bullet points on them and lots of text, that’s probably not good,” jokes Zsolt Olah, senior HR data measurement analyst at Intel Corporation. “But data is not enough. With every number you include, you should be able to argue whether it should go up or down and why. You should know why it matters.”

When presenting results to stakeholders, it’s important to understand your audience, adds Olah. “You need to understand what the stakeholders want and what they need,” he continues. “I always suggest working backward, not beginning with ‘how are we going to communicate this,’ but ‘what decisions are they making?’ How can we help them make that decision based on the data points and insights we give them?”

To learn more about conducting evaluations and communicating results, check out ATD’s latest research report, The Future of Evaluating Learning and Measuring Impact: Improving Skills and Addressing Challenges, sponsored by Zensai.