(Alexandria, VA) November 17, 2020—Most organizations struggle with proving the value of talent development initiatives. In their new book Measurement Demystified: Creating Your L&D Measurement, Analytics, and Reporting Strategy (ATD Press, November 2020), measurement and reporting experts David Vance and Peggy Parskey introduce a straightforward framework, the Talent Development Reporting principles (TDRp), to simplify the discussion of measurement, analytics, and reporting as it relates to L&D and talent development (TD) practitioners.
Organizations have grappled for years with the concept and practice of setting up effective measurement and reporting strategies to show the value of their organizations’ learning and talent development efforts. This book helps practitioners select and use the right measures for the right reasons; develop the right types of reports; and create a comprehensive measurement and reporting strategy that is meaningful to business leaders.
“The TDRp provides a common language for measures and the reasons for measuring. It recommends grouping measures into three categories, which will facilitate both the discussion and selection of measures,” explains Vance. “It also recommends a common language for reporting based on the reasons for measuring. Moreover, TDRp breaks new ground by recommending the adoption of three standard reports for the management of individual programs and the entire department. TDRp provides practical guidance on how to use the measures and reports to meet the needs of the various stakeholders in your organization.”
“The approach outlined in Measurement Demystified works for all types of organizations—for profit, nonprofit, government, education, and the military—and for both small and large organizations, even in the case of an L&D staff of only one or two,” adds Parskey. “Typically, smaller organizations will have fewer programs, so the number of measures and reports will also be smaller. Larger organizations will have greater complexity and require greater effort, so they will have to set some priorities. Even so, the guidance remains the same: Start small and grow.”
The approach is also practical. With limited resources—including time and incomplete data—and continually changing conditions, the goal is to make the best use of what information is available to help organizations succeed.
While comprehensive, the book goes beyond evaluation and is meant to be accessible to all, as no previous knowledge of L&D measurement is required. For those new to measurement and reporting, it offers step-by-step guidance. For the more experienced learning practitioners, it serves as a reference and performance support tool containing 120 learning measures.
Notably, this is the first book to include the Association for Talent Development’s State of the Industry report benchmarks on organizations learning expenditures as well as the eight learning metrics recommended by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
About the Authors
David Vance is the executive director of the Center for Talent Reporting, a nonprofit dedicated to the creation and implementation of standards for human capital measurement, reporting, and management. He is the former president of Caterpillar University, which he founded in 2001. Prior to this position, Dave was chief economist and head of the business intelligence group at Caterpillar Inc. with responsibility for economic outlooks, sales forecasts, market research, and competitive analysis.
He is the author of The Business of Learning, now in its second edition, and co-author with Peggy Parskey of Measurement Demystified, just published by ATD Press. He teaches in the PhD programs at Bellevue University and the University of Southern Mississippi and in the executive education program at George Mason University.
Peggy Parskey is the assistant director of the Center for Talent Reporting. Peggy owns her own consulting firm, Parskey Consulting, providing measurement and organizational change consulting services. Peggy leverages more than 25 years of expertise in performance measurement, management of change, human performance improvement, and knowledge management to improve clients’ organizational, team, and individual performance.
Peggy is also a principal consultant in measurement with Explorance, a firm focused on talent measurement across the entire employee lifecycle. She is the co-author of Learning Analytics, second edition, with John Mattox and Cristina Hall, and is the co-author with David Vance of Measurement Demystified, recently published by ATD Press.
About ATD and ATD Press
The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is the world’s largest association dedicated to those who develop talent in organizations. ATD’s members come from more than 120 countries and work in public and private organizations in every industry sector. ATD Press publications are written by industry thought leaders and offer anyone who works with adult learners the best practices, academic theory, and guidance necessary to move the profession forward. For more information, visit td.org/books.
Measurement Demystified: Creating Your L&D Measurement, Analytics, and Reporting Strategy
ISBN: 9781950496891 | 432 Pages | Paperback
td.org/books/measurement-demystified
To order books from ATD Press, call 800.628.2783.
To schedule an interview with David Vance or Peggy Parskey, please contact Kay Hechler, ATD Press senior marketing manager, at [email protected] or 703.683.8178.