Maximize the ROI for L&D Investments: How to Measure the Effectiveness of Learning and Development Tools with Cammy Wood

Her career began in retail, starting with a job at a toy store at the age of 16. Despite being aware of the difficulties of working during the holiday season, she took the opportunity and had a great experience. She was introduced to sales and worked her way up in the retail industry for about 10 years before switching to the wireless sales industry at T-Mobile. The switch was encouraged by her husband, despite not being a tech-savvy person. Being a woman in tech has been a fulfilling experience, keeping her on the cutting edge of innovation. Her interest in well-prepared, trained, and informed teams led her to enter the field of learning and development. Although it was not her original plan, she has been in L&D for over five years and has a newfound appreciation for the importance of training in business. 

What steps do you take to ensure that sales training is effective across different geographies and cultures?

As the head of the new hire programming team at GoDaddy, she was responsible for supporting the company's global training program. The team was focused on delivering effective training content and ensuring that the learners are prepared to interact with customers through various channels. The learners were considered the top priority as they played a crucial role in serving the entrepreneurs using GoDaddy's products. Her team put significant effort into building training programs that integrate systems and concepts and focused on building muscle memory through roleplay and practice sessions with trainers. The training programs were designed to address fundamental human behaviors, such as empathy and problem-solving, and build trust with the customers. The goal was to solve problems and earn the right to suggest additional options through the law of reciprocity.

What is your approach to measuring the ROI of non-revenue generating roles?

Measuring the impact of training programs can be challenging for stakeholders. To address this, a strong needs analysis is often conducted to establish a baseline and understand the desired outcome. For instance, in the case of a system implementation, the focus is typically on improving efficiency, reducing costs, and saving time. To measure these outcomes, metrics such as task completion time, the number of failure points and the influence of training on the results can be tracked. The baseline is established prior to the system rollout, and evaluations are conducted 30, 60, and 90 days after implementation to compare it to the baseline and determine any shifts in results. Usually, a significant improvement is seen in the 60-day evaluation as users become more familiar with the tool, and by the 90-day evaluation, the tool becomes second nature for them.

Can you tell me about a time when you transformed your training and reduced 70% of your support tickets? How did that impact the business outcome?

At the start of the pandemic in 2020, GoDaddy, like many other companies, faced challenges with transitioning to remote work. The strain on the training, IT, and systems teams was due to difficulties in setting up work-from-home equipment for new hires. To address this issue, the company created a PowerPoint guide and day-one videos to assist with the setup process. These videos were designed to be more engaging and entertaining than a traditional instruction manual. After testing with a few new hires, it was found that the videos reduced IT help desk tickets on day one by 70%. 

Should L&D be considered a part of business processes and streamlined along with other business processes?

The team responsible for learning and development (L&D) is often recognized for its integration with various other resource teams within a company. While the project management team (PMO) focuses on completing and keeping track of major projects, L&D has to work closely with teams such as recruiting, HR, marketing, product, and operations. This central role of L&D in multiple initiatives within an organization highlights the need for its integration into business processes. If considered part of the business process, gaps in training can be identified earlier, and cost estimates for delivering training can be more accurately determined. Stakeholders may overlook the cost of training, but if it were part of the business process, its cost would be more transparent. As a result, L&D should be considered a crucial component of business processes.

Do you have a mantra in mind that you'd like to share with our audience?

The head of the new hire programming team at GoDaddy is responsible for the integration of micro-learning into their training programs. They believe that the short video format, commonly seen on platforms like TikTok, can be applied to training to make it more engaging and accessible. The team has set their goal for 2023 as "bringing training into the home," aiming to create a virtual training environment that feels like a real classroom, promoting confidence, competence, and camaraderie among learners. They are currently in the process of planning and developing ways to achieve this objective in the hybrid environment of both in-person and virtual training.

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