Whether you’re preparing to implement SumTotal Advanced Reporting for the first time or seeking to improve your reports, there are many decisions to make along the way. Your enterprise learning and talent activities will produce valuable data. We want to share our experience to help you get the full value of the information you generate.
As discussed in a previous article, a data governance framework is the most important tool in your reporting and analytics development. Agreeing on standards, policies, and procedures now will have a tremendous impact on your business results.
If you don’t have a data governance program for SumTotal, we recommend you start a conversation with your Chief Data Officer. You have a critical gap if your company doesn’t have a CDO. Moreover, you’ve uncovered an opportunity to transform your business.
Before you think about putting data governance on your “do later” list, think about this: Lights On Data estimates the cost of poor data quality to be $3.1 trillion in the U.S. Their study pegs each company’s loss at 10-25% of revenue per year.
But losses are only part of the equation. Consider also the gains in productivity and decision-making when you have quality data flow. According to ObservePoint, Forrester found in 2020 that the average return on investment in bringing data up to accepted quality standards is 432%.
Even in a platform like SumTotal, where the data structure and permissions are well-defined, you need optimized data streams, naming conventions, report management and delivery, and server load management protocols in place. Without that governance, you risk:
If you need guidance on how to get started, we recommend the Data Governance Institute as an information and training resource, or you can call us if you have questions.
How you set up your reporting structure and permissions depends on your organization and how you conduct your daily business. If you have a compliance-driven, command-and-control organization, you might restrict reporting to a small select group. If you have an open, fluid, team-based organization, you may give permissions to many people. Be aware that the more people involved, the harder it is to maintain standards.
SumTotal will generate a tremendous amount of valuable data. With the growth of xAPI data capture and transfer, you can track and measure any learning event, including peer-to-peer learning and mentoring. You can create assessments, track the time to complete activities, and measure engagement. Instead of waiting until the end of a course, you can also use spot checks to ensure your people are learning.
Before we discuss the recommendations for developing your reports library, there are some things to consider:
See Measure the Real Impact of Learning in SumTotal Advanced Reporting to learn more.
You can save a lot of time and trouble if the standard reports meet some of your needs. SumTotal LXMS delivers standard reports that can cover almost all of your routine reporting needs. Use those delivered reports as the starting point for any additional reports you need to develop.
Once you have a thorough grounding on the standard reports that are available, assess your users’ requirements. Current information needed for most users will be available on their home page and resources. Some will need more granular information, while others require summaries in crosstab reports and charts.
Start your development effort by understanding the needs of each group of users. Roles will have similar needs, but it helps to work with people in each role to understand what information they require and how they will use it.
For those who need regular recurring reports, use the scheduling function to provide them. Create reports only once, then let the reports engine do the work.
When you create custom reports, test them to make sure they provide all the right information, calculating custom fields correctly, and conforming to your security settings. Establish a procedure for requesting new reports and revising old ones.
Keep in mind that providing useful information will create a demand for more. Help your learners, managers, and executives explore the possibilities.
Decision-makers in your organization will require more than reports. The fast pace of change in business today demands that business leaders have information at their fingertips. We recommend customizable real-time dashboards to assist your executives in their decision-making. The dashboards may require an advanced analytics engine.
You have many options for deploying analytics in your organization. Weigh the capabilities, costs, and benefits before you choose.
We hope these tips help you with a successful reporting and analytics deployment. Managing your learning and talent information well will help you build an agile learning organization that delivers a high return on investment.
For more information on integrations, see our guide to SumTotal data integration challenges.
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