Explorance Sponsors Another Successful CTR Conference

Explorance was a sponsor of the CTR Conference in Dallas, TX February 19-21 where 130 attendees learned about best practices in measurement and how to demonstrate the value of the learning function to the rest of the business.

What is CTR and what is the CTR conference?

CTR is the Center for Talent Reporting. The CTR Conference is an annual gathering of learning leaders, vendors, and practitioners with a passion for measurement—particularly learning analytics (a.k.a., training evaluation). CTR leaders—Dave Vance, Peggy Parskey, Kevin Jones and Andy Vance—hosted the event at the Thryv Hotel and Conference Center. The agenda included titans and leading practitioners in the learning measurement industry: Patti Phillips, Jack Phillips, Dave Vance, Adri Maisonet Morales, Roy Pollock, Kevin M. Yates, Brenda Sugrue, and Dean Kothia among others.

Event highlights

The conference is a forum for sharing new ideas about measurement, especially showing the impact of talent development initiatives using Talent Development Reporting Principles (TDRp). One of the keys to this approach is to gather the right KPIs including efficiency, effectiveness, and outcome measures. Another key is reporting these measures in a way that business leaders understand.

Various panel discussions and breakout sessions explained the value of focusing on specific metrics, while others addressed how to use methodologies and tools to determine impact. As the leading vendor in the learning analytics space, the Explorance team demonstrated how to use MTM to evaluate with scale across an entire curriculum and deliver actionable insights tailored to key audiences.

Workshops before and after the conference allowed learners to dive deeper into topics like ROI (Jack and Patti Phillips), establishing a measurement strategy (Dave Vance) and escaping the reporting black hole (Peggy Parskey).

One attendee stated, “I’ve been in the measurement space for a year now, and I’ve learned more in two days than I have all year.”

More experienced attendees also gained insights and value from the presentations. Brenda Sugrue, CLO at EY, shared how she helped transform the corporate university using scalable technologies to measure, monitor and manage the L&D practice. She encouraged the audience to be proactive about gathering the metrics needed to run a sound function.

“Prioritize measurement even if no one is asking you to.”

– Brenda Sugrue, CLO, EY

Gary Whitney shared his learning strategy journey as the Vice President of Global Learning at IHG, stressing the importance of dedicated learning analytics resources and establishing governance to ensure L&D’s alignment to the business strategy throughout the organization.

Steven Maxwell from the Human Capital Management Institute delivered the closing keynote, sharing the latest updates on new Human Capital Reporting Standards which were recently released by the International Standards Organization (ISO). The new standards represent recommended measures for internal and external reporting, related to companies’ investments in their people. While the timing for adoption of the new standards will vary globally, the very existence of standards from a significant governing body is expected to raise transparency related to how companies prioritize talent as a source of strategic and competitive differentiation. You can learn more about the new standards here.

TDRp excellence awards

The Center for Talent Reporting recognized several organizations for their leadership in the use of Talent Development Reporting Principles to establish sound governance and measurement principles that translate into tangible results. SunTrust Bank was the recipient of the L&D Governance Award, and Explorance clients Texas Health Resources and Heartland Dental received L&D Measurement Awards. Explorance congratulates these organizations for their accomplishments and recognizes the efforts of all who are striving to be leaders in the industry.

Looking ahead to next year

The core theme for 2020 will remain the same—how to demonstrate the value of learning to the business. The venue will still be the Thryv Hotel and Conference Center near Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. However, the timing will shift from March to October 2020. Stay tuned for more details. We hope to see you there. In the meantime, you can learn more about the Center for Talent Reporting via their website.