Aligning L&D with Business Strategy At Blue Cross Using Explorance Metrics That Matter at Blue Cross

Challenge – Aligning Learning and Development with Organizational Objectives 

How can L&D leaders prove the impact of their programs? Like many other companies, Blue Cross wanted to know the ROI of its corporate development programs but lacked the data-driven insights to accurately judge its performance. 

As a veteran of 20 years in Blue Cross’ L&D department, Charles Tomberlin realized that the business needed to invest in a platform that could provide them actual metrics for their pieces of training.  

Explorance Metrics That Matter (MTM) was selected in 2017 as a proof of concept. Almost immediately, Charles noticed progress. “It was amazing to see some of the questions evolve from just the proof of concept,” he said.  

Solution – Leveraging Metrics That Matter for Data-Driven Decisions 

MTM enabled Blue Cross to ask for feedback after completing the course using a scorecard and net promoter score (NPS). This process allowed them to fine-tune their L&D program by adjusting content and balancing instructor-led classes with virtual ones for convenience. 

“We started off with a balanced scorecard measure in 2019 with Metrics That Matter data, the NPS, and with [its] learning application. And we had very low numbers, obviously, but everything gets measured.” 

Incorporating MTM into the company’s balanced scorecard has provided a quantitative basis for demonstrating the broader value of L&D initiatives to other stakeholders. This integration has also helped in aligning training programs with Blue Cross’s strategic business goals. 

“Some of the ways that it’s benefited the organization is we’re not wasting money, time, and resources, which we know are limited,” he said, “when you’re talking about learning and development. We’re able to focus on areas that we know we can make a significant impact. It’s allowed us to sunset certain classes, also allowed us to continually seek improvement with some of the classes that we offer.” 

Results – Maximizing Impact and Demonstrating Value 

The data provided by MTM has empowered Blue Cross to make informed, data-driven decisions regarding its L&D programs. By offering classes that were requested by the majority of employees, their application rate to classes shot up by 30%. 

After implementing MTM, Blue Cross’s L&D NPS also increased by 30%. This result provided undeniable proof of the increased satisfaction and impact of the corporate development program.  

“Metrics That Matter has allowed us to show our value to the organization by actually being incorporated into the balanced scorecard with specific key performance indicators.” 

With MTM,  Blue Cross is able to determine which classes were not having the expected outcome, leading to their sunsetting. This reallocation of resources ensured that the courses that performed the best with employees had the most attendance capacity and all the required tools.  

“[MLY] seems like a game-changer in terms of a way that we can more efficiently analyze some of the feedback, the comments, instead of going through a thousand comments, that takes a long long time.” 

One of the biggest developments in Blue Cross’ L&D program, foreseen by Charles, is the addition of AI for analysis. Using Explorance’s MLY can help his team uncover a new layer of feedback through text comments, providing more layered and accurate employee feedback.  

With so much opportunity beckoning via MLY’s AI-assisted automation, Blue Cross’s L&D initiatives will continue to drive value within the organization for years to come.