Hosted by Jeff Walter, Founder and CEO of LatitudeLearning
In this episode of the Training Impact Podcast, host Jeff Walter breaks down a strategic framework called the Training Program Roadmap, a five-stage model that illustrates how organizations can evolve their training programs to significantly increase impact and return on investment (ROI). Drawing from years of implementation experience with LatitudeLearning and other platforms, Jeff shares how training programs can grow from basic to transformational by adopting best practices at each stage.
The roadmap begins at Stage 1: Self-Directed Learning, where learners voluntarily access content like courses and videos without mandatory assignments. These programs rely heavily on learner motivation and offer minimal structure. While they can be empowering, they tend to deliver modest ROI due to inconsistent engagement. Best practices at this level include offering comprehensive training resources, leveraging blended learning, using a learning management system (LMS), updating content regularly, and gathering learner feedback. Incentives like recognition and rewards can help drive participation.
Progressing to Stage 2: Knowledge Acquisition, the focus shifts to ensuring that learners attain a baseline understanding of key topics. This stage introduces structure through assigned training and assessments. Certification programs are a hallmark here, particularly for external learners like partners or resellers. Best practices include defining role-based certifications, using pre-assessments to streamline learning, and incorporating manager feedback to validate knowledge transfer. Organizations begin to measure success not just by enrollments but by certifications achieved and knowledge consistency across roles.
Stage 3: Skill Development builds upon knowledge acquisition by equipping learners with the ability to perform specific tasks. This hands-on stage emphasizes regular practice, coaching, and mentoring. It introduces skill profiles that define the required competencies for each role, along with assigned skill levels and partner skill objectives. Effective skill assessments are critical here. Jeff notes that technology like AI, AR, and VR is starting to revolutionize how skills are practiced and measured. Forums and peer interaction further enrich the learning experience. Incentivizing skills development and tracking skill-level achievements become central metrics for program success.
At Stage 4: Individual Performance, the training program aligns directly with business outcomes by integrating key performance indicators (KPIs) into learning objectives. Learners must not only demonstrate knowledge and skills but also show measurable performance improvements in areas like sales, customer satisfaction, or repair accuracy. Jeff emphasizes the importance of discriminant analysis—a method to correlate training interventions with performance data. Best practices include assigning KPI-linked training, setting clear performance goals, and selecting an LMS that supports performance data integration. The primary success metric shifts to individual impact, showing how training drives real-world results.
Finally, Stage 5: Organizational Performance focuses on optimizing entire teams or partner organizations. This stage takes the same performance-based approach used at the individual level and applies it across organizational units, particularly in extended enterprise environments. By integrating partner KPIs with training data, companies can perform discriminant analysis across organizations to identify high-performing partners and replicate their success. The goal is to establish optimal staffing levels for trained personnel in each role, align training with business objectives, and incentivize partner performance. Success is measured by tangible improvements in partner outcomes such as sales, efficiency, and service quality.
Throughout the episode, Jeff stresses that most organizations currently operate in the early stages—self-directed or knowledge acquisition—and that few have implemented full KPI integration or performance analysis. He encourages learning leaders to use the roadmap as a self-assessment tool, identifying which best practices are in place and which need to be adopted to evolve to the next level. The journey doesn’t require a complete overhaul—just incremental improvements built on a clear strategy.
The Training Program Roadmap offers a structured yet flexible path for learning and development professionals looking to increase the effectiveness and ROI of their programs. Whether your organization is just starting or aiming to optimize a global partner network, following the roadmap’s stages and best practices can transform training into a powerful driver of business success.
00:00 Introduction to Training Challenges
01:37 The Training Program Roadmap
05:14 Stage One: Self-Directed Programs
10:55 Stage Two: Knowledge Acquisition Programs
21:31 Stage Three: Skill Development Programs
29:26 Stage Four: Individual Performance
37:09 Stage Five: Organizational Performance
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