As per a report by ETHRWorld and edForce, 46% of companies are already using AI to create personalised training plans to drive upskilling.
From HR to technology, data analytics is transforming every field to become more efficient and result-oriented. The same holds true for the world of learning, especially in India’s corporate sector.
Companies within India are well-versed with the advantages that data analytics can provide when applied correctly. As technology and tools in every industry continue to evolve at a rapid pace, many companies have turned to data analytics to enhance the effectiveness of their learning experience.
Traditional Corporate Training in India
For a long time, corporate training in India has followed a defined set of structures. The classroom-based, one-size-fits-all approach is often used to distribute the same knowledge to different people in the same manner.
The lack of a feedback system, combined with the impersonalised nature of these lessons, has often led to a less engaged and motivated workforce. It becomes quite hard to encourage employees to upskill themselves when they have no interest in the method of learning being used by the employers.
According to recent trends, employees across India, especially the younger generation, prefer a more analytics-led, modular, and blended learning format. Finding learning programs that can adapt to their need and measure the effectiveness of the learned lessons is becoming a priority for employees as well as employers.
Key Ways Data is Changing Training
Already, data analytics has started to transform how companies approach training. Rather than relying only on knowledge distribution, companies now look at the data related to existing training paths to modify their approach.
Personalised Learning Paths
One of the most significant ways in which data analytics has changed learning in companies is the personalisation of lessons. By assessing individual needs, possible career paths, and various other factors, data analytics is helping in the creation of learning plans that suit both the employee and the employer.
Measuring Training Effectiveness
Keeping a track of relevant training-based data allows companies to evaluate just how effective their lesson plans are. Insights into completion rates, learner engagement, retention, and performance improvement paint an accurate picture of the impact that each lesson has on employees.
Predicting Future Skill Needs
Data analytics is not limited to past insights and present needs. With proper evaluation of data and the needs of the company, companies can also learn what areas they should focus on when it comes to upskilling. By highlighting missing skills as well as possible future trends, data analytics helps a company become future-ready.
Improving Engagement
Using data analytics, companies can gain real-time insights into how engaging their learning methods are. This can be used to enhance resources and make lessons more effective, ultimately ensuring that employees remain motivated to learn and improve their skills.
Challenges in India
Given all the benefits that come hand in hand with data analytics, there are several good reasons why not every company has adopted the technology into their learning framework.
Skill Gap
As per an ETHRWorld survey, 48% of companies haven’t implemented AI in learning and development due to a lack of capability and unclear ROI. This highlights that while data analytics indeed has a lot of potential, it can only be realised in the hands of those who are well-versed with the technology and have a clear vision.
Budget Misalignment
Though learning is becoming a priority for companies across India, this has not completely translated to their budgets. About 69% of organisations allocate less than 10% of their budgets to learning and development, making the use of data analytics a costly endeavour that not every company can follow.
Security Threat
Apart from budgetary and knowledge constraints, data analytics also poses a challenge to security. Many companies remain unsure about how secure their company’s data and resources will be if they are fed to any third-party data analytics and/or an AI-based tool.
Other Concerns
Many companies and their leadership can be resistant to the sweeping changes that data analytics might bring about in their wake. Furthermore, a lack of a skilled analytics team can lead to a waste of resources.
The Road Ahead
Despite the posed challenges, the presence of data analytics continues to grow in the learning and development sector. The benefits and convenience that the use of data brings promise a brighter future for the world of learning.
The learning market in India itself continues to grow. As per IMARC, the indian corporate training market was at USD 10.8 billion in 2024 and it is expected to jump to USD 37.8 billion by 2033 with a CAGR of 13.4%.
In fact, as per Business Today, 58.5% of companies in India have increased their learning and development budgets in FY25. This heralds a sure growth towards upskilling within companies and a greater attention towards newer technologies and trends.
In the End…
Together, analytics and AI will continue to drive personalisation, efficiency, and measurability in the learning sphere. Proper evaluation of data in conjunction with corporate training makes it more targeted, allowing companies to mould their learning offerings to their changing business goals.
To truly embrace the changes that data analytics promises, HR leaders, as well as learning and development experts, need to adapt and learn how to utilise this tool proficiently. In the same vein, the management needs to reevaluate their budgets while keeping in mind that training is an investment that is sure to pay back many times over in the long run.
