How to Leverage Learning Data to Innovate Talent Development
Does this sound familiar? Your learning team rolls out a training program, asks participants to fill out a simple smile sheet at the end and then….moves on.
But did the training really make a difference? Was it aligned to business goals? Did it help anyone address a skill gap or prepare them to grow into their next role?
This is where learning data changes the game.
Used well, learning data becomes the foundation for a talent development strategy that’s not only smarter—but also more human. Let’s talk about how.
First, What Counts as “Learning Data”?
Before we dive into using learning data to inform our talent development strategy, let’s define what we’re working with. Learning data’s core components include:
Completion rates (who and how many team members completed the training?)
Skill assessments (pre/post tests, manager ratings, peer feedback to gauge if participants actually learned something)
Engagement data (did participants find some parts of the training more relevant than others?)
Career path data (what roles people are in vs. the skills they need to ensure successful growth and succession planning)
And don’t forget about data from other parts of the employee lifecycle—performance reviews, 360 assessments, and even exit interviews. It’s all connected.
Step 1: Use Data to Identify Skill Gaps
This one’s the low-hanging fruit. But it’s also the most powerful.
By looking at skill assessments, job performance, and engagement with learning content, you can spot where your people need help. Maybe your sales team struggles with negotiating. Or your new managers are unsure how to give feedback.
Once you know the gap, you can build learning that closes it—no guesswork needed.
Pro tip: Pair learning data with business metrics (e.g. customer churn, project delays). If you see a pattern, you just found a business case for training.
Step 2: Personalize Development Paths
Learning data helps you understand not just what people need to learn—but how they like to learn. Some folks excel at self-paced courses. Others thrive in live workshops or peer coaching.
You can use data to build custom talent development paths based on:
Job roles
Career goals
Learning preferences
Skill levels
A great example of this would be an early-career marketer getting a tailored roadmap that guides them from campaign basics to brand strategy, with checkpoints, feedback, and recognition along the way.
Step 3: Predict and Plan for Future Talent Growth
By analyzing what your top performers have in common and where your org is headed, you can forecast what skills you’ll need 6, 12, or 24 months from now.
That lets you:
Build internal pipelines instead of buying talent
Upskill proactively, not reactively
Retain high-potential employees by showing them a future
Think of it as workforce planning meets learning analytics.
Step 4: Measure ROI (Without the Headache)
We all want to know if learning is actually working. But it’s tough to prove, right?
Not with the right data.
When you connect learning data to performance outcomes—like productivity, promotion rates, retention, closed/won ratios, or customer satisfaction—you start to see patterns.
Maybe those who complete a certain leadership module are twice as likely to get promoted. Or engineers who finish a technical bootcamp close 20% more tickets.
This is measurable learning impact you can show your CFO.
Step 5: Make It a Feedback Loop
Finally, don’t let your data sit in a dashboard somewhere.
Use it! Share it! Learn from it.
Adjust your programs based on completion and feedback data.
Celebrate high engagement—and dig into low engagement.
Follow-Up & Review – Reassess progress, provide new feedback, and repeat the cycle to support continuous growth.
Treat your talent development strategy like a living, breathing thing. Because it is.
Final Thoughts: Data-Driven, Talent-Focused
When you use data to understand, support, and develop talent—it’s powerful. You build a culture where learning isn’t just a value, it’s a priority. If you want to take your talent development strategy to the next level start with the learning data you already have and build from there. One insight at a time.
About the Author
Jackie Miller launched Bespoken in 2015 to channel years of professional performance experience into techniques that improve public speaking, presenting, and professional communication skills. She holds a B.F.A. and M.A. both from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.