Last updated April 2013

Latest news

• Take part in a short study investigating how we are using experiential learning to help staff practice and perform (supported by Toolwire) This will close 18th May 2012.
  
• A new benchmark for using learning technologies in your Customer Strategy Training has just closed, keep in touch with latest findings and resources here (supported by Brightwave).
• Boosting Business Aglility, the 2011-12 Towards Maturity Benchmark has now been published.600+ organisations participated in the 2011 TM benchmark creating a great basis for comparison across the private ,public and not for profit sector. The findings were launched in a webinar in conjunction with the Learning and Skills Group. You can download the findings at www.towardsmaturity.org/2011benchmark.
• For more information about this year's Benchmark study please click here. If you missed out in the 2011 study,you can still find out your personalised benchmark through our Towards Maturity Benchmark Centre (more information below).
• A new Benchmark looking at HARNESSING LIVE ONLINE LEARNING (supported by REDTRAY) has just been launched in October 2011
• It is not to late to download 'Reinventing Leadership Development' Benchmark - a study published in June 11 investigating how technology is being used in leadership and managment programmes.

DOWNLOAD PREVIOUS TOWARDS MATURITY BENCHMARK REPORTS HERE.

Introduction to benchmarking

Businesses have been benchmarking since the early 90's in order to develop new strategic direction and to improve performance. Over the past 6 years, Towards Maturity have been applying best practice benchmark principles to help L&D departments do the same.

The Towards Maturity Benchmark is considered the most comprehensive independent review of the use of learning technologies in the workplace in the UK and it's performance indicators and best practice benchmarks have been developed through the participation of 1500 organisations to date and wide industry collaboration.

The benchmark considers how organisations are using technology innovation to meet changing business skills needs and also reviews changes in use of technology, drivers and results, barriers and the implementation practices that directly correlate to results. 

The purpose of benchmarking is to encourage ongoing improvement

The TM benchmark considers a number of performance indicators that represent the impact in the workplace and has developed best practice benchmarks (reflected by the Towards Maturity Model) to support ongoing improvement. In the 2010-11  benchmark, a new Towards Maturity Index (TMI) has been developed  as a single benchmark of implementation maturity across the 6 work streams. It is designed  to help organisations understand, and then improve, the health of their learning technology implementation.

New Towards Maturity Benchmark Centre

Historically organisations could only participate in the benchmarking process once a year, in January 2011 TM introduced their new Benchmark Centre - an online service that allows organisations to

• Review their current implementation progress
• Compare with others to identify strengths and weaknesses
• Take action based on recommendations.

Find out more or visit the centre directly for free at www.towardsmaturity.org/mybenchmark

For those who are looking for extra support on their journey, we also offer stakeholder engagement workshops and advisory services.

What are people saying? 

You can find out what people are saying who have been through the process.

Get involved in the conversation 

Benchmarking is a dynamic process - it's not just about research but it is about action . If this is something you are interested in, then please join our LinkedIn group New Learning Benchmarks - This group is for people wanting to fast track the results of innovative workplace learning & development through benchmarking. All of our previous and curent benchmark reports will be posted plus  current news and comment.

UK Industry support 

The Towards Maturity industry benchmark represents an outstanding industry collaboration to ensure that the benchmark process continually reflects the changing business and technical environments that L&D teams need to thrive within.

Moving forward, the 2011 research programme has been made possible by our industry ambassadors who share our passion for ensuring that independant advice is freely available for anyone who wants it.

We also have a range of supporters within the industry who help ensure that the research reflects current trends- see our supporters here.  

International Recognition

The Towards Maturity Benchmark also has international recognition:

• Over 33% of participants in the 2010 and 2011  benchmark took part from outside the UK (Europe, EMEA, Asia Pacific and North America). 
• Following peer review, the work has been included in Australia's inaugural version of Impact -  Journal of  Applied research into workplace E-learning

Plus, over the past 3 years we have been pleased to respond to invitations to share findings with colleagues around the globe:

• Europe via the corporate keynote and other seminars for Online Educa Berlin, Europe's largest e-learning conference.
• Europe via the HRM Expo and Professional Learning
• Japan - e-Learning WORLD 2007-Expo & Conference
• Australia via  to Elnet - the E-Learning network of Australasia
• USA via the online Learntrends conference

Find out more

If you would like to find out more about taking part in the Towards Maturity Benchmark or how the Towards Maturity team can help you use your personalised benchmark results to help you improve impact of e-learning in your organisation, then contact us at e-learning@towardsmaturity.org.