Frequently asked Questions

Q1: How will my organization benefit from the LPI?

A. Organizational learning is an established means for enhancing business and individual performance. The LPI will help your organization to:

• Align your learning activities with your corporate strategy to ensure corporate objectives are being met.
• Achieve a better return from employee learning and developmental initiatives.
• Gain a competitive advantage that translates into improved financial performance.
• Stay on the leading edge of advances in your industry.
• Improve business efficiency and productivity.
• Demonstrate to staff the importance of organizational learning.

Q2: What is different about the LPI?

A.. The LPI is a unique diagnostic tool in the Canadian marketplace. There is no other tool or instrument that permits organizations to assess their level of organizational learning through the eyes of their employees.

Q3: What do I get when I sign up?

A. You will get:

• A tried and true research process.
• A user friendly, online survey of your employees.
• A summary report that gives you:
  • an overall LPI score,
  • individual, detailed scores for each learning pillar,
  • identification of areas of learning strengths and challenges,
  • data cuts for pre-selected demographic and organizational variables, and
  • high-level recommendations that reflect potential actions.

Q4: How is the LPI used?

A. The LPI can be used in a variety of ways to assist in meeting your learning organization requirements, including:

• To determine the current learning level of the organization,
• To provide senior executives with concrete measures of organizational learning,
• To assist with formulating, initiating or measuring a learning strategy,
• To establish baselines for tracking learning in the organization or with particular organizational groups,
• To compare the levels of learning of particular groups with the organization as a whole, and
• To draw links between learning and performance.

Q5: Who at our organization will be surveyed?

A: Typically, for small and mid-sized organizations, we would plan to poll all employees. This allows for comprehensive feedback from the “shop floor” to the “executive suite” about the level of the organization’s learning. For time and cost considerations, however, we can work with clients to determine a valid sample size for the survey’s purposes. With large organizations, a sampling strategy is usually the only option that makes sense. Unfortunately, the LPI process is not designed for use with organizations of less than 100 employees.

Q6: How are we surveyed?

A: The survey is provided on-line, through an external, secure web-site dedicated to your organization. Results are tabulated by the Conference Board team, and all individual records are secured as private and confidential. Aggregate results are produced for the report; no individual results will be given. Where an online survey is impractical or inappropriate, a paper version may be used.

Q7: How long does the survey take to complete?

A: On average, the LPI survey questionnaire takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Q8: Can I customize the LPI for my specific needs?

A: Yes. You can add more questions, modify current questions, or ask for special analyses of the resulting data. You can also compare different groups within your organization (e.g., different divisions, functional levels, facility locations, etc.) CBoC specialists can help you to design and price these options.

Q9: Can I benchmark my organization’s performance against others?

A: At the present time, more organizations need to be included in the LPI database to allow for external benchmarking. Nevertheless, by using the LPI, you will be able to perform internal benchmarking with functional groups or divisions within your organization.

Q10: What does the output report contain?

A: The output report from the standard LPI process provides a summary of the survey’s results. It also aggregates data to assess your firm performance in relation to the Five Pillars of a Learning Organization. These aggregate scores may point to areas of improvement or opportunity for the organization. The report information can be customized to highlight specific information that your organization may require. The table of contents for a sample report is as follows:

• Executive Overview:
  • Introduction
  • Major Findings
  • Main Recommendations
• Detailed Results for Individual LPI Pillars
  • Learning Dynamics
  • Knowledge Management/Infrastructure
  • Vision
  • Culture
  • Learning Investment
• Demographic/Organization Variable Analysis (examples only)
• Business Unit
• Tenure

Q11: What is the research basis for the LPI?

A: Since 1991, the Conference Board has produced its Learning and Performance Outlook to provide learning professionals and practitioners with a comprehensive look at the formal training that goes on in organizations. At the behest of members of our learning and development networks, we were asked to examine the application of the learning organization to the Canadian environment. Based on the theories and research of such noted academics as Chris Argyris, Peter Senge and David Garvin, we developed the Learning Performance Index. The survey and its processes were reviewed by other learning experts to ensure that it met the rigorous requirements of learning managers working in organizations. A pilot test in 2005 with a large healthcare organization confirmed the efficacy and efficiency of the LPI.