For more than 25 years, PayPal has taken a data-driven approach to enhancing engagement with merchants and consumers. Kendra Proctor Goldbas joined PayPal in 2021 when the L&D organization operated under a decentralized model. She played a key role in transforming PayPal's enterprise L&D function, using data insights to enhance and refine learning offerings.

As a center of excellence within the HR function, which the company refers to as People and Places, the L&D team collaborated with its colleagues to analyze the company’s annual engagement survey.

“Surveying employees and uncovering their sentiment is a huge driver in learning,” says Goldbas. She explains that the engagement questionnaires and employee pulse surveys are critical “when exploring not only how people felt about access to learning but also understanding how they feel about their careers.”

A data gold mine

Although L&D can glean vital insights from typical scoring mechanisms, the team also analyzes verbatim responses to get a deeper sense of respondent attitudes. This year, the L&D team leveraged generative artificial intelligence to scour answers for keywords and trends that shed light on learner needs.

Employee engagement analytics are not the only data sources scrutinized by L&D. Talent development specialists can mine rich user adoption and engagement data from e-learning tools and platforms; training professionals also benefit from reviewing the actions and paths of super users.

For example, the L&D team examines users’ engagement with PayPal’s library of third-party courses, asking: How often do users access the platform for quick bites of insight? How often do they access programs versus completion rates? How often do employees pursue programs related to certifications?

The data has revealed that e-learning is one of the best ways to deliver learning in the flow of work. For instance, when an employee has a question about a specific feature within a piece of software, they prefer a searchable resource that offers quick access to an answer rather than a full course. Conversely, learners are more likely to want a longer exploration of skills that require nuanced behaviors, such as how to give feedback or work effectively with a hybrid team.

“By tracking the impact of existing learning programs, we can elicit where we are making an impact and where we have gaps,” Goldbas explains. “We can go in and understand what content users are spending the most time on.”

Multiple sources

The L&D team must integrate data insights from various sources to effectively address and support the evolving learning needs of employees.

“What if we see that a lot of users are bouncing around but not actually investing in a learning path?” Goldbas says. “Is the data telling us it’s time to enhance the existing program or revamp the course for delivery through a new modality? Or maybe there’s an opportunity or need to open up a new area of focus.”

TD specialists on Goldbas’s team also allot significant time to seeking perspectives from PayPal’s senior leaders. What skills gaps keep them from achieving performance goals? How do they see their teams faring in terms of skills, mindsets, and behaviors? To dig deeper, the L&D function gathers data quarterly from business leaders.

Goldbas notes that “It’s a bit of listening to the data, listening to employees, and understanding behavioral trends.”

Read more from Talent Development Leader.