24 Jun Evaluating the Impact of Your Training

Evaluating the Impact of Your Training

Simon Wallace | 24th June 2014

Evaluation of training confirms the impact of training on the trainee and the organisation’s performance.

It therefore makes complete sense to evaluate training; yet evaluation is often missed from development programs. The lack of training evaluation history makes new training requests very difficult for the organisation to support and agree, which is frustrating to deal with and the business opportunities to improve are very often missed.

In my experience best results happen when clients involve the training organisation early on to first establish standards for each training solution, agree how data will be recorded, reported and reviewed following training. It also helps discussions if training evaluation is demystified and given certain structure:

Training means competency development (development of knowledge, skills and attitude) for improved competence (the ability to do something well) and performance. Therefore evaluating the impact of your training has to consider these elements. Kirkpatrick’s levels 1 -4 and Phillips’ level 5 help us determine this and makes evaluation much easier to understand:

• Level 1 Reaction
• Level 2 Learning
• Level 3 Behaviour/Performance
• Level 4 Results
• Level 5 Training ROI

The professional training organisation: always evaluates at level 1 and 2 using a ‘Training Course Evaluation’ and a ‘Training Test’ respectfully; works with the client to determine and prepare the organisation to evaluate at level 3 through agreed ‘Performance Standards’ that can be recorded and reported by the organisation’s existing performance management system; observes the ‘Business Results’, level 4.

Evaluation at level 5 Training ROI is extremely difficult, time consuming and often requires an external consultant to help break down the complexity to effectively determine the calculations required to reach this figure; Training ROI is more often done on a project by project basis rather than on all interventions if at all for this reason.

Are you evaluating the impact of your training?

What level does your evaluation stop at?

About the Author

Simon Wallace is founder of The Whole Thing Group and passionate about performance improvement. Creative entrepreneur and trusted advisor to some great companies that are achieving great things.