The most impactful training program is one that clearly demonstrates results. But how can you achieve that?
If you want to make sure that you're presenting an effective training program, it's important to conduct a training program evaluation.
Training program evaluations give you a better idea of how your learners are performing and how well they're absorbing the material presented in the lessons so that they can go on to use it successfully in the future.
But many people do not know where to start with an effective training program evaluation—or even what metrics they should use.
If you want to understand your training effectiveness better, use these simple steps to assemble a training evaluation.
1. Establish your training needs
Your evaluation model should focus on what you need your learners—employees, customers, or partners—to gain from the program.
To get a good return on investment for your training program, you need a program that focuses on your company's needs.
Throughout the evaluation process, you want to focus on what your company is actively trying to accomplish with your training program. Consider:
Depending on what you are attempting to accomplish and how extensive those programs are, you may have a variety of goals for your training programs and learning plans.
However, to conduct an effective training evaluation, you must start with your core goals.
2. Create metrics for measuring changes
If you want to observe the effectiveness of your training program through a training program evaluation, you need to clearly lay out what metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) you will use to calculate the effectiveness of employee training modules.
Here are some metrics or KPIs to consider:
- Measuring completion rate and drop off rates to indicate how many learners complete the course versus those who drop out, signaling potential content engagement or pacing issues
- Analyzing pre- and post-course assessment scores to gauge the improvement in learner knowledge or skills
- Measuring learning outcomes to determine whether your training program is delivering the right content
- Tracking how employees develop and use new skills as a result of their training
- Establishing how job performance changes as a result of the training employees have received
- Tracking behavioral changes as a result of some types of training, like diversity and inclusion training or safety training
- Considering employee engagement, both with the training program and with their jobs when the training is done
Measuring training effectiveness starts with establishing what you need to measure and how you will calculate it.
With those key metrics in place, you put yourself in a better position to evaluate the actual goals accomplished from utilizing those training models.
3. Select your training program evaluation model
You can choose from several models when measuring your training program's effectiveness. Select the training program evaluation model that works best for your needs.
The Kirkpatrick Model
The Kirkpatrick Model focuses on measuring four critical areas of learning and development:
- Reaction, or how much employees enjoy the training program and how engaged they are with the learning experience
- Learning, or what employees absorbed from the training program and whether they absorbed the learning objectives
- Behavior, or how behaviors or processes change as a result of engaging in the training program
- Results, or whether the training program accomplished its intended goals
Through the Kirkpatrick Model, employers can take a nuanced look at each stage of the training process.
By using the Kirkpatrick model, you can identify strengths and weaknesses within the training program and allow you to make modifications as needed.
The Phillips ROI Model
The Phillips ROI Model builds on the Kirkpatrick model while focusing on what matters most to many organizations: the return on investment (ROI) for the company.
If you have spent a considerable part of your budget on training, you want to know that it has helped you accomplish your business goals.
The Phillips ROI Model adds a cost-benefit analysis to measure the monetary benefits of the training program.
This can help team members better establish the need for that type of training and argue in favor of maintaining programs that are accomplishing their goals.
The Phillips ROI Model requires you to gather data about employee performance and knowledge before training begins to effectively calculate the benefits of training when you compare those results to post-training competency across your learners.
Anderson's Model
Anderson's training program evaluation model looks at the following three key factors to determine a training program's effectiveness:
- Alignment—is training aligned with your company's overall business goals?
- Employee performance—is training contributing to employee learning and improving overall employee performance?
- Effective training—is the training approach the most effective for your organization?
Anderson's Model closely examines the overall impact of the training and conducts an in-depth look at instructional methods.
Selecting the right training model
As you consider the methods you will use for your training evaluation, carefully consider how they align with your KPIs.
Each training program evaluation methodology breaks down the evaluation of training a little differently, so it's key to ensure that your chosen method aligns with both the training methods you have chosen and the overall goals for your company.
4. Check the age of your training content
It's easier than you may think for companies to end up with outdated training materials.
You have a training course that works. It's great for onboarding new employees, taking them through health and safety content, or ensuring they understand the company's goals and methods.
Since you have a solid solution in place, you may not have reevaluated it.
Over time, your learning model and training content may become outdated. The same can happen with learning management systems that do not focus on innovation. What was once useful is now confusing and less intuitive.
This recently happened to Brooks Automation, a global leader in manufacturing.
Brooks automation encountered notable limitations with their previous learning management system (LMS), which lacked support for both internal and external training demands.
The sotware’s insufficient security and customization capabilities restricted Brooks' ability to deliver effective, tailored training to both customers and employees.
The restrictiveness of their old LMS made the pains of migration worth it when they switched to an innovative learning platform.
With their new learning platform, course completion rates have increased by 40%, making employees more prepared and knowledgeable.
Plus, training time was reduced by 30% and costs decreased by 20%, thanks to streamlined processes and a blended learning approach afforded by the new learning platform.
Many things change as knowledge increases and industry standards shift, including:
- Modifications in health and safety guidelines
- Updated company policies
- New knowledge in your industry, including advances in technology
- New training objectives
- Outdated LMSs that restrict flow of information
Pay careful attention to how your industry or company has changed since your training materials were created, and make sure that checking the age of your materials—and their accuracy—is part of your training assessment.
5. Assign focus groups
As part of your training evaluation, assign focus groups that will allow you to break down what your training initiatives can cover and more easily track performance.
Focus groups are smaller groups of employees who are moving through those training programs.
Using all employee data to conduct a training evaluation can be time-consuming and stressful.
Focus groups, however, allow you to observe a smaller group as you track performance, evaluate engagement, and see what outcomes they have as a result of their training.
Here are questions focus groups can help you answer:
- How do groups enrolled in a specific training module perform compared to employees who have not gone through that training program? This may be a good way to determine how e-learning methods are working for learners in the focus group.
- What do employee retention rates look like after completing training? Are employees motivated to stay with your company after training, or are they more likely to fall away?
- What do completion rates look like on your training program? For example, if you notice that many employees are not taking advantage of optional corporate training, it could indicate that your training fails to meet their expectations.
- How do employees perform on quizzes, evaluations, and other measures used to indicate their accomplishments in those training modules?
Send out questionnaires to your focus group to help you rate how employees are reacting to the training and how much they feel they have absorbed from the content.
Discuss their expectations versus how the training performed. Keep track of their results to measure overall performance and compare it to employees who have not completed that training.
You can also calculate ROI based on focus groups and extrapolate to better understand how your company's training program is performing.
6. Follow up with employees who have completed the training
During post-training periods, continue to track employees.
Does the training create lasting change?
Can employees recall information presented in the training weeks or months after finishing the module?
If employees are not able to show long-term results after completing their training, it may indicate different problems.
First, it may indicate that the training is ineffective. Employees may be able to game the system to get the right answer on tests and quizzes, but they may not actually be learning or absorbing that content.
Second, it could indicate that the training is not valuable to the employee or that it does not help them meet their daily goals.
Ultimately, that may mean that the training is not beneficial to your company and cannot help you meet your business goals.
Utilize a learning management system that will help you create more effective training
At Docebo, we offer a learning platform that exceeds the capabilities of the traditional learning management system.
Docebo’s learning platform enables over 3,800 businesses around the world to provide highly effective employee training, customer education, and partner enablement whose effectiveness can be tracked with convenient and comprehensive evaluation tools and analytics.
Take a tour today to learn more about our training solutions.