Need to measure effectiveness of training programs

We introduce a number of training and development programs for the employees with the conviction that the employee, after acquiring new skills or honing the current, will become more productive and efficient. However, in today's world, where metrics and benchmark is needed to establish performance indicators, subjective approach towards training and development programs has several limitations. 

One of the greatest business thought leaders, Peter Drucker, believed, "if you can't measure it, you can't improve it. "He believed strongly in the power of data and information in employee development. 

Another visionary and great business thinker was Donald Kirkpatrick who gave 4 level framework for measuring success of employee training called Kirkpatrick model in 1959.

The 4 levels of the model are:

Level 1-Reaction 

Level 2-Learning 

Level 3-Behavior 

Level 4-Results 

In this, level 1- Reaction is the assessment of satisfaction level of employees during and after training program. Data can be collected for satisfaction around-

- content of training 

- context

- instructor 

- goal achievement

In case of employee rating the instructor, be alert with Dr. Fox Effect. This is very interesting study that shows lack of correlation between content coverage and rating of instructor under conditions of high expressiveness. Most important here is the clarity regarding goals of the training. Designing and communicating the goal setting process is key to success

Level 2 - Learning is related to the KSA-knowledge, skills and abilities 

Here important is to note that which kind of training to be imparted:

-Class room sessions 

-Workshops 

- Role – play

-Group Discussions

Level 3- Application of learning on job.

 Whether it is possible for the employee to successfully implement the learning on job depends on the number of factors:

- Support of the manager 

-Support of team member

-Availability of resources 

-If needed,follow up sessions

Level 4-Business Impact 

Assessment of success of training sessions in terms of business impact.

e.g..: increase in sales after imparting training to sales executive.

In the recent years, there has been increase in emphasis on the use of return on investment for training and development. Therefore, a data driven 5th level was introduced called ROI or Return on Investment level to illustrate business impact derived from the training. 

Data collection at all levels is central to ROI process. Both hard and soft data should be collected to get holistic view on the impact of training sessions. Various means of collecting are:

-Survey/Questionnaire /Observation/Focus groups /Assignment /Action plan 

Once we collect sufficient data,next should be able to isolate the impact of training before converting data to monetary value .

eg:, improvement in performance could be due to several reasons including:

-Learning program

- Manager 's support 

- Incentives

- Recent appraisal

-System or process change 

-Market factors 

-Other external factors 

We only want to assess improvement due to learning program or isolating the impact of learning.This will be needed to give value to the impact chain and in derivation of ROI.

It can be assessed by adopting various processes:

- Setting control groups - these employees were not given training during that quarter.

-Trend line analysis- examine performance along a long enough time frame, thereby getting clear picture of success and gaps in performance before and after training sessions. 

-Participants and manager estimation of output

Let's take specific example:

Suppose manager wants to impart training to recruiters with relevant experience of 2- 4 years to reduce the time taken to close 5 vacant positions from 3 months to 2 months. Depending on business growth, efficiency of each recruiter and resources available, a detailed training plan must be designed with due consideration to business impact in terms of ROI.

Training sessions include topics like-

-Sourcing 

- Screening

-Basic interviewing

- Pre- and post selection engagement 

Control groups must be set up to derive net benefit. 

Cost benefit ratio is calculated by using following formula:

CBR=Program Benefits/ Program cost

Return on Investment -

ROI=Net Program Benefit/Program cost ×100

Monetary value of each unit of data collected can be measured by using profit contribution or cost savings. 

We can also consider other examples where it is difficult to analyze direct impact of training on business.

Example: An organization is planning to impart training to its line managers on grievance handling. The aim is that they become efficient in grievance redressal. The monetary value can be extracted by measuring its results on factors like:

- saving time of senior managers in grievance handling.

- reduction in attrition on quarterly basis

- cost saving in hiring process as no need to replace employees 

- higher engagement of employees expected after line managers become efficient in handling grievance independently. 

These kind of training programs must be quantified and correlated with impact on the business like improved quality, reduction in turnover or increased morale and engagement of employees.

It should also be remembered that training can never be a one- time event and in order to ensure that the organization achieves its targets, learning must be made an integral part of the culture of the organization. Continuous learning paths of each employee and profile must be defined, refined, reviewed and implemented. Likewise organization should represent philosophy and practice that emphasize results. Hence, no training program should be undertaken unless comprehensive evaluation plan is prepared on result - based approach.

Devika Anand