How Can We Accurately Measure Training Effectiveness in Our Startup? Seeking Advice!

I am working in a new startup Japanese manufacturing company. Here, we are about to start training and development of our employees. First, I am just giving you an idea of the current training flow in my company.

1. We finalize the training calendar with the help of HOD.
2. We in-house (HR and Production) impart the training through PPTs.
3. After the training program, we take general feedback from the trainees about the trainer, content, and environment, etc.
4. Also, just after the training, we administer a 10-minute test paper consisting of 10 questions related to the training attended.

Effectiveness of Training

Here, my manager is asking me to administer one more test paper after one month of the training to measure the effectiveness of the training.

My Queries

1. Should the question paper be the same as the one taken earlier during the training?
2. Is this the right method to measure training effectiveness?
3. How can we involve HODs in measuring effectiveness?

Please suggest...

With Thanks,

Priyanka Varshney

Training Question Paper Consistency

1. No, it's not necessary to change the question paper all the time. It depends on the type of training. For instance, if it is awareness training or introducing new technology to the company, then the same question paper can be used.

Measuring Training Effectiveness

2. The result of the training cannot be measured overnight. Training effectiveness is the right method for evaluating its impact, which should be measured after 15 days or a month.

Involving Managers in Training

3. Involving managers is especially critical if the training has been requested by another program sponsor and not by the immediate manager. In such cases, employees' commitment to the training effort is likely to be a little less. By involving managers, employee buy-in is likely to increase. It is the Head of Department (HOD) who can mark the improvement in the employee after the training is imparted, so it is right to involve peers and the HOD.

Attached herewith is a useful presentation on Training Effectiveness.

Regards,

Training Effectiveness

"Training Effectiveness" refers to how effectively trained employees can deliver performance in their respective roles on the shop floor. If you prepare a questionnaire and send it to the reporting manager or supervisor to complete and return after observing the performance of each trained person for a period of two months, you will receive accurate feedback on the effectiveness of the training you organized. Please note that an objective-type questionnaire will make the feedback analysis easy and meaningful.

Have you clicked on the links in the sidebar on the right and reviewed the contents before raising the query? If not, I suggest that you do so. For example, see Evaluating the Effectiveness of Training.

As others have pointed out, you need to specify what type of training you are providing and to what type of staff. As a startup company, you may not have production figures before imparting training. If that is the case, it could be a handicap.

Regards

Dear Sir, First of all, thank you for your reply. I have already checked, read, and downloaded a lot of stuff from this forum. But, in conclusion, I am now confused about my manager's expectations or the actual trend of the training.

Attachments for Better Understanding

For example, I am attaching some documents for a better understanding of my problem:

• 1st attachment: One training module prepared on ESI awareness
• 2nd attachment: Feedback form filled by the trainees
• 3rd attachment: Test paper which I have taken on the same day of training

Now, my manager is saying that to measure the training effectiveness, I should have the candidates take one more test after one month, and this is considered training effectiveness according to him. When I asked about the suggestions of the HODs, he told me that they actually don't know about the training (mainly related to safety, first aid, welfare, behavior-based, etc.).

Clarification Needed on Training Effectiveness

Please clarify if taking one more test of the trainees after one month, and if they fail, then conducting another training in a specified time, is the right trend for training and development. Shouldn't we involve HODs and their opinions for evaluating the effectiveness of the training? What about the training effectiveness form that I have seen in this forum?

As it is a new company, production managers and others are also very keen to know about the training part.

With Thanks,

Priyanka Varshney

Training effectiveness is not just about taking tests or involving the managers. Yes, both are just the means. The end result is what was increased or decreased.

I recommend you refer to my comments on past queries. The links are as follows:
- #post1969910
- https://www.citehr.com/311628-measur...ml#post1411484
- https://www.citehr.com/119766-kirkpa...tml#post758770
- https://www.citehr.com/171892-honeym...tml#post743051
- https://www.citehr.com/137807-parame...tml#post712618

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

There is nothing to get confused about. If you evaluate post-training on paper, you will get to know about the knowledge gained by the trainee, subject to his/her memory power and realistic knowledge obtained by understanding the process and procedures.

Post-training, respective Managers/Line Managers, or immediate Superiors must watch and compare their team members' performance. If they find significant changes, they will provide positive feedback (good/very good/excellent) in the evaluation form. A minimum of 3 months' time is required to EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAINING, and in the meantime, you may ASSESS them just to update/refresh their knowledge. This will give you a clear picture of "HOW EFFECTIVELY IT IS IMPLEMENTED POST TRAINING."

Don't forget to extend complete support to trainees to facilitate the learning process.

Regards

For the example given, there is no need for the HOD to get involved. The re-test after a duration will only indicate how much the employee is able to retain in memory. I am sure that if a copy of the PPT presentation is provided to each employee (I would rather say keep a hard copy in each department), then the employee can refer to that as and when needed to use the services.

For other types of training, it all depends on what the aims and objectives are.

I would suggest that if you are only using PowerPoint to train, then you might want to revisit your training process. Showing a few PowerPoints and having someone read the words off the screen to the group is not training. People don't learn from just reading; they learn by using all their senses, and that includes doing things, hearing things, and reading things.