I am responsible for training 27 people in social change communication in 10 Southern African countries. I have just started this job. I need to come up with systems to track the effectiveness of the training that I am conducting. The same systems will be used for all the other training provided by service providers. I am also responsible for the training conducted by different service providers. We hold more than 35 training workshops a year on various issues. I would appreciate suggestions on how to demonstrate the effectiveness of the training. If it has not been effective, I would like to know how to improve it. I would appreciate any articles or websites where I could find this information.
From South Africa, Bryanston
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From South Africa, Bryanston
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We find the Kirkpatrick Four-Level Model for evaluating the effectiveness of training the most useful. Basically, the four levels of evaluation are:
Level 1 - Reaction
How did participants react to the program?
Level 2 - Learning
To what extent did participants improve knowledge and skills and change attitudes as a result of the training?
Level 3 - Behavior
To what extent did participants change their behavior back in the workplace as a result of the training?
Level 4 - Results
What organizational benefits resulted from the training?
You can find out more at: [Training Effectiveness](http://www.businessperform.com/html/evaluating_training_effectiven.html)
[Vicki Heath](http://www.businessperform.com)
[Human Resources Software and Resources](http://www.businessperform.com)
From Australia, Melbourne
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10Level 1 - Reaction
How did participants react to the program?
Level 2 - Learning
To what extent did participants improve knowledge and skills and change attitudes as a result of the training?
Level 3 - Behavior
To what extent did participants change their behavior back in the workplace as a result of the training?
Level 4 - Results
What organizational benefits resulted from the training?
You can find out more at: [Training Effectiveness](http://www.businessperform.com/html/evaluating_training_effectiven.html)
[Vicki Heath](http://www.businessperform.com)
[Human Resources Software and Resources](http://www.businessperform.com)
From Australia, Melbourne
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Thank you very much, Vicki. I have heard about that model and I will study it more. We do level one for all our training. Level four is a little bit easier for me because we focus on a good product. Levels 2 and 3 will be a challenge for me. What I need to understand from you is whether I should set objectives for the trainees soon after the training.
From South Africa, Bryanston
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From South Africa, Bryanston
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Rita, I'm a little surprised when you say that Level 4 is easier. In fact, Level 4 is the hardest and most time consuming because there are a lot of other factors at play other than training that impact on organizational results.
You ask whether you should set objectives for the trainees soon after the training. There is more than one kind of objective when it comes to training. There are the organizational objectives that you want the training to help deliver, such as “increase employee retention by 20 %”. This kind of objective is decided during the training needs analysis stage and is important for doing a later Level 4 evaluation, amongst other things.
Another kind of objective is a learning objective; what it is you want the learners to learn by the end of the program. This kind of objective is also determined during the design phase of the training program.
Another kind of objective is what the learners want to apply back in the workplace. This is agreed between the trainer and each learner and is sometimes called a “learning contract”. It is introduced at the start of the program and discussed and agree towards the end of the program.
So, the different kinds of objectives serve different purposes. You can find out more about how to make training effective and how to evaluate training in our book, From Training to Enhanced Workplace Performance
Vicki Heath
Human Resources Software and Resources
http://www.businessperform.com
From Australia, Melbourne
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You ask whether you should set objectives for the trainees soon after the training. There is more than one kind of objective when it comes to training. There are the organizational objectives that you want the training to help deliver, such as “increase employee retention by 20 %”. This kind of objective is decided during the training needs analysis stage and is important for doing a later Level 4 evaluation, amongst other things.
Another kind of objective is a learning objective; what it is you want the learners to learn by the end of the program. This kind of objective is also determined during the design phase of the training program.
Another kind of objective is what the learners want to apply back in the workplace. This is agreed between the trainer and each learner and is sometimes called a “learning contract”. It is introduced at the start of the program and discussed and agree towards the end of the program.
So, the different kinds of objectives serve different purposes. You can find out more about how to make training effective and how to evaluate training in our book, From Training to Enhanced Workplace Performance
Vicki Heath
Human Resources Software and Resources
http://www.businessperform.com
From Australia, Melbourne
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When I said it was easier, it's mainly because the organization has set objectives and ways of checking the end product. For example, trainees are trained on how to produce a TV show. Firstly, they have to produce it on schedule and thus they are taught time management. Then they have to assess audience reception, and if the audience has more negative comments, then they have to redo the show. They also have to negotiate prime time, so they are taught negotiation skills. Furthermore, they need to monitor how many people watch the show, which is determined at the beginning of the process. Therefore, at least I know what product to expect at the end of a training programme.
I take your point about the other levels, and I will explore it. This discussion has been very helpful.
From South Africa, Bryanston
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I take your point about the other levels, and I will explore it. This discussion has been very helpful.
From South Africa, Bryanston
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Rita, I see what you mean. Setting measurable organizational objectives is a very important first step in doing a Level 4 evaluation. It's great to see that your org has done this.
The difficulty with Level 4 is the other factors that impact on org results, other than training. For example, following the training, meeting production schedules may have got worse, not better. This may be because of poor training, or it may because there were recent layoffs with employee morale plummeting. Or it may because an external vendor went into liquidation and could not supply a vital component, or because the manager of the unit left suddenly, or ...
The trick is in separating out all of these non-training factors from the results.
Vicki Heath
Human Resources Software and Resources
http://www.businessperform.com
From Australia, Melbourne
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The difficulty with Level 4 is the other factors that impact on org results, other than training. For example, following the training, meeting production schedules may have got worse, not better. This may be because of poor training, or it may because there were recent layoffs with employee morale plummeting. Or it may because an external vendor went into liquidation and could not supply a vital component, or because the manager of the unit left suddenly, or ...
The trick is in separating out all of these non-training factors from the results.
Vicki Heath
Human Resources Software and Resources
http://www.businessperform.com
From Australia, Melbourne
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strategy of Training evaluation of Kirkpatrick Hi Rita, I’m attaching the above model for you. Hope this will help you. rgds Sarabjeet
From India, Bangalore
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From India, Bangalore
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Hi Vicki,
You are very right about the other factors. I have realized that in the other countries that I work in, there is a high turnover of staff. I am not yet sure why, and thus I need to investigate that. This has pushed the timelines 5 to 6 months away from the original deadlines. The product is not of good quality because capacity seems to be low. I am trying to find ways of assisting the employees to catch up but have been finding it difficult. Employee morale and motivation are important, and I feel it is impacting on production. Is there something on your website that deals with that? The challenge is dealing with different cultures and trying to produce a good product without sounding as if you are imposing on the countries.
I have, however, found your website to be very good.
Many thanks,
Rita
From South Africa, Bryanston
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You are very right about the other factors. I have realized that in the other countries that I work in, there is a high turnover of staff. I am not yet sure why, and thus I need to investigate that. This has pushed the timelines 5 to 6 months away from the original deadlines. The product is not of good quality because capacity seems to be low. I am trying to find ways of assisting the employees to catch up but have been finding it difficult. Employee morale and motivation are important, and I feel it is impacting on production. Is there something on your website that deals with that? The challenge is dealing with different cultures and trying to produce a good product without sounding as if you are imposing on the countries.
I have, however, found your website to be very good.
Many thanks,
Rita
From South Africa, Bryanston
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Dear all Can anyone help ,e out with the templates of measuring effectiveness of training? Regards Shilpa
From India, Pune
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From India, Pune
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Hi!
In addition to what my colleagues have already suggested, my point of view is that tracking effectiveness is a cyclic process. At the time of designing the modules (must, should, and could factors) of your training, you may have decided on the objectives of the training so that at the end of the training, the participants would acquire certain competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitudes). With reference to that, you can track the impact of your training. It would not be out of place to mention that pre-training analysis of the competency level of the participants plays a crucial role in deciding the effectiveness (impact) of your training at the end, which is a part of the training evaluation mechanism.
I hope this will help you in understanding the whole scenario. In case you need further clarifications, you are welcome.
Best regards,
Alok
Email: alok_26@hotmail.com
From India, Bharat
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In addition to what my colleagues have already suggested, my point of view is that tracking effectiveness is a cyclic process. At the time of designing the modules (must, should, and could factors) of your training, you may have decided on the objectives of the training so that at the end of the training, the participants would acquire certain competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitudes). With reference to that, you can track the impact of your training. It would not be out of place to mention that pre-training analysis of the competency level of the participants plays a crucial role in deciding the effectiveness (impact) of your training at the end, which is a part of the training evaluation mechanism.
I hope this will help you in understanding the whole scenario. In case you need further clarifications, you are welcome.
Best regards,
Alok
Email: alok_26@hotmail.com
From India, Bharat
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