Every individual while planning for training and development of an organization expects to have better productivity and increased efficiency of the operations of an enterprise. One must be ready to the answers of the following questions after knowing about the training effectiveness evaluation.
- How effective was the program in terms of increasing knowledge and skills?
- Were the people able to apply methods to improve performance?
- What are the benefits achieved?
- Has the productivity increased?
- Has the efficiency increased?
- Has the wastage been reduced?
- Is there any other kind of improvement that the people feel in them?
- Was it fruitful or was wastage of time?
- Any feedback people would like to give?
- Any feedback to trainers who came?
The answers to all the above mentioned questions will help to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Many companies invest heavily in the training program but they fear that is the whole effort worth it or not? This has been a great measure to improve the employee retention and effectiveness of them. The results of the past efforts also help to add contributions to the future efforts of the companies. People should ensure that there is a positive impact on the people in terms of productivity and efficiency. With the focus on learning and development one keeps on identifying metrics and methods that help to measure the ROI and employee training initiatives. One has to deliver with the aim of getting good results.
In order to evaluate the training effectiveness post training quiz can be conducted, even employee surveys can be conducted, and official exams can be taken in order to measure the effectiveness. The more data one collects on the effectiveness it will be easier to measure it. Even various factors are to be considered while analysing the data related to the effectiveness of the training program.
The Kirpatrcikmodel: this is a method used to check the effectiveness of a training program. This uses 4 level approaches and is considered as one of the best methods to judge the effectiveness. The 4 levels are as follows:
- Reaction: this helps to find out how the trainees have reacted to the training. This can be done with the help of filling questionnaires and conducting surveys and interviews. There are several questions asked in this. Some of them are as:
- Was the course difficult or easy?
- There are even questions related to the curriculum taught.
- Discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of the program.
- Questions about the pace of the learning program and the level of understanding by the trainees.
- Learning: under this the learning is combined with the knowledge and skills gained by the people. In order to measure this following things are used:
- The scores of the test
- The evaluation methods and techniques
- Performance of key performance indicators
- Certifications
- Performances and feedbacks
At this stage, one will be aware of the skills and the objectives set so that in case any improvement is required it can be undertaken in order to combine it with the method of delivery.
- Behaviour: this is done to understand the attitudes and behaviour of the people at work. The performance of the trainees can be evaluated on the following grounds:
- Questionnaires
- The informal discussions
- On the job observations
- Case studies and discussions
- Surveys and interviews
How the learning has impacted the individuals and what are the improvements in them is studied under this.
- Results: this is in direct link with the tangible results such as reduced wastage and improved productivity. These can be measured in terms of increased retention, improved productivity, higher morale and improved motivation in the forms of consumer satisfaction.
Implementing all the levels can be time consuming and sometimes even expensive as well. One should try to measure the things that are required by the individuals depending upon the situations. One must do level 1 for all the programs; Level 2 for only the programs that include the hard skills; Level 3 for programs that include a behavioural element in them; and level 4 for the results, which have the most of the costing and even are considered to be the most expensive one. The best training program is the one that helps to solve the problems of the organization that it was facing earlier before the implementation of the training and evaluations. When a specific program has been implemented then there is no looking back. One must aim to hire the best of the trainers that conduct the best of the sessions and perform the work as directed.
They can even provide the on the job and off the job training. Both of them have own merits and demerits. On the job can include the apprenticeship and demonstration whereas the off the job ca include the classroom training and the presentations as well. The main aim is to enhance the existing skill base of the employees so that they can perform in the best manner as desired by the company. Further in case they perform good it will lead to both achievement of organizational as well as the personal goals. Organizations will be happy thereby employees will be happy. This will add to increased morale and even higher motivation levels for them so that they perform well. Even financial incentives can also be included in these kinds of programs. There is no big motivator than money. So this will motivate the employees to perform better. This will even lead to better supervision and safety of the tasks performed.
Such individual and group performances affect the overall performance of the organization. Intangible factors like job satisfaction may not seem to be good but in reality they are the most powerful mechanisms in goals accomplishment. Training is not a one-time event and is to be regularly done in order to be in touch with the latest trends in the market and be up to date.