Managing & Measuring Training

In today’s challenging economic landscape, many organizations are tightening their training budgets. Yet, some of the world’s leading companies are bucking the trend by increasing their investment in learning and development. Recent research shows that over a third of the top 100 companies boosted their training expenditures in 2018. These are the organizations that effectively manage and measure their training programs.

Demonstrating the link between training investments and organizational performance is crucial. However, this creates challenges for those involved in training because the long-term benefits of sustained training investments are notoriously difficult to quantify.

Evaluating training is essential, especially considering the substantial financial resources allocated to it. But the evaluation process itself comes with its own set of challenges that need to be addressed.

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Here are the five main reasons to evaluate training:

• Justify Future Expenditures: Evaluation helps in justifying the costs of future training programs.
• Continuous Improvement: It provides insights for making ongoing improvements.
• Effectiveness Comparison: It allows for the comparison of different training approaches.
• Trainer Feedback: Trainers receive valuable feedback on their performance.
• Objective Achievement: Evaluation indicates the extent to which training objectives have been met.

Various models have been developed for evaluating training, but one of the most comprehensive is the model proposed by Jack Phillips (Phillips, 2002). Phillips expanded on Kirkpatrick’s renowned four-level evaluation framework (Kirkpatrick, 2005), adding two additional levels to incorporate return on investment (ROI). The modified model includes:

1. Reaction and Planned Action
2. Learning
3. On-the-Job Application
4. Business Results
5. Return on Investment
6. Intangible Benefits

This model allows for a deeper analysis of the financial impact of training by translating the benefits into cash values. However, it’s crucial to remember that not every benefit is measurable, which is why Level 6, Intangible Benefits, is so important. For instance, if employee satisfaction noticeably improves after a training intervention, management might decide that quantifying this benefit is unnecessary, even though they recognize its value.

By attending this AZTech training course, you will explore these and other critical topics in Managing & Measuring Training, including strategy, systems, finance, and measuring impact.