The purpose of evaluation is to determine whether or not the training achieved the desired objective. The objective might have been very precise, or extremely loose, but there would have been one. This is usually set as a result of assessing trainining needs. Evaluating training will help show how effective it was at meeting the objective.
All organizations, regardless of size or type, should use some process of assessing the effectiveness of training undertaken by employees. Education in any form is an investment of time and money, which makes it important that the organization establishes, as far as it can, the return on that investment.
Benefits of Training Evaluation
There are a number of reasons why organizations proactively monitor the effectiveness of employee education. These are:
- Helps employees to monitor their own improvement.
- Builds morale, by demonstrating an interest in staff development.
- To maximize the training ROI (return on investment).
- Helps to determine the form of future training programs.
- Assists with identifying the effectiveness of different forms of teaching (such as classroom based or web based).
Organizations that train but do not evaluate that training cannot be certain of its value, either to themselves or their employees.
Methods of Training Evaluation
The most common and simplest way of measuring the outcome of a training program is through a questionnaire, or training evaluation form. This is often called a "happy sheet."
This is usually a short list of questions that the learners answer before leaving the classroom or the online course. They ask whether the learner felt they learned anything, whether they liked the teaching style, and for any other relevant feedback.
The value of the training evaluation forms is that they give immediate feedback and they are inexpensive to set up and process. However, it is possible for someone to leave a course having enjoyed it, and believing they learned a great deal. It is only when they come to apply this knowledge that they discover whether the training was as effective as they thought.
A more thorough evaluation can involve a subsequent round of training evaluation forms, or an assessment interview, which are conducted a few days or weeks after the training. This allows the learner time to reflect on what they have learned and to have put at least some of it into practice. Their opinion of the training may have changed based on their experience in the workplace.
Methods for the effective evaluation of training have been studied for some time. The Kirkpatrick model is now considered to be the industry standard, and is frequently used by HR departments when determining their own systems.
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