How do organisations make sure that what is learned during training sessions leads to actual results?
The key objective that learning organisations have when investing in the development of their people is getting their people to deliver results. Whether these be increases in sales revenues, surges in productivity, a higher customer satisfaction index or employee engagement survey score, the list goes on.
To ensure that the development programs and training yield the desired results, it is crucial for HR business partners and the supervisors of employees to have pre-training conversations to define the expected results.
Going through training alone won’t lead to achieving these desired outcomes. Behaviours need to change according to what was learned before results can occur. So how can learnings be translated into results? How can the impact of training on the employees’ performance be evaluated? This is where I introduce you to the 4 Level Training Evaluation Model by Donald Kirkpatrick.
Level 1: Reaction
This level evaluates how the learners react to the training in terms of
- their experience with the trainers
- the learning materials
- their interaction with other learners and so on.
While most learners are generally positive about the learning programs they attend, there are cases where learners show negative reactions towards the programs. These negative reactions can present obstacles to learning.
For sponsors of the program, HR business partners and supervisors, it is important to assess these reactions, as they affect whether or not the participants learn from the program.
Level 2: Learning
This level examines what learnings participants have generated from the training. As mentioned above, negative reactions towards the program influence the learning outcomes. If participants haven’t learned from the program, they can’t be expected to yield results.
Compared to pre-training, are the participants equipped with fresh knowledge and skills? Ways of assessing newly acquired learnings are
- getting feedback from the learners
- oral or written assessments
- knowledge sharing with colleagues and more
Any slight hints about the learners missing out on acquiring intended knowledge and skills require a revamp of content and or change in the trainer or facilitator of the program.
Level 3: Behaviour
This level measures the change in behaviours of the learners after the training. If learners don’t change their behaviours according to their newly generated learnings, the expected results will not occur.
This is where many organisations miss the importance of creating an environment for behavioural changes to take place after completing the programs. It can’t be assumed that the learners will take full ownership to apply their learning back to the workplace.
It is the organisation’s responsibility to create an appropriate environment that augments the transfer of learnings into behavioural change. HR business partners should work with the supervisors to
- ensure their learner employees engage in special assignments associated with their learnings
- assign specific KPIs related to the training
- conduct follow up conversations with the learners soon after the training, clarifying which behavioural changes are expected
These steps help ensure that the newly acquired skills are applied in the workplace. They are critical to go through for achieving the behaviours that then can lead to desired results.
Examples of behavioural changes that can be observed are
- changes in leadership’s approach to better engage their people
- improved teamwork and collaboration
- more engaging customer service
- Increases in innovative projects and more
Level 4: Results
This level focuses on the results that are contributed by the learners, the reason why the training took place in the first place. Based on my observations over the last 2 decades, organisations that are deliberate and intentional about this were successful in translating training into the desired results.
To give you an example, I had the privilege to develop a group of senior and middle-level leaders of an MNC organisation over a 7-year period. To ensure that these leaders change their leadership behaviours, I designed a 12-month follow-up program for each of the leader cohorts, assigning them with individual and group projects. The results? Practically all the leaders saw a shift in their leadership behaviours to what was needed for helping their people achieve extraordinary outcomes.
My experience with these leaders suggests that the key to attaining the desired results is to ensure the learners apply their learning right after the training, in order for it to lead to a change in their behaviours.
So, in order for people to achieve the intended results, these have to be preceded by behavioural change. It is critical therefore for HR business partners to spare no efforts to ensure that level 3 evaluation receives the attention and actions needed to create an environment for behavioural change.
To conclude, investing in people development is essential for an organisation’s long term growth and business sustainability. Learning organisations are advocates for employee development. To have the eventual results to be yielded from the training, organisations need to know how employees react to the training, what they have learnt, how they adopt behaviour change that is linked to the learning before they can attain the desired results in various metrics.
Is your organisation evaluating its learning programs? Are levels 1 to 4 well tracked and evaluated?
