This Outline for Measuring Training Will Save Your Life

Corporate training is an exercise in changing people’s behaviour, so measuring its impact can often feel overwhelming. While there are plenty of guidelines for training measurement – such as the Kirkpatrick and Phillips’ Models – most organisations go no further than asking learners to rate their in-person class. For a broader overview of how to design and deliver effective training programmes, see our guide to corporate training materials.

Baseline

Before you start the training, get a pulse on the current status of your learner population.

Find the aptitude, motivation, or potential of your learners. While these traits are unlikely to change as a result of your training, they are useful tools for you to know while designing your training so that it appeals to them.

Then take an initial measurement of their skill around the main topic of your course. How do they do what they do now? How close is it to ideal behavior and skills? This will help you show growth (or lack thereof) after the training programme.

Learner Satisfaction

In the next level, you want to gain an understanding of how the learner reacted to the learning. This won’t show how much they have learned, but it will help you understand the “user experience” of your training.

Ask questions such as:

• How relevant and applicable was the learning content?
• How credible, trustworthy, and effective was the facilitator?
• How is the learner planning to commit to the change?
• How do they perceive this training as helpful and effective?

By asking the last two questions, you will also begin engaging your learners to take ownership of their training.

Knowledge Retention

Eileen points out: people can’t apply what they don’t remember.

At this point of training, your goal is to understand how much your learners remember from the course and help them retain the key learnings.

Give managers visibility into reporting on activities, such as daily microbursts or quizzes, so the managers can coach employees. Eileen also recommends encouraging learners to participate by congratulating the most improved players and showcasing success stories.

Behavioural Change

Once you have ensured your learners retain key knowledge, it is time to start tracking if your learners are changing their behaviour.

Give managers the responsibility to observe and “catch people in the act.” Eileen recommends giving managers a digital scorecard so they can rate employees against a checklist. This provides an evidence-based approach to help coach team members.

Eileen also recommends repeating the baseline survey – usually about six months later – with the same questions about behaviour to see if your learners have developed new habits.

Business Impact

Finally, your goal is to show how your training has impacted the business.

Consider presenting to your sponsors to answer the following questions:

• What worked?
• How do we know it worked?
• What was most impactful, and why?
• What were the benefits?
• What do we do next?

To measure this, capture both quantitative and qualitative data. Using the behaviour change data you have captured, plot this against your key performance indicators – such as improved sales or faster call resolution time – to find impact correlation.

Then ask your learners how their performance has changed and to what extent they attribute that change to what they learned from your training campaign. You can use quotes from these questions to form a story around your successes. Well-structured training materials are key to delivering programmes worth measuring — see how Mimeo’s training materials printing service supports L&D teams with professional print and delivery on demand.

While measuring training can be overwhelming, it is well worth it to present to your executive team or corporate sponsor a clear picture of how you and your team have positively impacted the business.

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