Identify three approaches of evaluating the success of a training program.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Depending on the objectives, the evaluation can use one or more of five training measures: trainee satisfaction with the program, knowledge or abilities gained, use of new skills and behavior on the job (transfer of training), and improvements in individual and organizational performance.

The usual way to measure whether participants have acquired information is to administer tests on paper or electronically. Trainers or supervisors can observe whether participants demonstrate the desired skills and behaviors. Surveys measure changes in attitude. Changes in company performance have a variety of measures in order to demonstrate the final measure of success shown: return on investment.

To measure whether the conditions are in place for transfer of training, the organization can ask employees three questions about specific training-related tasks: (1) Do you perform the task? (2) How many times do you perform the task? (3) To what extent do you perform difficult and challenging learned tasks? Frequent performance of difficult training-related tasks would signal great opportunity to perform. If there is low opportunity to perform, the organization should conduct further needs assessment and reevaluate readiness to learn. Lack of transfer can mean that employees have not learned the course material. Another reason for poor transfer of training is that the content of the training may not be important for the employee's job.

Assessment of training also should evaluate training outcomes, that is, what (if anything) has changed as a result of the training. The relevant training outcomes are the ones related to the organization's goals for the training and its overall performance. Economic measures are an important way to evaluate the success of a training program. Businesses that invest in training want to achieve a high return on investment-the monetary benefits of the investment compared to the amount invested, expressed as a percentage.

The most costly way to evaluate the training program is to measure performance, knowledge, or attitudes among all employees before the training and then train only part of the employees. After the training is complete, the performance, knowledge, or attitudes are again measured, and the trained group is compared with the untrained group.

A simpler but less accurate way to assess the training is to conduct the pretest and posttest on all trainees, comparing their performance, knowledge, or attitudes before and after the training. This form of measurement does not rule out the possibility that change resulted from something other than training.

The simplest approach is to use only a posttest. Use of only a posttest can show if trainees have reached a specified level of competency, knowledge, or skill. Of course, this type of measurement does not enable accurate comparisons, but it may be sufficient, depending on the cost and purpose of the training.