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In both education and training, and for decades, debates have raged regarding how to measure and evaluate training and learning outcomes. It's a complex issue. In education, the arguments are about evaluating learning. Should one use standardized tests? Or should class work be used? Since you can't measure the outcomes that come from effective teaching, what's best?
In training it's a bit easier, but not much so. That's because training usually has more specific goals about how learners should apply what they learn, and presumably that will improve job performance, which "should" be measurable.
Costs of Evaluating Training Vs. Utility
One issue regarding training evaluation is that it's expensive to do it properly, which is why most companies don't really do it well. Or, they cut corners, and use metrics that have only a passing relationship to the outcomes companies want from investing in training, The unfortuate reality is that it's not hard to evaluate training so that it's easy to get mislead. It is hard to evaluate training so the data you get is interpretable.
The Causal Issue
Perhaps the biggest issue has to do with showing a strong CAUSAL link between training and job performance. The only way to do that properly is to have a control group that doesn't receive training, and an experimental group that does, then compare them in terms of performance. Most companies are not interested in doing that.
So, what has happened is that evaluators use indirect measures.
In this section you'll find information about what companies do to evaluate training, but beware of the risk of evaluating badly, then taking the conclusions too seriously.
Top : Measuring and Evaluating Training Effectiveness :
While most companies and trainers don't evaluate training in any meaningful way, doing so can result in better allocation of training resources, cost savings, and increased productivity. Unfortunately, in depth measurement of training effectiveness is costly. Here's some models and techniques associated with training evaluation.
Explanation of the Kirkpatrick Model for evaluating training, and the four levels of evaluation he postulated. Hits: 533 )
Interesting ideas on measuring training effectiveness, but keep in mind that the costs of measurement may exceed the benefits one gains by doing the measurements of learning outcomes. Hits: 578 )
Usually, the first thing out the window during an economic downturn is training and development. True during recent times as well. . .most companies have cut back on sending people to conferences and looked hard at cutting other expenses. Leading edge companies are still continuing to invest in training and development and will come out far ahead of those other businesses whose only management strategy is to cut, slash and burn. Training, education and degree completion programs have become one of the most desired employee benefits available. Among younger job seekers, the opportunity to learn new skills is the number one benefit. Hits: 544 )
Pre- and post-test scores help organizations monitor training initiatives . From a quality management perspective. Hits: 848 )
lot is written about evaluation in education - a great deal of which is misleading and confused. Many informal educators such as youth workers and social pedagogues are suspicious of evaluation because they see it as something that is imposed from outside. It is a thing that we are asked to do; or that people impose on us. As Gitlin and Smyth (1989) comment, from its Latin origin meaning 'to strengthen' or to empower, the term evaluation has taken a numerical turn - it is now largely about the measurement of things - and in the process can easily slip into becoming an end rather than a means. In this discussion of evaluation we will be focusing on how we can bring questions of value (rather than numerical worth) back into the centre of the process. Hits: 337 )
In 2009, ASTD published The Value of Evaluation: Making Training Evaluations More Effective, a report that revealed the results of a study that queried organizations regarding how well training evaluation was meeting their business needs. Responses to the 26 questions led to disturbing conclusions. "The pursuit of excellent learning evaluations continues, but so far few organizations think they've mastered them," the report states. "Only about one-quarter of respondents ... agreed that their organization got a solid 'bang for the buck' from its training evaluation efforts." Hits: 196 )
Measurement and evaluation is critical to run learning like a business. But it should be done for the right reasons. The best reasons for measurement and evaluation are to ensure that you deliver promised results and to continuously improve. new Hits: 156 )
What indicators can you measure to evaluate training success? Here's a list in point form. Hits: 1644 )
This article gets at one of the major problems in evaluating training effectiveness, and that's establishing a causal link between training and outcomes (Excerpt) Let's assume you get some sales training that, unfortunately, misses the mark. You would expect sales to remain the same, or perhaps even drop, as a result of the demotivating effect of the poor training. Not necessarily so. If, during the evaluation period, one of your competitors goes bankrupt, you bring out a new and innovative offering, and the economy takes an unexpected upturn, your sales are likely to go up. Hits: 184 )
In this article, Les Allan introduces a new model for assessing the maturity and effectiveness of training systems in organizations. Discover a powerful and thought-provoking tool for gauging the extent to which training and development activities in your organization advance its strategic interests. Hits: 1771 )
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Pages Updated On:
25-Feb-2014
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08:20:19