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Once training or development has occurred, evaluation helps to determine the degree to which the training gap has been closed, and identify if further development or support is required. This will complete the learning cycle and help to ensure that all learning is transferred into the work place. Evaluation can take many forms, some of which are outlined below.
Before the Development Activity
In order to be able to evaluate the success of any training/ development activity, it is essential to have a measure against which to compare it. The importance of preparing for the activity therefore should not be underestimated.
Encourage managers and employees to think carefully about their learning objectives. To be able to establish after the session whether these have been met, it is important that they ensure that they are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound).
Hand out pre-training questionnaires and encourage managers to fine-tune development objectives and share expectations with their employees shortly before any development activity. This will help to establish exactly what participants’ learning needs are, and the information can also be used to tailor the learning objectives for the session. This will also be of benefit to the participants: if they have a clear idea of what they hope to achieve, they are more likely to achieve it. Some sample questions could be:
- What prompted you to want to take part in the activity?
- What problems are you currently experiencing in your job?
- List three areas of particular importance that you would like to address.
- How do you think this session will help you to improve the way you work/resolve these problems?
Methods of Evaluation
Feedback Form
This method, also known as the ‘happy sheet’, and usually in the form of multiple choice questions, enables you to gather information from individuals in a systematic and easily quantifiable manner, although it is not always easy to obtain specific information, and sometimes people tend to be wary of criticizing, even if it is constructive. Also, feedback forms are often forgotten about after the course, and many are not returned. However, it can be a useful way of gaging reactions. Some questions on the form might be:
- Look back to the learning objectives that you identified before the activity. Were these achieved?
- If not, what further action/support is required?
- What has changed about the way you work as a result of the training received?
- What was the most useful part of the training?
- What skills/knowledge have been easily transferred into the workplace?
- Are there any skills/knowledge that you have been unable to transfer into the workplace?
- If so, what blocked the transfer?
- How relevant was the content to your work role?
- How appropriate was the learning method for you?
- If we were to run a similar session again, what changes would you make to the program?
One-to-One Discussion
In one-to-one discussions, individuals may be more open, and you will have the opportunity to probe in detail to find out how successful the training was, and whether it has been applied. In this respect, one-to-one discussions have an advantage over feedback forms.
Performance Review
Individual performance review meetings can provide an appropriate opportunity to discuss individuals’ perceptions of the benefits gained from training, or areas where they require further support.
Item on Agenda at Next Team Meeting
If the training has taken place at the team level, you may wish to discuss it with the team at their next team meeting, or ask the team leader/ manager to facilitate a structured discussion to feed back to you.
Improvement in Performance
Analyzing areas of individual, team or organizational performance and whether they have improved can be a useful way of establishing whether the training has transferred successfully to the workplace. Examples might include: customer satisfaction ratings, output levels, sales targets, wastage, or error rates. Of course, any data must be interpreted with great care, as often other factors can influence the variation in performance.
360 Degree Feedback
You may wish to seek feedback from others (e.g. stakeholders, line managers, customers, colleagues) on whether performance has improved. Again, care should be taken with this approach, as other factors can influence performance, and seeking feedback from others is not always objective.
Focus Group
This method of analysis can be particularly effective when the development has involved participants from a variety of departments across the organization. The participants benefit from the opportunity to network again, and from reminding themselves of their good intentions.
Conclusion
Whichever form of evaluation is used, it is important to ensure that some form of follow-up is carried out after the event, to ensure that learning has been absorbed, refresh memories on the key points, analyze whether the learning has been applied, identify what further support is necessary, and plan improvements to future events. The optimum times for reviewing learning are one day, then one month, and then finally three to six months after the event itself.
