Conventional wisdom dictates that a company should conduct learning evaluation if it is investing large sums in training and development .
Unfortunately too often that means “happy sheets” sprayed about at the end of a training programme as the participants are leaving that provide low quality data with a half- life of about 3 hours.
How much longer can many training and learning professionals get away with spending money with little or no accountability?
It is also generally accepted fact that the management of a company’s learning and development resources (L&D) and its ability to align them towards strategic objectives plays a key part in a company’s level of business success.
So “people” are definitely on the strategic agenda of most organisations surely that means most organisations are conducting learning evaluation?
After all you would expect some measurement or a ROI on any other significant investment wouldn’t you?
Let’s look at it from another perspective: w hat about the consequences of not doing learning evaluation?
Consequences of not doing learning evaluation
A lack of influence with the Executive
A process instead of an outcome results orientation
Operational HR with a tenuous linkage with business strategy
Decisions based upon opinions and influence not identified needs
Poor understanding of impact of people activities on the organisation
Poor continuous improvement
Which ever way you look at it there is a need to focus beyond mere acceptance that learning and training is good practice and common sense, and instead conduct learning evaluation to measure the actual value it brings.
L&D practitioners face the challenge of quantifying just what this contribution is and the worth of training and development to a company.
I have got to say that I have found a lot of self –limiting beliefs around training evaluation and learning evaluation.
The most common misconceptions I come across are:
• Evaluation is “nice to have” but the Senior team isn’t demanding it right now • Evaluation is something you can “bolt onto” an intervention after you have designed it • Evaluation is complex and expensive • There is a skepticism about the results obtained from using evaluation methodologies
I have found the use of learning evaluation as a means of adopting more of an outcome orientation to be hugely beneficial. In fact I can say with confidence:
“To start to consider measurement and outcomes upfront in your scoping and design phases will have a profound impact on the final design and implementation of the learning intervention.”
To design evaluation into your programme requires that you talk extensively and in a specific way with the stakeholders about the desired outcomes
Assuming the desired outcome is a change in demonstrated behaviours and business then you will need to carefully build into your programme design how the new knowledge and behaviours will be transferred and reinforced back in the workplace.
Doing a learning evaluation requires the collection of feedback data and gain you will need to plan ahead what you will collect how you will collect it and when sand build that into your design
