Time to Check on Teacher

The cash crunch faced by companies in recent times has forced training specialists to evaluate the effectiveness of training more than ever before. 

No longer is the effectiveness of the training department judged by the number of days spent in training. Organizations appreciate training programs that have progressive systems of evaluation and are not time consuming and costly. 

Most companies still measure effectiveness at the end of a program. Smile sheets or feedback forms that are filled at the end of a training program are commonly used tools to evaluate training. Smile sheets are normally used to record the participants’ immediate reaction to the programs. This may be in terms of infrastructure arrangements, the delivery style of the trainer and his/her ability to handle participants’ queries, the methodology used for delivery, participation by the group and the course content itself. 

In a typical organization, the next step would be to find out how many of the principles, facts and techniques imparted during the training programs have been imbibed and retained by the participant. This is done by analyzing a questionnaire wherein participants are asked on how much they have learnt and remembered, or administrating a four-six week long test after the program. While this may work with gauging individual learning, the actual application of the training to the work process, would still be questionable.

Measuring the learning of individuals before and after the training is one way of measuring the effectiveness of a program. Forward-looking organizations that consider training as a valuable investment should ensure that the process of measuring effectiveness starts not at the end of the program, but at the beginning. 

The approach to evaluate the impact of training at the first stage of need identification itself may include the following:

• Identify gaps in performance — If training is used as means to fill the gap, specific objectives must be set as to what exactly one wants to achieve. Listing, prioritizing and finding ways to measure these objectives needs to be done. When training programs are suggested, a detailed analysis should be done of their likely benefits to the organization. 

• Identify the desired outcome or objectives in specific terms and ways of measurement- The training specialists, along with the employees who are likely to be affected by the process, should define the objectives or targets to be achieved and ways of measuring the same. Some parameters of measurement could be–productivity, operating costs, levels of variation in service, levels of supervision required, number of customer complaints, appreciation, number of errors, backlogs, processing time, timeliness, increase in revenue, payment collection, increase in number of customers, penetration into new markets, employee turnover, customer satisfaction surveys etc. These can be measured before and after the program. One not so commonly used method, is to compare the performance of two similar groups where one group goes through the training and other does not. Feedback should be taken not only from the participant, but also from the supervisor and may also be taken from peers and subordinates. The time frame for the actual application to the job should be defined for a program at the initial stage itself.

• Define the present competencies and outline the desired competencies- An analysis of the functional skills can be done by looking at ideal competencies for the job vis-à-vis actual competencies. Attitudes can be analyzed through various tests and instruments such as MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), FIRO-B (Fundamental Inter Personal Orientation-Behavior), FIRO-F (Fundamental Inter Personal Orientation-Feelings), Personality Factor Scale, etc. It can also be done through opinion questionnaires administered to participants, supervisors, subordinates and peers in some cases. 

Measuring effectiveness in most of the organizations at the end of a training program is probably the reason why only 10% of the learning actually result in changes at work. Can an organization afford to invest in activities, which do not make an impact, and not evaluate the effectiveness of such training programs beyond smile sheets? 

Ritu Malhotra in New Delhi