How To Properly Design An Evaluation Process

Something that not a lot of people may be aware of, is that on average, companies spend more than $700 on employee trainings per employee, every year. That’s a lot of money, right?

On the other side, as it’s commonly known, trainings would not be successful without proper evaluation. A proper evaluation process takes a lot of time and effort. Although, even when you do have the time, designing a training evaluation process can feel like such a chore. This is partly why 84% of training managers admit they do not devote enough time to training evaluations (Bharthvajan, 2014).

One of the most important aspects in a training process is the evaluation of its effectiveness. An evaluation is an attempt to obtain information on the effects of a training program, in which trainers assess the value of the training based on the information that has been obtained. A training evaluation is the application of systematic methods to periodically and objectively assess the effectiveness of a training process, and how it has been able to achieve particular results. This begs the question - how should trainers design an evaluation process that is simple and measures every necessary detail.

Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Training Evaluation Model can help you to answer questions like these. In this model, the four levels are Reaction, Learning, Behavior and Results; these levels can help trainers look at each level in greater detail.

Level 1: Reaction

You want people to feel that training is valuable. Measuring how engaged they were, how actively they contributed and how they react to the training help you to understand how well they receive the information that were given. The key takeaway here is that gauging learners’ reaction is a useful first step for evaluating the success of training session

Level 2: Learning

The second level is to apply a summative test that will demonstrate the differences between the learner’s knowledge before and after the training. This level focuses on measuring what your trainees have and have not learned, also measures what they think they'll be able to do differently as a result, how confident they are that they can do it and how motivated they are to create the changes that were intended by the training.

Level 3: Behavior

This level helps you to understand how well people apply their training. It can also reveal where people might need help. But behavior can only change when conditions are favorable. You can analyze changes in behavior by integrating a combination of formative assessments and management observations throughout the duration of the training lifecycle.

Level 4: Results

This level will likely be the most costly and time-consuming. Your biggest challenge will be to identify which outcome, benefit, or final result is most closely linked to the training as well as to come up with an effective way to measure these outcomes in the long term. Kirkpatrick's model is great for evaluating training in a "scientific" way, but with so many possible variables, Level 4 may be limited in its usefulness.

Evaluation leads to control which means deciding whether or not the training was worth the effort and what improvements are required to make it even more effective. Evaluation of training within work settings can assist a trainer or organization in discovering more about the impact of training. Learn more about how to properly design a training program from flip.co.id and read up in the PLAYbyFLIP contents to gain more information about the world of training.

Source:

1. Bharthvajan, R. (2014). Evaluation of Training or Development Programme. International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering, and Technology. Vol: 3 Issue: 6. Bharath University, India.
2. Kirkpatrick Partners, LLC. (2019). The Kirkpatrick Model. Link: https://www.kirkpatrickpartners.com/Our-Philosophy/The-Kirkpatrick-Model