Professional training is an important investment made by organisations to enhance their staff’s level of competence and ultimately performance. But like all investments, it requires careful planning, clear objectives, and robust assessment processes to ensure it works and achieve its goals – otherwise it’s just an exercise in attendance.
It helps if you start to look at investing in training as you would any other investment you could make. This means that you take a look at the costs of the investment and clearly outline the expected returns from it. This is useful to help you even choose the type of training that you should be sending people on. You should have a really clear idea of what sort of training you want people to go on for example will it be assessed or is it simply a matter of attending a course. Will it require practical demonstration of skills, will it result in a professional certification or qualification. Each of these provides different levels of training and teaching and as such different levels of competence development. So carefully consider the business case for each investment in training and have clear expectations about what you need the
Next, when looking at different types of training look carefully about how the training has been put together. Is it a simple mishmash of opinions of a particular subject matter expert or has it been put together using something like blooms taxonomy which will clearly indicate what the level of teaching or training is aimed at and what the expected outcomes from participating and completing in the training will be. This is definitely a question that you should be asking any training provider so that you can move away from training that does not have defined learning outcomes.
Once people have been on the training and completed it you then need a way to determine whether it was worthwhile and whether you achieved the expected results from it. I’m always surprised at this point that a lot of people simply assume that attendance at training will lead to the expected and desired uplift and competence. But this isn’t always the case and you will need to have in place some way of measuring an uplift in competence and a change in performance. My personal preference is to use Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Training Evaluation Model, which provides a framework to assess training efficacy at different levels:
- Level 1: Reaction – How did the participants feel about the training? We often refer to this as the happy sheet completed at the end of the training which asks people how did you feel about the content, the facilities, the trainer, and even the catering. You can see that simply getting level 1 doesn’t really give you any insights into the application in your skills.
- Level 2: Learning – What did the participants learn? Completing this level of training efficacy will mean that you have some sort of test that you will put people through to see if they have learned something from the training. Obviously some forms of training particularly those based on awarding credentials or qualifications will have this built into them. You will probably want to know what the pass mark is, how the pass mark was determined, how the questions were written (for example were they written in accordance with ISO 17,000 and 24) in order to determine how valid the testing actually is.
- Level 3: Behavior – How did participants apply the knowledge? This level will require you to either ask the participants how they have managed to apply the knowledge they have gained, or for you to observe them applying the knowledge.
- Level 4: Results – What tangible results emerged from the training? The top level of this model requires not just an assessment of an increase in knowledge and a demonstration of applying the new knowledge or skills, but also and assessment of actual improvements in performance for the individual and the organization as a result of the investment in the training.
Using this model, organizations can evaluate the immediate and long-term impact of training on both the individual and organizational levels get a really clear picture of whether or not the training has had the desired impact or not.
Every organization, and indeed every individual, has unique needs. Training programs need to be tailored to address these specific needs to be effective. A well-thought-out training program, developed with clear objectives in mind, ensures that it addresses these needs.
Professional training is not just about conducting sessions and workshops. It’s about ensuring that these sessions lead to desired outcomes, transforming both individuals and organizations. Using tools like Blooms Taxonomy for defining objectives and Kirkpatrick’s model for assessment ensures that training is both comprehensive and effective. Remember, training without thoughtful planning and assessment is an exercise in futility. Invest wisely!
(For those keen on diving deeper, Blooms Taxonomy and the Kirkpatrick model have been extensively discussed in academic and professional literature. A quick search can provide numerous resources for further reading.)
