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Jeff Colvin
Management Consultant & Founder of Link,
a Management Consulting Group
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I
often end my workshops, lectures, and seminars with the same brash
statement; "If you are not doing something differently, you
are doing it the same." This is often preceded or followed
by the question, "What will you do differently because of this
training?"
I recently learned that $60 billion dollars are spent every year
on training in this country. You might ask, as I did, what was the
return on that investment? The performance metric for training should
not be the number or percentage of people trained. Nor should it
be the number of classes held, or the number of training hours completed
per person. Training dollars must be correlated to training value
with tangible measures such as cost or cycle time reduction, or
quality and customer satisfaction improvement.
Like any bell shaped curve of probability, it is likely that some
trainees will be able to translate their learning to action and
achieve some marked improvement. Unfortunately some large percentage
of participants graduating from a training experience will go back
to their jobs and do the things the way they have always done them;
despite their learning and enjoyment.
Most of us attend training classes with good intent to learn and
do something differently. With the reality of our daily challenges
coupled with resistance to change, it is no wonder that most often
the implementation of our learning is stymied by the system and
those untrained within it. The training manual and the accompanying
notes move from the top shelf to the drawer to the "get around
to it" pile.
One of the approaches to ensuring the translation of training to
value is to use Kirkpatrick's levels of training evaluation.
Level 1: Reaction - What does the learner feel about the
training? (e.g. smile sheets)
Level 2: Learning - What facts/ knowledge, did the learner
gain? (e.g. pre/post tests)
Level 3: Behaviors - What skills did the learner develop?
What new information is the learner using on the job? (e.g. formal
audit of skill/competency)
Level 4: Results or effectiveness - What results were achieved?
(e.g. performance trends relative to a baseline)
Most importantly is the need to have someone who cares that these
four levels of training value are achieved. Other than the participant,
a sponsor should own the training experience from the initial decision
through to the measures of success. Wouldn't it be nice if each
participant knew from the start how the training would be used to
measurably improve their part of the business? And wouldn't it be
even greater to prove that value?
If you don't have billions of dollars to spend on training, think
about the investment in improving your business and get off of the
training train and onto the learning and doing bus.
What will you do differently having read this article? If you have
learned something…
Train and Do!
Pre-training
- Establish clear goals for success
- Tailor the experience appropriately
- Understand/define requirements
- Define a learn/do path for education and application
- Establish a sponsor to guide the training from learning to doing
Value Translation
- Target areas for implementation
- Establish performance baselines and targets of improvement
- Build level 1, 2, 3, and 4 evaluations of training effectiveness
Set and Manage Expectations
- Set clear roles for participants
- Reinforce focus on application
- Determine next steps to follow after training
Post Training
- Follow up on actions and goals
- Provide ongoing training/support
- Monitor performance metrics
- Recognize and reward behavioral change and results
Jeff Colvin (Jcolvin@linkllc.com)
founded Link, a management
consulting group in 1997 whose mission is dedicated to the Systems,
Structures, and Behaviors that make people and companies successful.
Link's bottom line focus on process improvement is achieved through
the facilitation and training of cross-functional teams to address
key strategic goals. Learn more about Jeff
Colvin & Link...
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