I went to a
seminar-y session today on evaluating training effectiveness run by Rustica Lamb
from Bloom training. I found it really helpful and am very grateful that
Rustica took the time to share her knowledge with us (for free!).
I had heard of,
and read about, the things that Rustica discussed, such as the ADDIE (assess,
design, development, implement, evaluate) model, Kirkpatrick’s evaluation
measures and Blooms taxonomy but I never really got it. And it’s quite
surprising (to me anyway) that I never got it before because I learn quite well
by reading and absorbing information on my own.
What I think
was helpful was that I was able to put it into context. I had just come from
meeting someone really interesting in the Organisational Development (OD) space and we had been discussing measurements of success for OD
initiatives. I am also presenting a model for analyzing the performance of HR
initiatives at the HRINZ research forum next week and had been thinking about how
I present this. On top of both of these things, I had been thinking about how I
measure the success of my leadership development course.
Evaluating training effectiveness was very topical for me today. Aside
from that, Rustica delivered the material in a very simple, easy to follow way.
I was able to listen and see where it fit into what I was thinking about.
So, what were the
key things that I picked up? Firstly, I gained knowledge of how to write robust
learning objectives that encompass a verb, task, condition and standard. I
think I need to practice this before I can truly say I’ve learnt it.
But, I did
find it alarming that I did not already know this stuff. I have a National
Certificate in Adult Education (Level 5) and I never learnt about robust
techniques for writing learning objectives, and therefore assessments, when I was doing my certificate. Yet, I am ‘accredited’ to assess and moderate
NZQA based material. I think I naturally write good objectives, but I do
question the strength of the accreditation process in light of the lack of a
structured methodology.
The second
thing I picked up was the different ways of measuring the effectiveness of
training using Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model. Again, I think I’ve done a lot
of this naturally. In the past, I have been pleasantly surprised by outcomes
such as significant business savings as a result of my training intervention.
However, I do need to be more strategic with this. In saying that, I think the measurement of
business outcomes as a theory needs further development. How do you measure the degree to
which the outcomes occurred as a result of the training initiative? In some
cases this is straightforward. But other business issues can complicate
this.
If you’re
interested in hearing about a case study that looks at a business intervention,
it’s outcomes and recommendations for practitioners, register for the HRINZ
research forum here (non-shameless plug).
What are your thoughts on how to measure the effectiveness of HR/training/OD/L&D initiatives?
