Those responsible for training often find it challenging to evaluate its effectiveness and confirm its success in achieving desired goals. The second part of this article provided a comprehensive overview of evaluation techniques and key indicators of a successful training experience. This third and final part examines the most prominent evaluation tools currently used.
How to Choose the Right Evaluation Tools?
You must choose the appropriate evaluation tools before gathering information on training outcomes.
Here are some of the most prominent tools for evaluating training programmes:
1. Observation
This tool involves watching an employee perform a task, procedure, or work with other team members. The observer typically has a notebook to record the employee's activity and information about their performance.
This tool allows for the observation of improvement in employees' knowledge and behaviours in the workplace. It is also inexpensive and requires only some of the observer's time. External observation is more accurate than self-surveys, which can be affected by personal biases and poor memory.
The downsides of this tool include the difficulty of finding an expert and objective person with enough time to observe each employee for at least an hour. Even if you find an observer who meets the required criteria, the employee may change their behaviour only in front of the observer and revert to their old ways when they are not being watched. As a result, you might not get an accurate evaluation.
This tool is particularly effective when it is impossible to evaluate behavioural changes quantitatively. While sales skills can be easily evaluated by counting an employee's sales, for example, it is difficult to assess creative abilities in the workplace. In such cases, it is recommended to pay attention to the creative ideas the employee proposes during meetings.
2. Tests
Tests are an effective way to evaluate improvements in skills and knowledge, and they vary in format and size. Written tests can take a long time to mark, but Learning Management Systems (LMS) provide the tools to create and automatically grade fun, interactive tests.
This tool makes it possible to evaluate a skill or expertise without the employee being distracted by the presence of an observer, as is the case with observation. You can test a sales employee's knowledge of a specific product using multiple-choice questions in a calm, private setting. You won't waste more time once the test is added to the LMS.
The problem with tests is that they don't evaluate knowledge and skills in the environment in which they will be applied—namely, the workplace. In this way, you won't be able to assess employees' ability to apply what they have learned amidst the pressures and distractions of the actual work environment.
It is worth noting that tests don't allow evaluating specific skills, such as persuasion, as they require practical techniques like role-playing. This method is also unsuccessful for skills in high-risk jobs, such as flying a plane or performing surgical operations. In these cases, practical techniques like simulation exercises are recommended.
3. Surveys
Surveys are among the most common tools for evaluating training programmes today. They allow for data collection by asking questions, typically in multiple-choice.
Surveys are widely used because they have proven effective in assessing the viability of training programmes. You can design a survey and send it to a large number of employees at the same time. The process becomes even simpler when using employee training software, allowing you to access the results by generating downloadable reports.
It should be noted that some people don't like surveys. It has been found that 45% of individuals cannot spend more than five minutes completing a feedback survey. For this reason, you should explain to employees the importance of surveys in improving training, your need for feedback, and your desire to know their views on the programme.
4. Interviews
Interviews can be conducted online or in person. They are more effective than surveys because they allow you to ask the employees questions, answer their inquiries, and discover the reasons behind their answers. This flexibility allows you to obtain useful and detailed information about employees' experiences.
However, this flexibility can also lead to some issues, such as the need for one-on-one meetings with each employee. This can waste much work time for both the employee and the interviewer. You may also find it challenging to compare and summarise the results when the questions asked vary from one interview to another.
However, you can benefit from interviews by uncovering the reasons behind the results of other evaluations. For example, if the experience didn't appeal to most employees according to survey results, you can use interviews to discover the reasons behind this assessment. Or, if the experience pleased employees according to the survey results, but their performance in the workplace did not improve, you can use interviews to identify the causes of the performance gap.
5. Focus Groups
This tool involves a discussion among a small group of employees who have completed the same training. It helps to gather information on employees' opinions and attitudes towards the training programmes, and to get suggestions for possible future improvements.
Focus groups require less time than interviews, as they allow for a discussion with several employees at the same time. On the other hand, group discussions can address topics that may not be discussed in one-on-one meetings.
For this reason, interviews are an effective means of discovering the difficulties hindering the training's success and forming an idea of possible improvements and adjustments. You must be sure to manage the discussion and prevent differences of opinion from escalating into conflicts so that you can get useful information about the training programme.
6. Performance Records
Training fails when it doesn't contribute to improving work performance. For this reason, performance records are considered one of the most important metrics used to evaluate the effectiveness of training programmes. The choice of performance records depends on the type of training, with examples including the number of deals, completed support tickets, units produced, and customer satisfaction rates.
Performance records rely on quantitative results instead of personal opinions, which is why they are considered a reliable source of information that helps to evaluate a training programme objectively.
Performance records lead to more questions than answers. While performance data helps pinpoint a problem, it is ineffective at identifying the underlying causes. Therefore, you must use qualitative tools such as interviews and focus groups to uncover the reasons behind performance issues.
In Summary
If you prioritise achieving high-quality results from your company's training, you must constantly work to improve employee training programmes.
The first step is to choose the evaluation technique, and then you must define the metrics and tools you need to conduct the evaluation. This methodology helps evaluate and improve employee training programmes.
