Are You Getting the Results You Want from Your Training?

By: Heather Meeker Green

Investing in training is no small matter. When our clients bring Accordence in to their company to close a competency gap or develop additional skills, we know that receiving a return on the investment is extremely important. If we can’t demonstrate that, it is more risky to invest time and budget on the initiatives. How will you know that you are making a positive difference in behavior?

A common method is to survey attendees directly after a session and ask for their Input on the value of what they learned. While this form of assessment can give good feedback to the organization on the sessions themselves and whether the teaching components and exercises were engaging, it does not fully assess a return on investment.

One simple tool we have found is to have a short list of several behaviors that the training should address and use them as a measuring stick. A participant can rate themselves and receive a rating from their manager or supervisor before attending a training session. Once the baseline behaviors and their measurements are established, a re-measurement can occur after the session is over. The difference between the starting assessment and the final one is indicative of the “return.”

In a recent example from a single day of negotiation training, one client noted a 31% improvement on seven key behaviors.

A more in-depth study we have used is to survey the participants after a certain amount of time has passed post- training session to give participants a chance to put the tools to use and monitor the results they have personally experienced or observed. In several cases, we have learned about specific quantitative and qualitative outcomes they demonstrated to positive effect. In an aggregate, we can help a company see the array of satisfactory impacts from the combination of all participants and justify the investment tenfold or one hundredfold.

Whether you use any of the above methods or other assessments you have found successful, we hope you take the time to reflect, review and measure your investments to show you the value of your efforts.