TRAINING EVALUATION
METHODS
BY MOUSTAFA EL HADIDI
In the evolving world of business and training needs we must measure the effectiveness of the training given to employees and the value of it against the money invested in the training.
What are the bases that we should evaluate the training on? Deniz Eseryel has identified six general approaches:
1-Goal-based evaluation: begins with goals in mind and seeks to determine if those goals were achieved.
2-Goal-free evaluation: does not seek to confirm or deny a pre-determined outcome or goal. Rather, it seeks to discover any benefits that result from the intervention.
3-Responsive evaluation: is an approach that it is based on client requirements. This can present unique challenges for the evaluator, but it is a common approach.
4-Systems evaluation: this evaluation focuses on whether the intervention was efficient and effective.
5-Professional review: evaluation uses external expert appraisal to evaluate instead of other commonly used and accepted methods.
6-Quasi-legal: this approach is infrequently practiced, but is uses an actual court-of inquiry
format to present evidence, take testimonials, and evaluate an intervention or product.
It would be impossible to cover all the methods used for each of the approaches above in this article. So let us explore some of the common used methods/modules.
Kirkpatrick divided the training evaluation into four levers:
Reaction: a measure of satisfaction (what the trainees/fellows thought and
felt about the training); evaluation here focuses on the reaction of individuals to the training or other improvement intervention.
Learning: a measure of learning (the resulting increase in knowledge or capability); evaluation here assesses what has been learned as measured
with end of course tests.
Behaviour: a measure of behaviour change (extent of behaviour and capability improvement and implementation/application); evaluation here
measures the transfer of what has been learned back to the workplace.
Results: a measure of results (the effects on the institutional environment resulting from the fellows’ performance); evaluation here measures (at least tries to) the impact of the training on overall organizational results (in the private sector on business results).
2) Hamblin’s 5 levels is one of the first models to modify Kirkpatrick’s model by making them into 5 levels :
• Level 1: Reactions.
• Level 2: Learning.
• Level 3: Job behaviour.
• Level 4: Organization.
• Level 5: Ultimate value – the financial effects, both on the organization and the economy.
3) Guskey’s critical levels: also a modification to Kirkpatrick’s model:
Level 1: Participant reaction
• Purpose: to gauge the participants’ reactions about information and basic human needs.
• Technique: usually a questionnaire.
• Key questions: was your time well spent? Was the presenter knowledgeable?
68 | TRAINING MAGAZINE MIDDLE EAST Q3 2015
Workforce Development