Explain whether and how the effectiveness of a training programme can be evaluated.
Answers
recent research report sheds light on common challenges learning leaders face. These challenges were discovered through research and surveys conducted over the course of a decade. In this series of articles, we will explore these challenges and how learning leaders are responding. This article is the first of an eight-part series.
When speaking to learning and development (L&D) professionals, themes emerge that corroborate Training Industry research. One such theme is that L&D professionals know how crucial training is to business performance, but proving its value to other parts of the organization isn’t a walk in the park.
Adam Kucera, director of sales and training support at DISH, says L&D’s challenge is to prove training can and should be essential to driving business results. “When most enterprises evaluate effectiveness…the time and effort of the training itself is often viewed as simply a cost.”
People often focus on how to design a training program and how to deliver it “but spend comparatively little effort on how to know that it had all the intended impacts,” says Tom Whelan, Ph.D., director of corporate research at Training Industry, Inc. Regardless of how challenging proving the business impact of training may be, it is critical for the future of learning and work.
Proving the business impact of training is critical for the future of learning and work.