The Trainer’s Tool Kit Second Edition phần 8 pdf

Results alsodepend on many factors, such as follow-up coaching, opportunities to apply skills, and training program design.. designers to work toward common objectives by: ✓ Identifying

151 Outdoor Training

tween two people, loss of enthusiasm, or concerns about the future

of the organization If this is the case, seek a consultant who:

✓ Has a good track record with similar organizations

✓ Will help to customize the program to suit your staff

✓ Can design the program around key objectives

✓ Will provide any necessary follow-up assistance

The Training

✓ Begin with an icebreaker to get people as comfortable with eachother as possible

✓ Establish a learning contract, and set any guidelines to ensurehealth and safety

✓ Take participants on a tour of the site to clear up any tions they may have and increase everyone’s comfort level

misconcep-✓ Conduct warm-up exercises, such as stretching, which will help

to prevent injury

✓ Conduct the designed exercises

✓ Debrief, to enable the participants to share their thoughts andreceive feedback

✓ Connect the experiences to on-the-job realities

facilitator should debrief at the conclusion of each day This reviewwill be more successful if the facilitator-trainer follows these guide-lines:

✓ Ask the participants if they would welcome feedback

✓ Share all good and negative items, to ensure balance

✓ Be as specific as possible, supporting the example with a video(if one is available)

✓ Provide every opportunity for the participants to identify theirown problems and solutions

✓ Stick to the facts without being judgmental and citing how youwould have handled the situation

✓ Maintain some structure but loosen or tighten it as appropriate

✓ Ensure that participants do not disclose inappropriate tion (to the extent that that can be done)

informa-✓ Respect confidentiality, as appropriate

152 Specialized Training Courses

✓ Monitor that people do not get hurt if they naively disclose formation that might otherwise come back to haunt them

in-Conferences and Seminars

adver-tises professional development opportunities and requests fromstaff to attend

✓ Industry events

✓ Exhibitor events

✓ Professional association conferences

✓ Annual conventions

✓ Special-interest networking forums

✓ Executive development courses

✓ External seminars for developing business skills

✓ Costs to attend

✓ Selection of candidates

✓ Benefits to the organization

and expectations for these forums:

✓ Set annual budgets based on historical information and researchabout upcoming events

✓ Set corporate guidelines for attendance that emphasize based courses

business-✓ Identify courses that complement corporate succession planningprocesses, and prioritize candidates accordingly

✓ Request names of past participants from conference organizers,and do reference checking to help determine anticipated resultsfrom the session

✓ Take advantage of free presentations as often as is practical assources of up-to-date information

153 Conferences and Seminars

✓ Beware of events that are actually organized sales pitches cially when there is a fee)

(espe-✓ Many conferences offer free tickets in exchange for services (forexample, working the registration table or supplying a speakerfrom your company)

✓ Most conferences offer partial tickets for key events

✓ Ensure that a list of participants and a summary of speakers’materials is included in the registration fee

✓ Require your organization’s attendee to prepare a synopsis ofkey information from the conference Make course materialsavailable for circulation and reference for other employees

✓ Do follow-up networking with other participants to maximizeyour investment

✓ Conduct ongoing research with other organizations to help setcost and attendance guidelines

✓ Equip your organization’s representatives with information kitsabout your products or services for networking

Coach your organization’s representatives about their role as sadors for your organization at these events

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by organizations must be important in terms of producing areturn on the investment Training is one of the most difficultexpenditures to measure and it is not surprising that it is usually thefirst cost to be cut when times are tough Part VIII provides someanswers to the vexing issue of justifying training expenditures.

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Targeting the Right Results

‘‘We know that half of the training investment pays off; trouble is that we don’t know which half!’’

—unknown

per-formance that occurred by acquiring new skills in a training gram or by developing existing skills

pro-Training programs typically cover a variety of skills, which canmake it difficult to identify one or two priority results Results alsodepend on many factors, such as follow-up coaching, opportunities

to apply skills, and training program design Nevertheless, trainersand trainees will work together more effectively if they can relatecourse content to one or two specific performance results The ‘‘right’’results are the one or two changes in performance that are expected

in return for the training investment, and link most closely to a needsanalysis

designers to work toward common objectives by:

✓ Identifying the right training audience

✓ Aligning key learning objectives with results

✓ Encouraging specific goals for post-course manager coaching

✓ Establishing baselines for measuring training costs and benefits

✓ Specific to course content

✓ Linked to realistic performance expectations

✓ Within a trainee’s scope of influence to apply and practice inhis/her work environment

✓ Can be improved with additional practice

Here are two steps to help you target expected results:

Step One: Performance Impact Stages

✓ Choose the statement that best describes the anticipated impact ofskills training:

158 Evaluating the Impact of Training on Performance Improvement

the current job

for the current job

standards for advancement

✓ After identifying the appropriate performance outcome, as cated above, determine:

anticipated for the majority of trainees

Step Two: Identify the Impact

Use the results grid in Exhibit 8 to help your clients identify pected performance results Some examples have been included inthis illustration

ex-Levels of Evaluation

differ-ent stakeholders before, during, and after the session Each stageand the benefits to each stakeholder should be measured, according

to Donald Kirkpatrick, whose work on evaluating training has been

effec-tiveness:

1 To identify areas of improvement

2 To determine whether a course should be continued or canceled

3 To assess a program’s role in an integrated training strategy

159 Levels of Evaluation

Exhibit 8 Results grid.

Meeting Performance Expectations

Measures Stage-

One Skills

S employee confidence

S manager observation

S quality indicators

Stage- Two Skills S internal and external client feedback

S employee initiatives; new business

Stage- Three Skills

S promotion and retention

S human resources feedback

S performance evaluations

I MPACT T IMELINE

Notes:

1 The impact timeline indicates that impact increases depending on which stage the target audience is at, and that results may take longer to

be felt in Stages 2 & 3.

2 The scope of people who have input for measuring performance increases as we move through the stages.

3 Skills will become more complex as you move through the stages Example: In the case of a customer service representative, the Results Grid can look like this:

Meets Performance Expectations

S questioning skills S employee feedback S case monitoring

S retention statistics

I MPACT T IMELINE

160 Evaluating the Impact of Training on Performance Improvement

✓ Level One: Reaction Trainee’s verbal and written feedback at

the end of a course

✓ Level Two: Learning Trainee’s understanding of the key

learn-ing principles

✓ Level Three: Behavior Observable application of the skill on the

job

✓ Level Four: Results Quantifiable improvements in productivity

that can be attributed to the training

four levels of evaluation:

Level One: Reaction to the Training

at the end of a training course Leave room on it for comments andsuggestions

as well as the content (for example, facilities, length of course,course materials)

(facilitation, materials, and so forth)

parti-cipants complete the form It is extremely difficult to collect formsafter the course

partici-pants to put their name on the form

course, and customize the content Participants will consider theirresponses more carefully

participants if they have changed their mind about the evaluationthey submitted

Level Two: Learning/Understanding

✓ Attitudes

161 Levels of Evaluation

✓ Skills

✓ Knowledge

✓ A combination of these factors

knowl-edge, or attitudes before the training

knowl-edge, or attitudes Have participants complete the test two to threemonths after the training

the training, not the trainee.

the course but are responsible for similar results Compare the sults to the trainees’ results

techniques

Level Three: Behavior Change

the job This level of evaluation typically occurs about six monthsafter training

skills to assess pre-course and post-course competence

practice of newly learned techniques If there are none, work withmanagement to create conditions that encourage success

Work with the management team to minimize or remove barriersbefore evaluating results

their new skills and evaluate changed behavior where optional ditions for success are in place

con-Level Four: Achieving Quantifiable

Results

up-front analysis

162 Evaluating the Impact of Training on Performance Improvement

solved or a gap closed?

✓ Fewer errors

✓ Increased customer satisfaction

✓ Reduced infractions of policies or standards

✓ Faster production time

anal-ysis Results are assessed in the context of the time and moneyinvested in the training program and the length of time required toachieve the desired results

re-lated to the size or extent of the problem or opportunity that thetraining addressed The greater the changes required are, thelonger the evaluation period is

after training and by no later than twelve months After twelvemonths, the conditions for success have usually changed signifi-cantly, and it becomes more difficult to measure results directlyrelated to specific training initiatives

Note

1 Donald Kirkpatrick, Evaluating Training Programs, 2nd ed.

(San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1998)

163 Measuring Training Results

Measuring Training Results

‘‘If you think that the cost of education is high, consider the price of ignorance.’’

—henry david thoreauSuccessful PencilManufacturer, Author,Poet, and Philosopher

terms, but training dollars need to be justified like any otherexpenditure

✓ The current competence level

✓ The required competence level

✓ Time frame for results

✓ Costs of results

✓ Documented error rates

✓ Time required completing specific tasks

✓ Complaints from customers about delays or personal service titudes

at-✓ Complaints from staff about supervisory practices

✓ Equipment malfunctions related to inexperience

✓ Noncompliance or infractions of government policies

managers to quantify competence levels:

✓ Amount of time supervisors invest in coaching and monitoringemployees

✓ Employee likelihood to assume new tasks

✓ Real business benefits of teamwork

✓ Productivity figures that have changed significantly comparedwith results in previous years

✓ Competitors’ productivity figures

✓ External benchmarks for similar processes

✓ Employee attitude surveys and training needs analyses

164 Evaluating the Impact of Training on Performance Improvement

✓ Observations and recommendations recorded in performanceappraisals

✓ Opportunities to practice new skills

Competence is difficult to quantify for wide-scale training initiativesthat focus on promoting large-scale change, such as organization-wide reengineering or the creation of a vision and mission Forthese cases, identify one or two key outcomes that can be used as areference for determining current competence levels

Required Competence Levels

quantifiable measurements as current competence levels

✓ Business-plan requirements Are certain standards expected inorder to meet the needs of customers?

✓ The degree of expertise an employee should demonstrate withlittle supervision

✓ Internal and external customer expectations

✓ The opportunity employees have to practice new skills or niques

tech-✓ Incentives for employees to practice new skills or techniques

✓ Potential barriers to effective performance of new skills, such asunclear operating procedures or poor equipment

The Time Frame for Achieving Results

the greater the long-term impact of the training results, the longerthe time frame for measuring results

frames for measuring results:

✓ Regular reports that describe production and error rates: What

is the typical period before noticing improvements?

✓ Operational requirements that specify important improvementdeadlines

✓ The period of time in which previous training resulted in ingful improvements

mean-165 Auditing the Training Function

impact on the use of new skills include:

✓ The length of time participants have been in their current tion

posi-✓ Costs for achieving meaningful results, including supervisorycoaching time

✓ The cost of the results of training over a period of time has ple components, among them:

or both

opportunities)

the expected quantifiable results in order to derive a cost-benefitstatement If the costs exceed the expected benefits, determinewhich costs can be reduced

the hidden factors that undermine results:

✓ Lack of supervisory time to help staff implement new skills

✓ Reassignment of newly trained employees to positions that donot require the use of recently learned skills

✓ The introduction of new equipment or processes that makesnew skills obsolete

Auditing the Training Function

happens to us Similarly, we need to regularly evaluate whetherthe resources we provide to develop our people are providing us with

166 Evaluating the Impact of Training on Performance Improvement

the benefits that they were designed to achieve This can be done house, or by an outside consultant, should objectivity be an issue.This chapter provides the reasons for and methodology for evaluat-ing your programs

stake-✓ Have a formal reporting component at the end

sensi-tivities necessary to determine whether a service:

✓ Is needed

✓ Is likely to be used

✓ Is sufficiently intensive to meet the unmet identified needs

✓ Is offered as planned

✓ Actually does help people

✓ Can improve the program

As such, program evaluations should be done as often as is practical

to ensure that continuous improvement is built into the system

The key to the success of any program evaluation is the planningprocess Evaluators need to become familiar with the nature of theprogram, the people served, and the goals and structure of the pro-gram being evaluated In addition, they must seek to learn why anevaluation is being considered How is this done?

Step 1requires that the researchers:

or affected by the evaluation should be identified and listed so thattheir needs may be addressed

✓ Who wants the evaluation?

✓ Why is an evaluation needed?

✓ What is the focus?

✓ What type is appropriate?