Evaluating Training effectiveness

research methods that Human Resources departments embrace in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their selected training programs. Offer suggestions on how best to address training programs that are measured as ineffective. Then, after describing measurement processes, and examples of effective and non-effective measurements, conclude your presentation by offering a recommendation of how best to measure the effectiveness of the training program you recommended in the Week 6 assignment paper (paper attached). 2-3 references

ANSWER

Evaluating Training Effectiveness

Worker training and development highlight the constant efforts implemented by an organization to increase its employees’ performance. Different institutions aim to train and grow their employees by utilizing several approaches and programs. In the last years, training and development have been considered a significant element of strategy. Many company executives have acknowledged that investing in employee training and growth acts as a motivation and allows the business to create a highly-skilled workforce. The human resource management is a critical department within an institution that should design proper plans to train employees. Training initiatives are meant to address performance weaknesses and boost the company profile together with its reputation.

Measuring Training Effectiveness

Research has shown that organizations across the world invest significantly in worker training and growth. Therefore, measuring training effectiveness is a critical aspect of increasing worker engagement and retention. Kirkpatrick’s four-level training evaluation plan is the oldest and still the most exceptional technique used by various human resource divisions to monitor training effectiveness. The approach breaks the evaluation procedure into four simple stages (Kirkpatrick). The first stage examines learner’s views on training, which is commonly done after training. Step two measures what has been learned during the process and the amount of knowledge and skills gathered. The third phase evaluates whether the behavior has changed due to the training and the appropriate way to measure behavior change is through workplace observation. The final most essential step is to examine an employee training program’s effect on business results ranging from productivity to customer satisfaction ratings.

The Philips RIO plan is the same as Kirkpatrick’s, but with an added step. The fifth stage of the Phillips RIO plan is to examine the program’s return on investment. To accomplish this, the business needs to evaluate the difference between its training value and training results. Positive training return on investment can only be achieved when the training results are great that they exceed the cost. However, when the cost of training is higher than the products, something must be modified. This method of measuring training programs is useful because the human resource management can easily spot the areas that need improvements.

Kaufman’s five levels of evaluation are another approach that takes Kirkpatrick’s technique further. Step one involves measuring the resources invested in the training program, including time and values in creating materials, and then scrutinizing the learner’s reaction to the training procedures. The second action is to assess whether or not the training goals for each learner or small groups were accomplished; for instance, did they learn new skills. Measuring the practical effects of the benefits in step two, such as using new skills in the job, is the third step in Kaufman’s five evaluation levels. The fourth action is to determine the more tremendous advantages for the business, such as increased profitability or reduced costs. The primary benefit of using this approach is based on its first step of examining the advantages of training against the resources initiated into practice that, in turn, produce the return on investment.

Addressing Ineffective Training Programs

Not all the training plans will be successful in every organization because they can be by different factors ranging from a person’s attitude to personality. Addressing these ineffective programs requires additional strategies that are basic and precise. The first step is to evaluate the possible problems associated with the training program. The organization should restructure its training need and the resources available for achieving these goals. Strategies and methods in this phase will address the possible factors that led to this failure and other considerations associated with the organization, trainers, and facilitators. The second attempt to address failed programs is motivated by rewarding and recognizing training achievements. Even the best corporate training program is destined to fail if the administration cannot motivate its employees. To encourage and nature a learning culture, the organization must combine psychological recognition and other tangible rewards. Motivation is not limited to learners who attend the training since trainers also play a significant role and should be motivated to deliver high-quality training.

Ineffective training programs can be fueled by a lack of proper evaluation where the businesses fail to seek their workers’ views. Understanding what the need, their career objectives, and how the training program affects them is significant in designing a program that factor in all these qualities. To improve the corporate training plans, a business must seek an opinion from the source and ask them the kind of skills they require to learn, and which courses they believe will positively affect their general productivity.  Soft skills should be incorporated into these training programs. Many of these plans tend to fail when such skills are left out, essential for management positions and roles that engage customer interaction. The training scheme should balance teaching hard technical skills and encouraging soft skills, including decision-making, conflict resolution, and time management.

Recommendation

In week 6, the paper focused on Wal-Mart and its performance problems that contribute to its setbacks. Employee performance training program was mentioned as the most effective remedy to this menace affecting the business. Such a training program’s effectiveness can be measured through different approaches such as 360-degree feedback, management by objectives, and self-evaluation. Management by objectives, which is also called management by results, is a procedure whereby workers and administration create mutual objectives (Phillips). They mutually evaluate people’s purposes, align with the business goals, and how performance will be measured and evaluated. The advantage of this technique is that it gives workers an explicit knowledge of what to expect and enables them to contribute to the process.

Asking workers to evaluate their performance is an excellent approach to measure the effectiveness of such a program. Frequently, these people may be more critical to their performance than the management; thus, a form that needs multiple-choice answers might be used in this process. Comparing a self-evaluation to an individual’s objective appraisal is essential in acknowledging discrepancies and similarities, along with a detailed understanding of the worker’s performance (Phillips). On the other hand, 360-degree feedback is a system that considers the input, evaluation, and opinions of employee’s performance from a circle of individuals in the company with whom they operate. This can include supervisors, co-workers, and other people working within the organization. As the management examines the input from several sources, they can discover negative and positive similarities and trends. They can also identify areas that might require additional support and measurements.

Conclusion   

Training and development programs are significant for the growth of any institution mandated to achieve its set goals and objectives. These programs bring more talents to the employees and advance understanding of how to accomplish various emerging tasks. Evaluating the effectiveness of training programs is significant in acknowledging whether the organization is on the right track and whether employees are satisfied with such approaches.

Works Cited

Kirkpatrick, James D., and Wendy Kayser Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick’s four levels of training evaluation. Association for Talent Development, 2016.

Phillips, Jack J., and Patricia Pulliam Phillips. Handbook of training evaluation and measurement methods. Routledge, 2016.