Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2008 - (Page 15)

TO LEVEL GET GREATER RETURN ON YOUR TRAINING DOLLARS BY COMPARING WEB-BASED, INSTRUCTOR-LED AND BLENDED-DELIVERY APPROACHES You just made the commitment to send all your employees though training. How do you deliver the training? Instructor-led classroom training that pulls your employees away from their desks for two days? Web-based training that leaves the timing and completion of training entirely up to them? Or perhaps, an approach that blends the two media? More importantly, how effective are each of these delivery modes, how much will each cost you, and what will your ultimate ROI be for each? At American Express, with its intense focus on how leadership impacts bottom-line results, we decided to conduct research that answered all of these questions — and in the process uncovered some groundbreaking results that not only informed our delivery approach, but also showed us how to gain incredible ROI for all of our future training programs. Web-based training with instructor-led kick-off and wrap-up sessions). The participants came from all American Express business units and staff groups in all of their four global regions. The Evaluation Strategy The evaluation and overall impact of the leadership development efforts were measured in part on the traditional Kirkpatrick/Phillips 5-level approach (See Table 1). Here, we compared how each delivery mode scored on each progressive level of evaluation. This was augmented with an additional critical measure — “Level 6” — that refers to the “transfer climate.” Level 6 specifically identifies the factors in the participant’s immediate work environment that predict the impact of the program, looking at what might inhibit or help the transfer of learning back on the job. By developing and including this new level of analysis in our evaluation strategy, American Express was able to identify the “leading” indicators or predictors of program impact. What was it that made the same Situational Leadership II training program extremely effective for some groups, while others experienced almost no behavior change and business impact? Identifying and understanding these crucial factors helped American Express ensure greater impact and ROI as rollout and implementation continued across the company. 6 BY PAUL LEONE, PH.D. The Study We recently concluded a three-year study with more than 2,000 managers and directors, where we evaluated the impact of one of our core leadership training programs. The research specifically evaluated and compared the effectiveness of three training delivery options: Web-based training, instructor-led classroom training, and a blended learning approach (which combined 15

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2008

Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2008 At the Editor’s Desk Contents Winning Organizations Through People Before You Buy… Learning Technologies Take Your ROI to Level 6 LCMS: A Critical Link to Learning Success Establishing Best Practices for Learning Governance Training’s Role in Continuous Improvement Meet Jim Mitnick Meet Karen Kocher Meet Christina Cernuch The Personal Side of Personnel Training Closing Arguments

Training Industry Quarterly - Spring 2008

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