Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2016 - 58

MEASURING
I M P A C T

MOVING FROM
EVENTS TO JOURNEYS
TO GET DEMO N ST R A B LE R E S U LTS
BY CHIP CLEARY

Getting demonstrable results has long been
the "holy grail" for training and development
departments. But maybe we should think of
it more as our Achilles' heel. Study after study
shows that business leaders doubt (and are
often outright skeptical of ) the effectiveness
of training. When business leaders seek to
evaluate investments in training, T&D teams are
often unable to provide helpful insight.
An evaluation method we've been using recently
with our client partners has delivered useful
insight. We have found that this method, the
Performance Journey Funnel, provides clarity
about the outcomes business leaders seek
(summative results) while also pointing to how
to optimize those outcomes (formative results).
BUSINESS LEADERS FOCUS ON BUSINESS
RESULTS BEFORE INVESTING
Most evaluation frameworks focus first on
business results (e.g., Kirkpatrick Level 4). Of
course, it goes without saying that investments
in training should generate business results.
However, our experience shows that, perhaps
counterintuitively, business leaders rarely want
to evaluate T&D's impact on business results
after the fact. Rather, they want to project those
results before they make an investment.
For example, imagine that the head of
operations at a rapidly growing manufacturing
organization hires a cadre of new line operators
only to see her error rates go through the

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roof. Working with T&D, she explores ways
to reduce errors: training every operator on
every operation (too expensive!), training every
operator on a few key operations (too limited!)
and training supervisors on how to coach
operators (this is promising!).
Given this analysis by T&D, the operations
department decides to move forward on this
last idea. Each time quality personnel report
an error, a supervisor will coach the operator
on how to avoid that error going forward. They
know that for this program to work, supervisors
will need stronger coaching skills, so they also
launch a targeted coaching program.
In short, the head of operations values T&D's
help upfront in analyzing the performance
issues, brainstorming solutions and projecting
each solution's business results. She uses the
analysis to choose a path forward. But what
about evaluating impact after training?
BUSINESS LEADERS RARELY WANT HELP
EVALUATING BUSINESS RESULTS
Why do business leaders rarely want T&D to
evaluate results after making an investment?
For starters, they usually already have the data.
Furthermore, T&D often focuses narrowly on the
specific contribution of the learning solution.
However, business leaders often launch multiple
interventions to meet a goal. Each intervention
contributes to each other as well as to the
business result, and business leaders recognize
that it's often not feasible to portion credit.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2016
