Training Industry Magazine - Spring 2015 - (Page 56)

THE REAL ROI OF LEADERSHIP TRAINING: SOFT SKILLS LEAD TO HARD RESULTS On any given day, thousands of employees across every organization are influenced by their leader. Consequently, any change or improvement in a leader's behavior and "soft skills" can have a profound and resounding effect on employee performance and productivity. Using a case study, let's examine the direct effects of a leadership training program across the organization. More specifically, let's look at how training has improved key leadership behaviors and the productivity of direct reports. WHEN IT COMES TO ROI, LEADERSHIP TRAINING CAN AND SHOULD PACK THE BIGGEST PUNCH. This study not only measures the results of a leadership program from Level 1 (reaction) to Level 5 (return on investment), but also measures a Level 6 (transfer climate), which identifies the immediate environmental factors that either help or hinder a learner from applying their new knowledge and skills back on the job. BACKGROUND The Fortune 100 global financial organization has over 50,000 employees in approximately 40 countries. Its overall human resource talent strategy included a laser-sharp focus on people leadership, so the company wanted its training to ensure all its employees were maximally inspired, engaged and motivated by their immediate managers. A key population within the target group and our sample for this particular study was 1,974 frontline sales managers and 2,023 of their direct reports. They chose a situational leadership training program that shows leaders 56 - PAU L L E ONE , Ph .D. MEASURING IMPACT how to diagnose the specific needs of each of their employees and develop unique action plans for each of them. THE EVALUATION STRATEGY The evaluation and overall impact of the leadership development efforts were measured in part using the traditional five-level Kirkpatrick/ Phillips approach. A critical sixth level was added to identify the environmental factors that can profoundly influence the impact of the training back on the job. Here are the six levels of training evaluation: * Level 1: Reaction and Satisfaction * Level 2: New Knowledge Acquired * Level 3: Behavior Change/Improvement * Level 4: Business Impact/Productivity Increase * Level 5: Return on Investment * Level 6: Climate Factors Maximizing ROI DATA GATHERING Participants who attended the two-day instructorled leadership program were given a five-minute survey immediately after training. This survey captured the participants' satisfaction with the experience (Level 1) and level of new knowledge and skills acquired (Level 2). Three months after the training was completed, participants were then emailed a link to take another online survey and were instructed to invite their direct reports to complete a similar survey.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Spring 2015

Soft Skills Make Up Vital Part of Corporate Training
Table of Contents
Guest Editor: Leadership: The Artichoke Effect
Focusing on Mindsets and Attitudes
The Importance of Soft Skills For Trainers
Social Simulators Bring Training to Life
The Power of Storytelling in Organizational Development
Leading Change with Resilience
Why Perspective Selling Makes Sense
Harnessing the Power of Teamwork
Collaborate to Innovate: Building an Innovation-Friendly Business Culture
Are You Using the Best Metrics to Evaluate Your Skills Training?
Influencing into the Future
Culture: The Enemy at the Gate of Innovation
Casebook: T-Mobile: Answering the Call for Leadership Development
Leadership is an Inside Job
Vendor Selection Tips for Corporate Sales Training
Checking Your Motivation to Lead
The Real ROI of Leadership Training: Soft Skills Lead to Hard Results
Closing Deals
Company News
What's Online
Training Talk

Training Industry Magazine - Spring 2015