Depending upon what research study you read, companies in the United States are spending upwards of 134 Billion dollars a year on employee training and development. However, according to a study on retention in The Journal of Economic Education, the annual rate of retention loss for employee training and development averages between 13 to 23%. In other words, American employers are throwing away between 17 and 30 Billion dollars a year on unused or lost training and development.
In any business environment, wasted dollars is bad, and in today's business environment, eliminating wasted dollars is mission critical. The situation at hand is really a double-edged sword. Companies must continue to invest in the development of their people, even now, in order to manage brain drain, engage and motivate employees, and create future leadership and growth initiatives for the organization, all the while maximizing every dollar invested. So how can an organization accomplish both objectives simultaneously?
The good news is it can be done, but it does require examining and implementing training and development in a different way. It starts with understanding it is not just about the degree to which participants acquire the new knowledge, skill, or attitude, and not just about whether the participant attended the actual event. It is more about how the new knowledge, skill, or attitude is applied and how the application can positively impact an individual and business through quantifiable results.
Donald Kirkpatrick is Professor Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin in North America and a past president of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). He is best known for creating a highly influential model for training and development evaluation. It is defined by four levels of participant learning.
His first two levels of learning are typically how companies and individuals measure the success of their training and development investment. Kirkpatrick defines the first level of learning as reaction. Reaction measures whether participants liked the event and the measurement tool is usually the session critique often referred to as a "smile sheet"-did the participants enjoy and find some value in the time they spent? Kirkpatrick's second level focuses on participant learning. Did the participants acquire the new and intended knowledge, skill, or attitude? Often at this level, pre and post testing is used as a measurement tool. What was the participants' level of knowledge going into the training or development event, and how much did the level of knowledge increase as a result of completing the event?
Level one and two are important because you cannot move to Kirkpatrick's level three and four without starting at the beginning. Kirkpatrick's levels of learning are interconnected, as it is the learning process. However, many companies don't pursue measurements beyond Level one and two because three and four require detailed goals and actions steps and take time to measure as well as manage.
Kirkpatrick's Level three is focused on improved behavior. To what degree did participants take the new knowledge, skill, or attitude and apply it to the real world setting of their job, their role, and the goals of their department/company? Changing behaviors takes time, but by allowing time to pass participants have the opportunity to implement the new knowledge, skills, and attitude therefore learning retention and job transferability can indeed be measured-did behaviors change as a result of the new learning? Ideally this measurement is conducted three to six months after the learning event with commitment from not only the participant but their manager, team leader, boss, etc., to follow-up and measure individual application.
Level four focuses on measurable business results. Level three sets the stage and creates the ability to measure results long-term. By allowing time for the participants to actually apply the new knowledge, skill, or attitude and by measuring the improved behavior through individual goals and action steps, looking at improved results through an entire team or department is the next logical step. Here are examples of achieving level four successes within a team or a department:
* Creating a development/training process focused on improving the knowledge, skill, and attitude of members of a sales team could lead to level four measurements such as increased sales volume and gross margins, increased customer retention, and shortening the sales cycle,-all meaningful results to the success and profitability of an organization.
* Working with any department or company in the area of process improvement could lead to level four improvement such as reduction of defects, errors, rework, time, and improvement of efficiencies. If a company could take their typical three-week order processing system down to 24 hours, the saving of company resources and the financial impact is huge, while increasing the customer's perception of value!
In today's world, positive business results and taking full advantage of every investment is crucial. For future training and development events take the time, make the commitment, and follow through to Kirkpatrick's level three and four. The results will be unparalleled to what you, your organization, and individuals have experienced in the past.
As the business owner, what do you want to learn and apply to achieve a greater result?