How to Measure Employee Training Effectiveness

Corporate training expenditure in the United States total $92 billion in 2021, a $10 billion increase over 2020, according to Statista. A huge amount of money that makes the effectiveness of these trainings difficult to assess.

Just because you have a training program in place doesn’t mean it’s having the desired effect on staff and the greater company’s bottom line. You need some way of gauging employee training effectiveness. Learn which metrics and key performance indicators are the most relevant for assessing employee reaction, sentiment, and on-the-job performance.

Why measuring employee training effectiveness matters

Putting together a comprehensive training program is no small investment. Your HR puts in enormous time and effort to create a course that is relevant to your industry and internal needs. Even once the course is live, there are continuous updates, webinars to host, and forums to moderate, not to mention a cost component for maintaining the above. While it differs depending on the industry and company size, the cost of running a leadership development course in the UK, for example, averages £506 per day.

Without some form of evaluation, there’s no way of knowing whether the dedicated time, effort, and spending are yielding the desired effect. This is why you need an organized method for measuring training efficacy. 

How to measure training effectiveness

There’s no uniform way of measuring employee training effectiveness. You will need to determine which metrics to analyze based on your industry and internal benchmarks. However, a good template to follow is the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model. This is a measurement scheme developed in the 1950s by Donald Kirkpatrick, a Professor Emeritus from the University of Wisconsin. The model emphasizes four levels: reaction, learning, behaviour, and results.

Level 1: Reaction

The first stage measures how employees respond to the course. How the staff perceives the course is important. They’re not going to get as much out of it if they think it’s a waste of time, as opposed to engaging and informative. The best way to gauge employee reaction is through intermittent surveys and questionnaires when employees reach certain points in the course. Question types to incorporate in the survey include:

  • Open responses regarding what they liked and didn’t like about the course
  • How the course can be improved
  • If they feel more educated about their job role
  • Whether they would recommend the course to future employees
  • Administrator responsiveness
  • Ease of access to webinars and virtual conferences

Level 2: Learning

In stage two, measure how well the employees are performing. Performance levels indicate whether employees are really absorbing the information or if they’re just going through the motions. The latter is terrible for learning retention. There are a number of metrics you can analyze for this, such as:

  • Quiz and test scores
  • Homework scores and completion rate
  • Engagement levels in chat forums
  • Participation rates in optional areas, such as extra credit assignments and supplementary webinar attendance
  • Quality of qualitative data, such as response length in open-ended questions
  • Engagement levels in competition elements, if there is gamification

Level 3: Behaviour

Has the training changed the employees’ overall outlook on their responsibilities and job duties? Pre- and post-training surveys are a good way to measure changes in behaviour. Do responses indicate an increase in on-the-job confidence, for example? Supervisors can also observe whether there are notable changes on the work floor upon training completion.

Level 4: Results

The final stage measures whether the training has actually led to an increase in short- and long-term benchmarks. Whereas level 3 measures behavioural/mental changes, such as greater morale and enthusiasm, level 4 measures whether this has resulted in higher customer satisfaction and revenue. Level 4 measures metrics like:

  • Revenue quarter over quarter
  • Customer retention in relation to bounce rate
  • Loyalty program and trial offer signups
  • Customer feedback

How Dokeos LMS helps companies measure training effectiveness

The above four levels all have two common denominators: data and metrics. These are the elements you need to assess the efficacy of your courses. Sorting and organising data manually is extremely time-intensive and leaves the door open for human error.

This is where a learning management system can be an invaluable tool. Consider the advantages of adopting an LMS (Learning Management System) platform like Dokeos for managing your employee training.

  • Create an online training course using a number of pre-made templates and an intuitive drag-and-drop feature
  • Create your own pre- and post-course surveys, as well as mid-course pulse surveys
  • Organise your digital learning strategy by dividing the course into modules that you can continuously edit and arrange
  • Ensure employees follow industry protocol with procedural training courses
  • Certify course completion and certificates with electronic signatures
  • Customisable dashboard where you can evaluate your chosen metrics in real time
  • Metrics that can be converted into a report summary complete with text and charts/graphs of your choosing

Creating, managing, and evaluating employee training effectiveness is a huge undertaking. In fact, it’s almost a whole separate job in itself. With Dokeos LMS, create your own course from the ground up; no technical skills are required. Managing the course is equally intuitive. Finally, get real-time access to your selected metrics to evaluate employee performance. Try Dokeos today risk-free. And contact us !

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