Training Evaluation Approach, Provision of Employee Information in Training Evaluation - Essay Example

Topic: Training Evaluation Introduction A very important characteristic as far as any kind of evaluation isconcerned is that impact that the evaluation actually has on the subject of the evaluation; this is vital to enable the people to understand the progress made so far. On the other hand, evaluation is important to the learners since it will boost their confidence as the commitment that people normally have to learning strongly depends on their confidence and a conviction that the learning is achievable (White & Druker, 2000). Negative criticism in the test results and feedback can make the people who are going through the training stop embracing the whole idea of training and development rapidly, this means that positives should always be looked for in the negative results (Charan, Drotter & Noel, 2011). The people that are undergoing the training program should be encouraged and supported by making sure that the evaluation adds positives and typically does not focus on the failures to avoid the trainees failing in the areas that they were trained in. This has consistently been an overlooked factor in the evaluation of training and since the characteristic has not been regularly included in evaluation as well as assessment, the point has to be put under consideration. Training evaluation approach The evaluation methods will be determined depending on the objectives of the training process and should be able to meet the demands of the different stakeholders who are involved, since all the organizations have multiple stakeholders, but not all the people in the organization have the same information needs. The stakeholders that are in the organization include the training department, the employees, the business units and the requirements for information that they have fall into two categories that consider whether the actual competencies have been cultured and whether the training has been used in enhancing the performance. Evaluation and assessment of training The assessment of the competency guidance will be carried out at the individual level and will be used in the determination of whether the people that went through the teaching were able understand the teaching material. At the individual level, the organization will be in a position to make an evaluation of the responses of the employees as well as their enhanced understanding (Mruthyunjaya, 2011). The responses that the employees have are vital as they have a negative reaction to a particular training program; the likelihood of them applying what they have learned in their work is low. Enhanced understanding in relation to new or enhanced knowledge, skillfulness and capabilities is the key objective of the training event. The outcome of the evaluation program is important to the training department since it needs the information on the competency learning to establish the efficiency of the training delivery. The information that is associated with the general efficiency of the training processes, suitability of the methods and the manner in which the instructions are delivered are very valuable to the training department since they will assist the department to address the needs of other stakeholders that are involved in a better way. The evaluation that the training department needs to conduct needs information that can be collected through a number of ways that include using questionnaires, the review of knowledge as well as observation. Questionnaires The questionnaires will offer a structured tool that will avail both quantitative and qualitative information concerning the reactions and responses of the employees to the entire training event. The questionnaire will mainly address the content of the training as well as the delivery of the content and the training content section will address questions that will be aimed at ascertaining whether the training material will avail practical information. Consequently, this can help in performing work duties and if the employee has gained more knowledge after they have been through the training program. The training delivery section should be in a position to identify whether the information that comes up is in an order that is logical, in the required format and with the required level of detail. The training department will use the information that will come out of the questionnaires to come up with ways of improving or supplementing the training material as well as determining whether the training methods are the best given the content that they are supposed to deliver. It will also enable the training department to maintain an internal inventory of the people that conduct the training who have to be rated as the best or effective. Review of knowledge The review of knowledge will provide an objective means that can be used to determine if the people who went through the training have understood the training content through a general group of evaluation instruments whereby the employees read questions and make a response in writing. This will be administered by availing the instruments at the beginning and at the end of the training and the instrument will be formulated as a short answer or a multiple-choice tool that uses the same questions each time it is administered but arranged in a varying order. The questions will adequately consider the learning objectives associated with the training and the resulting outcomes will be compared to gauge the knowledge transfer that takes place during the training. Ultimately, the information will be very helpful in providing assistance to the training department in terms of improving the material that is used in the training. Observation The interactions that the employees have, the degree of engagement with the trainers as well as the response to the content of the course should be observed by the training department to that it can be able to get the information regarding the reactions that the employees have during training. The technique that is applied could be an informal one or one that is formal and highly structured where the informal observation can be utilized in the provision of general information that concerns that training framework. On the other hand, an observation that is highly structured will direct its attention on monitoring specific points in the entire training program and will involve the use of a checklist of the points that will be observed. Provision of employee information in training evaluation The employees themselves also need information regarding the training but the information that is provided to the employees should be connected to the ability that they have to improve their jobs. The employees will be advantaged by appreciating the strengths and weaknesses that they have and the manner in which they can be addressed through the training process. The information can be obtained through employee portfolio and an analysis of the skills gaps. Employee portfolio This is an efficient method of providing information to the employees and their managers about the degree of understanding regarding specific knowledge, skillfulness as well as the capabilities to be learned during training. The portfolio should be designed in a manner that it can be used for informational purposes only and the outcomes that come out of it are not supposed to be connected to the assessments of the performance of the employee. In the implementation of this concept, the employees will be required to make an identification of the learning objectives that are associated with the training and within sixty days come up with a work sample that will be reviewed by the manager and should be able to demonstrate the skills that they acquired in the training. The employees will be given tasks that will make sure that they will be able to develop portfolios and after receiving the portfolio, the manager will be required to review it and give response to the employee concerning the strengths and the areas that need to be improved. Analysis of skills gaps This can be administered using a survey instrument and it will take place when the employee is rated with a degree of skill that is lower that the position that he is in requires. This kind of evaluation is used only for informational purposes and is not in any way related to the assessment of the employee. Employees can be able to utilize the information to monitor the development of their skills over a period of time through the view of the manager. Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation model Kirkpatrick’s developed a training evaluation model that had four levels in 1959 that was updated in 1975 and 1994 where the four levels included reaction, learning, behavior and results (Combs & Falletta, 2000). Reaction This will measure that degree of reaction in the people being trained and since the training is supposed to be valuable experience, they should be able to feel comfortable with the presentations, the venue, the trainers as well as the material that is presented in the training. It is imperative that the response is measured so that there can be an understanding of how the training was received by the trainees which will necessitate future improvements. Learning At this level, the knowledge that the trainees have acquired from the training program is measured to determine the manner in which their knowledge has increased. At the beginning of the training program, there is a list of objectives that are supposed to be met by the program; therefore, it is imperative to find out if they have been met once the training concludes. Behavior At this point, the changes that can be seen in the behavior of the employees will be evaluated depending on the training, which they received particularly in the manner in which they apply the knowledge that they acquired during the training. There is a change in behavior only in the situations where the conditions are encouraging and it should be noted that a lack of change does not mean the people who went through the training did not gain any knowledge. Results In the final level, the results that are associated with the training are analyzed and the will include the outcomes that the firm has identified as being the best for the business, the employees and the best for the overall success of the organization. Conclusion Evaluation is not intended for the trainer or the organization only since it is important for the person that is going through the training too and this is the most vital reason as far as the evaluation of people accurately, fairly and properly is concerned. Training evaluation is a process that is continuous and systematic that is used to make an assessment of the value and potential value that is within a particular training program, a course on an event. The outcomes of the evaluation are employed in developing guidelines to decision-making that is associated with various components of the training and the overall continuation, adaptation as well as exclusion. References Charan, R., Drotter, S., & Noel, J. (2011). The leadership pipeline (1st ed.). San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass. Combs, W., & Falletta, S. (2000). The targeted evaluation process (1st ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASTD. Mruthyunjaya, H. (2011). Knowledge management (1st ed.). New Delhi: PHI Learning. White, G., & Druker, J. (2000). Reward management (1st ed.). London: Routledge. Read More