Evaluate the training - Essay Example

Evaluation and Training Memorandum Barbara Maddock, the Director of Information Technology s 23rd Jan 2015Subject: Evaluating and Validating TrainingEvaluation and training are very important concepts in human resource management. After the process of training some individuals for a certain job, it is imperative that the trainer knows how well the process performed. The process involved in establishing the worth of something is known as training evaluation (Salas, 2003). The term ‘worth’ refers to the merit, value, or the excellence of a thing.

Evaluation, although it is thought to refer to a set of techniques, is actually a state of mind. For you to achieve the required results in training individuals to provide better customer services, there are some sound principles that the evaluation process must be based upon and some four levels of evaluation that need be considered.Principles of Evaluation1. ClarityThe most important thing for the trainer to do ensure that the purpose of the evaluation in clear so that they can be able to set standards and also the criteria of the evaluation process.2. ObjectivityA good trainer has to be objective.

As a trainer, it requires;Measurable and sound standards of assessment.A detached analysis and interpretation of data which ensures that you stand the test of timeA good trainer must be able to design valid and reliable instruments of evaluation.3. ReliabilityIn evaluation, subjectivity analysis does not produce reliable results. Reliability requires that the results;Can be achieved when repeated by the same trainer again.Are irrespective of the data collection method used.Are not affected when interpreted by different researchers.

Good trainers will not use a single data collection or interpretation method, this helps in achieving more reliable results.4. Evaluation Design and MethodologyFeasibility of the above need to be checked. In other words, the evaluation process needs to be;Cost effective: the evaluation should cost less so that there are returns from the training.Utility of the data. Since there is a lot of time and money spent in gathering data, that data needs to be put to use otherwise the evaluation process will be a waste.

Practicality of the methodology: it should be ascertained that the human/other resource is established, and that there is enough time to fully execute the suggested methodology. 5. Product and not End ProductThe evaluation need not be confused for an end product but a continuous process. Evaluation has to begin before the training activity and should continue well after the training process.6. Evaluation Design to be Tailor MadeSometimes trainers fail to address the importance of having the evaluation process fit the specific standards and levels of training.

Drawing generalizations from a single evaluation design fails to identify the strengths and weaknesses of training given there are different objectives.After ensuring that all the above principles are taken into considerations, the evaluator needs to follow the levels below.Level one- results/impacts: this level measures the effectiveness of the evaluation initiative. While this level is the most difficult to consume while compared to the other three, it is evidently the most important as it underscores the whole process.

Measurement of results of the learning process might be looked at in the following perspectives:Financial: this result can either be soft or hard. It seeks the monetary return or basically the impact itself, for instance, how the output is affected. Customer: the training must show improvement on how the organization now attracts, retains, and deepens relationships with its customers while compared to its competitors. Internal: the process need achieve excellence by improving overall functions of the firm, this includes the production or the support processes.

Innovation and learning: It should be ensured that the learning package endorses a climate for innovation, organizational change, and growth of every individual in the firm.Level two involves performance where evaluation looks into how the learners are able to perform specific tasks and whether they use the newly acquired skills.Level three, on the other hand, looks at leaning in the extent to which the learners were able to improve their knowledge and skills and where they also had a change in attitudes after going through the learning process.

The last levels measure how the learner perceives and maybe react to both the learning and performance process. The level, known as motivation, makes use of attitude questionnaires passed out after the completion of the learning process. ReferenceSalas, E. (2003). Training evaluation. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.