Are They Using It? How to Measure Training Adoption

Are they using it?

When it comes to training, everyone wants to know what happens back on the job once the workshop is complete. The facilitator wants to know if the skills that were practiced are being used. Leaders want to know if their direct reports have improved performance in key areas. And participants want to know if what they learned will help them succeed.

Measuring skill adoption is not as difficult as people believe. If you want to know if people are applying what they learned back on the job, follow these training measurement principles:

1. Identify Critical Few Skills: First, make sure that you have identified the handful of skills, knowledge, behaviors, and activities most important for success. These skills should be taught and practiced in the workshop until the participants prove a proficient level of competence. Two skills are not enough. Ten skills are too many.
   
   
2. Create Accountability: Before the program begins, make certain that each participant will be held accountable to try the new skills and receive direct feedback on-the-job. Effective performance coaching typically entails direct managers providing targeted and customized development plans, frequent and timely feedback, and clear consequences for success and failure.
   
   
3. Measure in 60-90 Days: Use an online survey to measure the amount of coaching received, the level of adoption based upon behavior-based questions and critical scenarios, and the degree of success employing the new techniques.

Done right, training adoption measurement creates the foundation for accountability and reinforcement while determining if people are using the skills, the specific impact of the new skills, and what to do next.