Do Not Forget to Measure - Success Does Not End with Training Delivery

Business people and savvy trainers know that the measure of success does not end with training program delivery.

It is not enough to complete the program as promised on time…and not enough to have a standard “smile sheet” with good scores…and not enough to have the buyer thank you for a training that seemed to be well received. The proof of a program’s success is, as they say, in the pudding.

1. Learning. Have program participants achieved the learning objectives?
   
   
2. Application. Has the target audience been able to put into practice what they learned?
   
   
3. Adoption. Have participants adopted the new skills, knowledge and behaviors?
   
   
4. Impact. Are the new methods and techniques impacting the business in the way that you and your business sponsors wanted them to?

The only way to know for certain that the program you designed was successful is to measure skill adoption, on-the-job performance, and business results correlated to your desired skills. This is typically done 60, 90 and 120-days after program delivery and combined with performance coaching. Just as you would not accept an appliance repair until you tried it out back at home, you should not assume that the “fix” you were asked to accomplish was successful until you test for it in the workplace.
Post-training learning measurement will give you the answers you need to drive accountability, continuously improve, and judge effectiveness.