When It Is Smart to Measure Training Impact

Overall, we believe that corporate training should be undertaken only when:

• It is clear that it is directly linked to the organization’s strategic goals and priorities
• It will have a measurable impact on real business results and performance
• It is relevant to the participants, their boss and the company as a whole
• It has the full and active support of leadership
• There is a system in place to see that the learning is actually applied on the job

We also believe that training measurement should be a critical ingredient of any training initiative that wants to change behavior and improve performance.  How else will you know if people are using the new skills and if those new skills are quantifiably getting the performance improvement that you desire?   How else can you provide effective performance coaching and align systems and process to reinforce the desired outcomes?

The real value of training measurement should go deeper than superficial participation headcounts and satisfaction scores. Smart training metrics should directly reflect the importance of the initiative. From our perspective, a comprehensive training adoption and impact study should always be undertaken when:

• The desired outcomes are a high strategic priority for the participants, their bosses and the company
• You want meaningful and sustainable behavior change or performance improvement
• The training program requires a major investment of money or time
• The program will be rolled-out to many employees
• The program has high visibility
• You want to identify key skill or performance gaps or need targeted data for performance coaching
• You want to know if the skills are being applied on-the-job and if those skills are making the desired impact on performance

Learn more at: http://lsaglobal.com/training-measurement/