How to Measure Training Effectiveness Using Case Studies

In any organization, training and its corresponding metrics are extremely important to the success of that organization. What is how to measure training effectiveness? Training effectiveness measures the actual impact of training in terms of its impact on the individual trainees learning, cognitive skills, performance, organizational performance and the organization’s overall ROI. The individual training goals and objectives must be determined prior to training takes place, which allows these to be objectively and effectively measured.

In most cases, training is delivered using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative data refers to the observations of the trainees and their ability to work collaboratively with others, a quality that can be easily observed and measured in measurable terms. Quantitative data on the other hand, is more difficult to observe and measure as it relies on statistics and therefore may be affected by factors such as sample size, type of the study, number of trainees, effect size, response format and the observer bias.

Learning itself is usually measured by performance on standardized tests or feedback systems. Performance on standardized tests includes verbal, quantitative, performance on problem-solving tasks, and ability to acquire new knowledge. If you are looking for how to measure training effectiveness, standardization of testing can be a useful tool to consider. The types of standardized tests include:

For instance key (key performance indicators), which are also known as scorecards, have been widely used by companies throughout the business world to establish what employee performance is like. Scorecards are often used by management to determine whether or not the employees meet targets and if they are performing above or below the set criteria. The same is true for the KPIs. These KPIs consist of the measures, which are then used to determine whether a certain criterion or set of criteria is meeting the goals and objectives of the organization. Examples of some common KPI are customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, staff satisfaction and others.

Another important way to determine how to measure training effectiveness is to evaluate the learning and development activities of a given training course or activity. If the lessons and activities of the course were well-developed and provided interesting content, the learning process itself should be measured. To evaluate this, one would need to check whether the students developed new skills during the training session. This could be done by using the Student Appraisal and Self-Assessment Questionnaire developed by Delphi, Inc. and GRE Analytics.

After learning took place, the next step is to evaluate the learning and development programs themselves. The first step is to measure training effectiveness by testing the performance of the programs on at least four levels: technical, content, competence and attitude. The technical level involves four levels of exams, each divided between one and two weeks. The content level test consists of at least two readings and two writing tasks. Competitiveness assessment measures the attitudes and beliefs of the employees toward their work, which can be measured by the Performance-Based grading system developed by Delphi, Inc. and GRE Analytics.

The final step in how to measure training effectiveness is to evaluate the post-training outcomes. The results from the post-training activities should include three elements: feedback from the direct report (the trainee), third party external review and internal assessment from managers, employees or senior supervisors. The feedback from the direct report refers to the specific strengths and shortcomings of the trainees that were identified during the evaluation. External review refers to an independent person who supervised the post-training evaluation who provides feedback to the trainer and makes recommendations for improvements.

The last but not least is the internal assessment, which is usually done by a team consisting of one or more persons. The aim of this approach is to assess whether or not there are any problems in the implementation of the project. This can be done using typical case study questions and evaluation styles. The team members are evaluated on their creativity, organization, knowledge and attitude toward the qualitative data collection.