If Training is Not a Popularity Contest, Why Do We Keep Treating it Like One?

“People really like it. We have waiting lists! Our workshops are very popular. We’re really happy.”

Unfortunately, “popularity” is one of the most common answers we get to justify training expenditures and approaches from Training and HR Departments.

But popularity as a learning business metric is about as effective as tracking hours trained, dollars spent, people trained, courses offered, subjects covered, modalities used, and the look and feel of the workbooks..

Done right, training is about making an impact on the business. Done right, that impact typically comes through improved performance. Done right, improved performance is driven from behavior change that is aligned with key business initiatives and reinforced through coaching, support processes, incentives, and measurement. Done wrong, you have wasted both time and money..

So… Why Do HR and Training Get Away With Using Popularity as a Metric?

To be fair, training initiatives that are implemented simply for career development purposes (and typically supported with minimal follow-through) should not be rigorously measured. In most of these cases, the metrics of satisfaction and knowledge transfer are sufficient. These programs are expected by employees, provide foundational skills necessary for career advancement, and are especially helpful to first time managers and supervisors who are moving into uncharted territory.

So…Why Don’t Organizations Measure Training in a Way that Matters?

Contrary to Arthur Murray, you cannot dance your way to becoming a popular seat at the executive table or to a meaningful contribution when it comes to training.

The question is—why do training professionals turn to popularity instead of true business metrics such as cost, quality, time, value, and service?

Our experience with over 600 training needs assessment and measurement projects tells us that there are 3 key reasons that organizations do not properly measure the impact of their training initiatives in a way that would matter to most executives.

1. “We’ve Done Fine Without It.”

Why should we change something that has worked in the past. And nobody has asked us for business metrics related to training.

2. “We Don’t Know How.”

We do not have an approach or methodology to effectively and efficiently measure the impact of our training initiatives.

3. “It Can’t Be Done.”

There are too many variables to isolate the results linked to training. Even if we could isolate it, we can’t afford to take the time, energy, or resources to make it happen.

So…How Do You Measure Training?

The good news is that you can measure the business impact of training. We believe that training measurement is critical to determine value, measure impact, increase accountability for execution, and provide detailed coaching feedback to participants in areas that matter to the business. In order to effectively measure training, there are a few key principles that you must follow.

1. Lagging Indicators: Identify the specific business and learning outcomes that you are trying to achieve. These include items like revenue, margin, win-rate, performance, productivity, retention,
engagement, loyalty, satisfaction, cost, time, and quality.

2. Leading Indicators: Identify the behaviors that are linked to the results that you are trying to achieve.

So…What Do You Measure?

If you follow the two principles above, you will be able to understand and measure:

Adoption: are people are using the desired skills?
Impact: is it helping them and the business succeed?
Learn more about our training measurement practice, our measurement approach, and the specific deliverables.

In 6-8 weeks, you could have solid performance metrics tied to your training initiatives.