Companies are investing vast amounts of money in training programs to gain a competitive advantage. Studies on the effectiveness of such programs revealed that “companies that conduct training are likely to have more positive human resource outcomes and greater performance outcomes” (Noe, 2010, p. 217). However, it is also essential to evaluate training programs as it helps understand the efficiency of programs and provides information, which is necessary to improve training. Therefore, it is critical to find incentives for companies to conduct training evaluation.
The first possible way to motivate companies to evaluate training programs is to assure management teams that this process is necessary to determine if the training program is effective or not. More than that, evaluation helps to identify training’s strengths and weaknesses. If the company takes into account this information, it will see how training programs can be improved or decide to replace it entirely. Furthermore, such conclusions will be useful for the company management to choose whether to increase or reduce investments in these programs.
As for my organization, it evaluates training programs regularly through different means. I work in a large hospital in the radiology department. The most popular ways to assess training programs there are surveys and testing of skills. Usually, the trainer hands out a survey at the end of the training programs to see our reaction to it. The second level of evaluation is testing acquired skills through practical exercising. This kind of examination helps determine if the content was learned or not. Therefore, it helps to indicate whether further training or additional coaching is required or not. The evaluations used in my hospital are effective, and changes, which are revealed in this process, are applied to make the programs better.
Reference
Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.