How to Measure EmployeeLearning in Ways that

Improve ROI and Results

MeasuringTraining

Effectiveness

The benefits of employee training are easy to understand:Improved skills and produc!vity, greater reten!on, and an evenbe"er employer brand. But actual value can some!mes be hardto quan!fy. With US corporate spending on employee educa!oncon!nuing to grow by 15% per year to more than $70 billion,1businesses need reliable metrics and methods to measure theirtraining ROI.

This whitepaper explains the proven methods of measuringtraining effec!veness—and the challenges to doing so. You’lllearn specific metrics for planning, monitoring, and repor!ng onthe tangible and intangible results of your training programs.

Conver!ng training results into dollar values helps to makenecessary adjustments in course spending, evaluate trainingvendors you may use, and also build a credible business case forfuture learning and development funding. These measurement!ps will reduce wasted learning and ensure your employees canapply what they learn to their job.

Why Measuring is ImportantEveryone agrees that employee training is good. However, whenlearning occurs on company 3me and the company dime, thereneeds to be some measurement to show that the knowledge orskills gained are being applied to improve job func3ons (or othergoals) and jus3fy the expense.

“Training is expensive if it does not serve the purpose for whatit was given,” says Ishwar Dayal in the Indian Journal ofIndustrial Rela*ons.17

Execu3ves prefer to see hard ROI numbers, like those related tocost savings and revenue increases. “But there is one metric thatdoes resonate with most execu3ves,” says David Mear ofMandel.com. “Execu)ves get the idea of waste.”2

How to Measure TrainingEffectiveness in Meaningful Waysthat Improve ROI and Results

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“Training is expensive if itdoes not serve the purposefor what it was given.”—Ishwar Dayal, Indian Journal of

Industrial Rela*ons17

“The scrap learning rate is 50percent or higher amongmore than three-quarters ofall companies.”—Robert O. Brinkerhoff,Ed.D., Professor

Emeritus, Western Michigan University3

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In a 2010 study of learners at companies with more than 5,000employees, Robert O. Brinkerhoff, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus atWestern Michigan University, found that as few as 9 percent oftrained employees actually applied what they’ve learned to theirjob to achieve posi3ve results. The remaining 91 percent receivedwhat s known as “scrap learning.”3

A term coined by KnowledgeAdvisors, scrap learning is trainingthat was delivered but unsuccessfully applied—and therefore,wasted. Extrapola3ng these findings, Brinkerhoff es3matesthat “seventy-six percent of corporate learners apply 50 percentor less of what they learn, which means the scrap learning rateis 50 percent or higher among more than three-quarters ofall companies.”3

To help quan3fy the costs of scrap learning, the Associa3on forTalent Development’s 2015 State of the Industry Report placesthe average per employee training expenditure at $1,229 and theaverage number of training hours consumed per employee at32.4 hours.6

Based on Brinkerhoff’s es3mates, that means 75 percent ofcompanies waste more than $614 and 15.1 hours per employeeon training that will never be put to use.

Even though it’s impossible to eliminate waste from employeelearning programs, if you can measure it, you can fix it. “Manytraining programs fail to deliver the expected organiza3onalbenefits,” as Leslie Allan of the Australian Ins3tute of Training andDevelopment notes. “Having a well-structured measuring systemin place can help you determine where the problem lies.”4

In a recent Training Industry Magazine ar3cle authored byCorporate Execu3ve Board (CEB) senior measurement consultant,John Ma4ox, II, Ph.D., demonstrated how lowering yourcompany’s scrap learning rate strongly correlates with increasedjob performance.5

Ma4ox found that most organiza3ons that ac3vely measure scraplearning see average annual employee performance gains due tolearning of 10%—compared to 6% for those that don’t measure.According to the study, the top quarter of organiza3ons thatmeasure scrap see performance gains that more than triple thoseof the typical organiza3on.5

To be most effec3ve, learning programs must evolve over 3me.The data you gain from measuring results improves not only youremployees’ abili3es, but also your organiza3on’s ability to improvefuture training plans and ROI.

Learn What You Want to MeasureAs important as gauging training effec3veness may be, it’simportant to know exactly what you want to measure. “Manymanagers leap to delivering performance metrics forge5ng whythey are delivering training in the first place,” warns SamudraNeelam Bhuyan of sales consul3ng firm Mind3ckle.com.“Don’t fall into the trap of repor)ng metrics just for the sakeof repor)ng.”7

The trouble with most training evalua3on methods is that theytypically ignore data about likely business impacts. Instead, theyfocus on comple3on rates, or par3cipants’ reac3ons to the qualityof the course itself, the support materials, the instructor, and eventhe facili3es where the trainings are held.6 These metrics,however, do li4le to assess if the employee gained proficiency orthe ability to apply what was learned to the job.

To establish ROI, you really just need to focus on two things:training results and training costs.

Establishing training outcomesThe first step in considering or designing any training program is todefine your goals. Be as specific as possible about the objec3vesof your training, advises Robert Lazers, former Chicago publicschool principal, university instructor, and now Director ofCustomer Success at Simplilearn. Employee training differs fromthe tradi3onal educa3on that most students are used to becauseit is targeted to acquire specific skills you want.

Lazers advises, “If you’re not taking advantage of training’s abilityto focus on your company’s or at least the department’s specificgoals, you’re squandering your employees’ 3me—and yourtraining investment—on learning that won’t be useful, applied,or retained.”

In his book, Telling Training’s Story: Evalua*on Made Simple,Credible, and Effec*ve, Robert Brinkerhoff says that 90 percent oftraining resources are devoted to the design, development anddelivery of training, yet only 15 percent of what is learned actuallytransfers to the job.10

“Only 15 percent of what islearned actually transfers tothe job.”—Robert O. Brinkerhoff,Ed.D., Professor

Emeritus, Western Michigan University10

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Determining your goals will help you choose the best courses andtraining program, manage execu3ves’ and par3cipants’expecta3ons, and even reduce scrap learning. Explicit goals willalso greatly simplify the way you measure your results.

“Decide prior to the training what metrics will ma4er a$er thetraining is conducted,” says Andrea D. Cranfill, the co-founder andprincipal of FlashPoint, a talent management consul3ng firm. “Youcan then think about what type of measurement is appropriate forthe business need you are trying to solve.”9

To keep things simple, possible factors to measure should includenumbers or key performance indicators (KPIs) your companyalready tracks, including:

• Scores on post-training tests• Cer3fica3ons achieved from external organiza3ons• Completed projects applied from learning• Sales/revenue figures• Number and quality of marke3ng leads• Problem incidents (like cybersecurity breaches)• Product 3me-to-market• Error rates and rework required• Customer service scores• Employee reten3on/a4ri3on rates

Determining training costsTotal investment is the other cri3cal element to determine yourtraining ROI. But establishing training costs can be challenging juston its own. Samudra Neelam Bhuyan recommends the followingconsidera3ons for analyzing training costs:7

• Development costs—L & D salaries, overhead• Implementa)on costs—training material, course cost,

technology costs, facili3es rental, travel/hotel costs,instructors’ pay

• Compensa)on for par)cipants—the salaries and benefitscosts that will be dedicated to the 3me spent on training

• Lost produc)vity during training—the cost of 3me spentaway from working

• Learning curve cost—the cost of 3me needed for youremployees to adapt to new prac3ces and ways of workinga$er the training program

• Company culture shi� (change management)—costof incen3ves provided to foster wanted behaviora$er training

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Preparing for SuccessOnce organiza3ons understand their training goals, managers cando a lot to maximize learning success by mee3ng with employeesbefore training begins.

“These managerial ac3ons help to ensure that training isvaluable to the learner and is fully aligned with business goals,”notes John Ma4ox, II, Ph.D. in CIO Magazine. “The conversa3onand expecta3on-se5ng prepares the learner for the actualtraining event.”3

For training in some disciplines, such as digital marke3ng,pre-assessment can provide valuable benchmarks. For example,learners taking Simplilearn’s Digital Marke3ng courses can beginwith a convenient online OMCA exam prac3ce assessment quiz,created and administered by the Online Marke3ng Cer3fiedProfessionals (OMCP) Standards Commi4ee. Par3cipants answerabout 20 ques3ons in under 40 minutes, covering SEO, digitaladver3sing (PPC), social media, conversion rate op3miza3on,web analy3cs, content marke3ng, mobile marke3ng, andemail marke3ng.

“The OMCP pre-assessment does more than provide companieswith an unbiased, o$en sobering snapshot of their marke3ngteam’s actual skill levels beforehand,” says Simplilearn’s RobertLazers. “It provides a defini3ve tool to measure training resultsboth before and immediately a$er the training. It can even beadministered months later to gauge reten3on and perhaps pointout future remedial or refresher training needs.”

Such benchmarks provide a cri3cal metric for measuring successof the training when compared to post-course assessments.Pre-assessment also enables companies to customize theircourses to the most needed skills, as well as stage individualemployees at appropriate start levels. The result is a trainingprogram that reduces wasted learning cost and effort, while be4erenabling all par3cipants to come up to the same level regardlessof their star3ng points.

Methods for MeasurementThere are a variety of ways that learning experts and corpora3onsevaluate the results of employee training. These include quizzes,one-on-one conversa3ons, employee surveys, par3cipant casestudies, and official cer3fica3on exams. The best solu3on for yourbusiness may be a combina3on of elements from any or all ofthese approaches.

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The Kirkpatrick Evalua)on ModelDuring the 1950s, University of Wisconsin Professor DonaldKirkpatrick developed the Kirkpatrick Evalua*on Model forevalua3ng training. To this day, it remains the most recognizedmethod of evalua3ng the effec3veness of training programs. Asimple, 4-level approach, it suggests four levels of key pre- andpost-training assessments. Higher levels add precision to trainingresults measurement, but also take more 3me to analyze and canbe more costly.

• Level 1 - Reac)on. Survey or talk to your employees beforeand a$er the course to get their opinions of the learningexperience. Ask them what they learned. Ask if theyfeel/felt the training was valuable, engaging, and relevant.Evalua3on types can include:

√ Surveys or brief ques3onnaires√ Informal conversa3ons or short interviews

with par3cipants√ Focus group sessions with all par3cipants

together at once

• Level 2 - Learning. Measure how well the par3cipantsacquired the intended knowledge and skills as a result ofthe training. This can be done by comparing pre- andpost-training evalua3ons, or only as a post-evalua3on.Measurements can include:

√ Pre- and post-test scores√ Successful comple3on of prac3cal applied

learning projects√ Actual job performance KPIs√ Supervisors’ reports√ Achieving cer3fica3on

• Level 3 - Behavior. Measure how much par3cipants’behaviors changed (whether they’ve absorbed what theylearned and/or applied it to their job). This involves bothpre- and post-training measurement of the learner’sbehavior. It’s important to note that behavior results mayeither reflect the effec3veness of the course or employees’acceptance/reluctance to change their behavior. Behaviorscan be measured by:

√ Par3cipant self-assessment ques3onnaires√ Interviews, surveys, or informal feedback from

coworkers or managers√ Focus groups√ Direct on-the-job observa3on

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√ Actual job performance KPIs√ Customer surveys, comments, or complaints

• Level 4 - Results. Measure the tangible results of thetraining such as: reduced cost, improved quality, fasterproject comple3on, increased produc3vity, employeereten3on, be4er marke3ng leads, increased sales, andhigher morale. This requires both pre- and post-trainingmeasurement of the training objec3ves.

√ Possible metrics include:√ Financial reports√ Marke3ng, sales, or other KPIs√ Quality or safety reports or inspec3ons√ Interviews with managers√ Reten3on reports and employer ra3ng reviews√ Achieving cer3fica3on

“Before you get started with level four measurement,” notesBhuyan, “It is important to already have established a system formanagement and repor3ng employee performance over 3me.7

How Much Measurement Makes Sense?Depending on the training course and the data you find useful, itmay not be necessary to measure everything, every 3me. Becauseit becomes increasingly difficult and costly to conduct evalua3onsas you move up the Kirkpatrick scale, Leslie Allan suggests addinglevels as follows, according to type of training and your goals:4

• Level 1 (Reac3on) for all programs• Level 2 (Learning) for “hard-skills” programs only• Level 3 (Behavior) for strategic programs only, and• Level 4 (Results) for programs cos3ng over $50,000.

Advisors at TheTrainingWorld.com note, “One issue regardingtraining evalua3on is that it’s expensive to do it properly, which iswhy most companies don’t really do it well.”20 Therefore, whendeciding how much costly analysis to put into measuring yourtraining program, understand that taking a bargain basementapproach can seriously undermine the accuracy of your results.

In their 2015 study of training effec3veness in call centers,researchers compared assessments of trainees at increasingly

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deeper levels of the Kirkpatrick model. They found thattrainees are most included to rate training as excellent atLevel 1 (Reac3on), but scores declined by almost 20% atLevel 3 (Behavior).15

As noted by study authors Waseem Rehmat, et. al, “Organiza3onsthat are considering Reac3on [Level 1] as the only parameter togauge effec3veness of training can be highly misled by results as[inflated] reac3ons of trainees a$er end of training do not re?ectthe true and complete picture of actual training effec3veness.”

Surveying Your SurveysWhether you u3lize the Kirkpatrick model or something lessformal, surveys are excellent for assessments, especially sincethey can be created, delivered, managed, and reported online,with automated score calcula3ons and data graphing.

Open-ended survey ques3ons are also useful for collec3ng resultsthat are hard to quan3fy, like expecta3ons, sa3sfac3on, and othera5tudes.

Keep your surveys simple. Instead of a 1-10 ra3ng scale, use a1-5 scale (also called a 5-level Likert scale) in which thedescrip3ons are widely dis3nc3ve. For example:

1 = Strongly Disagree2 = Tend to Disagree3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree4 = Tend to Agree, and5 = Strongly Agree

When using the 1-5 scale, “Always use it with 5 being the posi3veend and 1 being the nega3ve end,” advises Dr. Rob Balon, CEO ofthe Benchmark Company. “NEVER use 1 as the posi3ve end.”11

Yes-and-no ques3ons (and other dichotomous or mul3ple choiceanswers) are excellent for finding precise data, but they lack theability to provide more descrip3ve assessment of a5tudes. Forthis reason, it’s helpful to include a comment box a$er eachanswer. This lets respondents offer more thorough informa3onabout their reac3ons, while s3ll providing a defini3ve, quan3fiablemetric. In the end, you may find the nuances of their answersmore valuable than the sta3s3cs.

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A good training provider can provide you with learningassessment tools, including customizable surveys, subject ma4erquizzes, prac3ce exams, and other means to measure learningsuccess and help quan3fy ROI.

Beware of Outcomes withMisleading OriginsYou need to be cau3ous not to misa4ribute training as the solesource of certain performance improvements or effects. One ofthe most temp3ng logical fallacies about causality is post hoc,ergo propter hoc, or “a$er this, therefore because of this.” Justbecause ac3on A occurs earlier in 3me than some par3culareffect B, you should not assume that A caused B. You need tolook deeper.

“Most organiza3ons experience change in a variety of ways andthe rate and pace of those changes can influence behaviors andresults as much, if not more, than the training itself,” says RosePolchin in Learning and Development. “For example, theimplementa3on of a new, more user-friendly website may be thereason for an increase in customer sa3sfac3on, rather than or inaddi3on to the Customer Service Refresher training program allrepresenta3ves just a4ended.12

Another factor that can skew training results is the Hawthorneeffect (also known as the Observer effect). Named a$er a famousexperiment in the 1920s designed to determine how illumina3onlevels affected produc3on in a Western Electric plant, theresearchers instead discovered that individuals tend to improve ormodify their behavior in response to their awareness that they arebeing observed.13 While this shows that human behavior is verydifficult to quan3fy exactly, it also demonstrates that simply theprocess of measuring training results can actually improvetraining success.

“Perhaps the biggest issue has to do with showing a strong causallink between training and job performance,” notesTheTrainingWorld.com. “The only way to do that properly is tohave a control group that doesn’t receive training, and anexperimental group that does, then compare them in terms ofperformance. Most companies are not interested in doing that.”21

The best solu3on to not becoming a vic3m of this causality trap isto use a variety of data when drawing your conclusions. Always

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“Most organizations experiencechange in a variety ofways...those changes caninfluence behaviors and resultsas much, if not more, than thetraining itself.”—Rose Polchin, Learning and Development12

supplement your measurements (such as test scores) with asmany other assessment types as reasonable,such as surveys,interviews, KPIs, and applied learning assignments, or othermetrics. Then, look outside the training program to see whatother factors may have had an impact.

Certification: When MeasurementBecomes an AchievementIndustry cer3fica3on is a valuable metric for businesses to assesstraining effec3veness. Whether as an internal cer3fica3on thathas real execu3ve sponsorship (backed by promo3ons, raises, orother recogni3on) or an external cer3fica3on that validates thevalue of the training program, cer3fica3on makes a difference.

Not only does it provide a tangible result, cer3fica3on providesnumerous benefits to both the employee and the organiza3onalike, including:

• Mo3va3on during the learning process to learn and retainthe material

• Assurance that the employees’ skills and knowledge arecomplete and up-to-date

• Valida3on to colleagues and customers that theemployees’ skills are highly valuable

• An employer-provided perk that improves employeereten3on and employer brand

• A concrete incen3ve that employees can carry with them• A compe33ve differen3ator as a company with

cer3fied employees• Opportunity for increased revenue from higher billings by

cer3fied consultants• Enabling staff to be4er evaluate the talents and skills of

others, including new hires

If employee cer3fica3on is one of your objec3ves and measures,make sure the training program developed by your company oryour vendor fully prepares trainees to pass industry-standardcer3fica3on exams. Ideally it should be validated by a reputablethird-party organiza3on related to that so$ware or industry.

Measuring Learning by PuttingIt to WorkBeyond tests and surveys, having trainees complete appliedlearning projects can provide the most accurate assessment of

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learning absorp3on. Best of all, having trainees complete suchprojects reinforces the learning process and helps ensure thatthey remember the skills and actually put them into use.

In the 1980s, researchers working with the nonprofit Center forCrea3ve Leadership created the The 70:20:10 Model for Learningand Development.18 According to their findings,

• 70 percent of beneficial learning comes from hands-onexperience and projects,

• 20 percent comes from learning from others through socialexperiences like coaching, mentoring, and collabora3veassignments, and

• 10 percent of effec3ve learning comes from tradi3onalcourse-based instruc3on.

A growing majority of experts contend that the pre-Internet70:20:10 model does not reflect the current business market’ssuccess and dependence on e-learning. However, the model“remains generally consistent with the developmental experiencesof many individuals.”19

Because experien3al learning has proven to be so effec3ve, whenyou develop your program or choose a third-party trainingprovider, we recommend you incorporate prac3cal, appliedlearning exercises, and not just videos or other e-learning content.

“Educators know that people learn in different ways—byobserving, socializing, and prac3cing,” says Robert Lazers. “That iswhy Simplilearn training uses a blended learning approach,combining online self-paced lessons with instructor-led live virtualclassrooms (LVCs). We also provide applied learning assignmentsthat require par3cipants to use their new skills to complete actualprojects relevant to their specific discipline and industry.”

Applied learningAuthen3c tasks like applied learning ac3vi3es not only measuretraining, but improve it. As Luanne Holder of eLearning Industrywrites, “You can design assessments to be more than anevalua3on of what has been learned. You can design them to be apart of the learning process itself.”21

Applied learning not only provides mo3va3on for trainees to usewhat they’ve learned; it can equip them with skills in socialinterac3on and collabora3on. In many cases, the materialemployees create in their applied learning projects may beimmediately useful in the performance of their actual jobs.

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Examples of applied learning projects include:

• Case studies• App development• Simula3ons• Debugging• Peer reviews• Market analyses• Solu3on scenarios

An effec3ve training program will not just provide rote learningexercises, but will provide trainees with examples and projectsthat let them apply their new skills to real-world problems thatthey would be facing in their applicable industry. In his way, notonly do trainees reinforce their learning—they actually train theorganiza3on itself.

Between the Tests:Midstream MeasurementOngoing monitoring is the best way to ensure that employeesdon’t neglect training obliga3ons or fall behind. Periodic quizzesand prac3ce projects can help.

Many training solu3ons include or integrate with a LearningManagement System, or LMS. Among other things, an LMSusually provides dashboards that allow managers and trainees tosee assigned and completed training modules, measure progresstoward goals, and exchange feedback.

Management and monitoring tools are especially important inlarge organiza3onal training programs with many disparatelearners. Tracking progress enables managers to level the trainingfield and make sure all employees complete training regardless oftheir level and learning acumen. If an employee is falling behind,managers and live assistants can step in and get him or her backon track.

Tools like LMS dashboards enable managers to gauge andreport to execu3ves on the effec3veness of the training, evenwhile it is underway. This eliminates unwelcome surprises,con3nuously mo3vates learners, and improves comple3on andcer3fica3on rates.

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How Do You Measure Intangibles?W. Edwards Deming, the world-renowned quality control guru, iso$en misquoted as saying, “You can’t manage what you can’tmeasure.” But in reality he called this a myth. In fact, he professedthat one of the seven deadly diseases of management is running acompany on visible figures alone.14

Learning for the sake of learning may have its value in improvingemployee engagement, reten3on, and sa3sfac3on. But somefactors—like produc3vity—can be hard to quan3fy, let alonedirectly a4ribute to what was learned in the training rather thanpersonal or external factors.

“The danger is that we mistake measures for the thing itself,”cau3ons John Hunter in the Curious Cat ManagementImprovement Blog. “Measures are a proxy and we need tounderstand the limita3on of the data we use. We need to think.”14

In his book, How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value ofIntangibles in Business, Douglas W. Hubbard advises, “A$erthinking through the intangible, we o$en find that our only barrierto measurement was that we didn’t understand what we wantedto measure .”16

“Some metrics cannot be easily quan3fied, such as quality orcrea3vity, but ma4er a great deal to the long term success of abusiness,” says Laura Schaefer. “Measuring these so$er impacts isa ma4er of con3nuously asking ques3ons.”9

Continuous LearningIn an interview by Rachel Silverman in the Wall Street Journal,Eduardo Salas, professor of organiza3onal psychology at theUniversity of Central Florida, says skills decay is a big problem.“The American Society for Training and Development says that bythe 3me you go back to your job, you’ve lost 90% of what you’velearned in training,” says Salas. “That’s why you need to reinforce.If you learn something and you don’t have the opportunity toprac3ce, eventually you are going to lose it.”19

Done right, training can promote a culture of con3nuous andprogressive learning that mo)vates the employee to strive forhigher training levels and cer)fica)ons. It’s cri3cal to have atraining program that provides opportuni3es for growth beyondthe learning of basic skills. Offering a clear learning path—fromfounda3on courses to more advanced and specializedlevels—offers many advantages, including:

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“One of the seven deadlydiseases of management isrunning a company on visiblefigures alone.”—W. Edwards Deming, Quality Control and

Business Guru14

• Inspiring trainees to see what is possible,within thetraining program and in their career path aspira3ons;

• Establishing a quan3ta3ve measurement of successthrough a structure of prerequisites for advancement tohigher level courses; and

• Valida3ng and reinforcing reten3on of previously learnedskills and concepts.

Ongoing monitoring is the best way to ensure that employeesdon’t neglect training obliga3ons or fall behind. Sugges3ons forprolonging the endurance of learned material include:

• Applied learning exercises. Making them a part of yourtraining program is a great first step in reinforcing the skillsand knowledge your employees learn, and armsemployees with prac3cal models to adapt for futurebusiness uses.

• Periodic Level 3 & 4 surveys. Con3nuously measuring howemployees are applying new skills to their job not onlyprovides a metric for gauging learning reten3on, it caneven improve their performance due to the Hawthorne(observer) effect.

• Reassessments. Periodically asking trainees to completepop quizzes based on material they learned in trainingmany months previously—or even asking formerpar3cipants to re-take their ini3al assessment test (such asthe OMCP prac3ce exam, for digital marketers)—can alerttrainees to rusty knowledge and inspire them to refreshtheir skills and stay current.

• Dashboards and other LMS tools. The best trainingsolu3ons include or integrate with a Learning ManagementSystem, or LMS. A good LMS includes dashboards thatallow managers and trainees to see assigned andcompleted training modules, measure progress towardgoals, and exchange feedback. By helping managersmonitor who is advancing through training and who islagging behind, companies can maximize their employeescomple3on rates and success—even prior to tes3ng.

Con3nuous learning is an ethos in our most technically challengingfields of knowledge. As astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man towalk on the Moon, said, “A$er 50 years of flying I’m s3ll learningevery 3me I fly.”

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By the time you go back toyour job, you’ve lost 90% ofwhat you learned in training.—The American Society for Training

and Development19

This is emblema3c of an industry, avia3on, that already embracesthe concept of con3nuous learning. Due to its poten3ally lethalthe complexity, ever-changing environment and ever-changingtechnologies, avia3on cherishes training, simula3on, analysis,and advancing through higher hours and cer3fica3ons. Alltraining, every license, every ra3ng, is considered not as an endgoal—but as “a license to learn.”

Training is a Measurable JourneyWhat makes learning valuable as training (instead of justbeing informa3ve) is that it builds skills to accomplish usefultasks—and that these skills can be measured withmilestones and benchmarks that demonstrate progress andsuccessful a4ainment.

No single way of method of measurement is perfect. The best wayto both measure and maximize your training ROI is to use ablended, holis)c approach that combines elements from severalor all of these techniques, including:

• Defini3on of training/business goals• Pre- and post-training assessments• Customiza3on for differing stages of learners• Ongoing tes3ng and progress monitoring• Surveys collec3ng both data and comments• Trainee interviews (success case studies)• Applied learning projects for real-world prac3ce• Periodic follow-up evalua3ons/re-assessments

Whatever method you use, your post-training measurement ofsuccess should match the goals you originally established. AsDavid S. Bushnell advised in the Training Development Journal,“The ul3mate payoff or added value of an employee’s learningexperience is how well he or she performs on the job.”8

Measuring training including pre- and post-assessments is cri3calto ge5ng training right,. As Eduardo Salas reminds us, “Whathappens before and a$er a training session is just as important asthe actual instruc3on itself.”19

To be effec3ve, training cannot be a one-3me event. It is acon3nuous process. Through such elements as cer3fica3on,applied tasks, and con3nuous learning paths, training programscan go beyond simple measures of tests and surveys, and insteadenable employees and their companies to stay current and stayahead in the ever-changing digital economy.

“The ultimate payoff or addedvalue of an employee’s learningexperience is how well he or sheperforms on the job.”—Eduardo Salas, University of Central Florida19

About SimplilearnFounded in 2009, Simplilearn began with an ini3al focus onproject management, helping a wide variety of organiza)onstrain their employees and get them cer)fied on the skills tomanage complex projects. Growing to become the leading vendorin this segment as well as a number of others (such as IT ServiceManagement, IT Security Management, Quality Managementand Cer3fica3ons in Technology and Financial Management),Simplilearn acquired digital marke3ng training leaderMarket Mo3ve and expanded our Enterprise class opera3onsin North America.

Since then, Simplilearn has built on its strength, offering morethan 400 training and cer)fica)on courses across a wide varietyof categories, with expert-built courses in Agile and Scrum,Big Data & Analy3cs, Cloud Compu3ng, Cyber Security,Digital Marke3ng, IT Service & Architecture, Mobile AppDevelopment, Project & Process Management, and Web &Applica3on Development.

Today, Simplilearn is the world’s largest professional cer)fica)oncompany and one of the leaders driving the growing enterprisetraining solu3ons sector. We create course programs, exams, andlab projects that help businesses across the world train bothcurrent employees and new hires with ease.

Our unique blended model of training brings together the best ofself-learning and online training, making for a successful learningexperience for diverse learners.

We strive to constantly improve our learning frameworks to makethem more user-friendly. Our courses are upgraded con)nuouslyto ensure our learners are up-to-date on the latest industryrequirements and best prac3ces.

We assist our learners in keeping up with rapidly advancingtechnologies—like big data, cloud compu3ng, digital marke3ng,and mobile. We enable organiza3ons to fill skills gaps throughemployee re-skilling instead of costly talent acquisi)on.

For more informa3on, contact Simplilearn today:

Simplilearn Americas, LLC201 Spear Street, Suite 1100San Francisco, CA 94105Telephone: 844-532-7688Email: teamtraining@simplilearn.comVisit: www.simplilearn.com

Simplilearn deliverssolutions that allowcompanies to optimize theimpact that training andeducation has on overallcompany performance bydriving revenue growth,and enabling a moreproductive employee.

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Endnotes1. Bersin, Josh, “Spending on Corporate Training Soars: Employee Capabili3es

Now A Priority,” Forbes, February 4, 2014.2. Mears, David, “Measuring Training Effec3veness: Is Your Scrap Learning

Rate Too High?,” Mandel.com, April 30, 2015.3. Ma4ox, John, II, Ph.D., “Scrap Learning and Manager Engagement,” Chief

Learning Officer, March 29, 2011.4. Allan, Leslie AIMM MAITD, “Evalua3ng Training Effec3veness,”

BusinessPerformance.com, 20165. Ma4ox, John, II, Ph.D., “Are You Using the Best Metrics to Evaluate Your

Skills Training?” Training industry Magazine, Page 37-39, Spring 2015.6. Phillips, Ken, “How Much Is Scrap Learning Cos3ng Your Organiza3on?”

Associa3on for Talent Development, August 10, 2016.7. Bhuyan, Samudra Neelam, “How to Measure the Impact of Your Training

Program,” Mind3ckle.com.8. Bushnell, David S., “Input, Process, Output: a Model for Evalua3ng

Training,” Training & Development Journal, March 1990, Vol. 44 Issue 3,p41

9. Schaefer, Laura, “Measuring The Effec3veness Of Employee Training,”SkilledUp.com, May 25, 2015.

10. Brinkerhoff, R. O., Telling Training’s Story. San Francisco, CA:Berre4-Koehler, 2006.

11. Birke4, Alex, “Survey Design 101: Choosing Survey Response Scales,”ConversionXL.com, 2016.

12. Polchin, Rose, “Measuring the Effec3veness of Your Training Program,”Learning-and-Development, July 02, 2014.

13. McCarney R, Warner J, Iliffe S, van Haselen R, et. al., “The HawthorneEffect: a randomised, controlled trial”, BMC Medical ResearchMethodology, 2007; 7: 30.

14. Hunter, John, “How to Manage What You Can’t Measure,” The CuriousCat—Management Improvement Blog, August 4, 2010.

15. Rehmat, Waseem, Iiris Aal3o, Mujtaba Agha, and Haroon Ra?q Khan, “IsTraining Effec3ve? Evalua3ng Training Effec3veness in Call Centers,”Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organiza3on Studies, Vol. 20, No.1, 2015.

16. Hubbard, Douglas W., How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value ofIntangibles in Business, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, 2010.

17. Dayal, Ishwar, “Measuring Training Effec3veness,” Indian Journal ofIndustrial Rela3ons, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jan., 2001), pp. 339-344.

18. “The 70:20:10 Model for Learning and Development,”TrainingIndustry.com, 2016.

19. Silverman, Rachel Emma, “So Much Training, So Li4le to Show for It,” TheWall Street Journal, Oct. 26, 2012.

20. “Measurement and Evalua3on of Training,” TheTraningWorld.com,4-Oct-2016.

21. Holder, Luanne, “How To Design Assessments That Promote The LearningProcess,” eLearningIndustry.com, November 11, 2012.

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