Why you should consider evaluating your employee training results

Once you’ve selected an appropriate employee training course for your organization, and had your employees take the course, the next important aspect that needs to be dealt with is evaluating its effectiveness. In the past, such evaluations were pretty crude, with often the best effort to evaluate the training being feedback sheets from employees being returned at the end of the course, giving assessments on such issues as the venue, the trainer, the facilities, how useful the training course has been for their job, and whether it has satisfactorily met its initial objectives. Engage your staff by listening to them.

What to look for in evaluating success

While such feedback is valuable, and can give some useful indication of what has occurred during the course, it is also a bit limited in terms of really getting to the bottom of how effective the training has been. There are all sorts of obvious problems with employee feedback. For example, one is provided with the problem of completely conflicting reports; whose version of events and the course should be considered accurate? Another problem is that employees might allow their perception that they will be judged on their answers to affect the way that they fill in such feedback forms.

To summarize, the problem with employee training feedback, particularly when it is all provided in one sitting at the end of the course, is that the employees themselves may be unreliable. And there is little evidence that employees who give positive feedback during a course actually reflect the course content in their behavior when they return to work. Psychological studies have demonstrated this beyond all doubt.

Thus, in order to assess whether skills learned during training are going to be transferable to the ‘real world’ and to properly and appropriately appraise the efficacy of the course, a more sophisticated form of ongoing feedback is considerably more effective. This is where the modern revolution in training, instigated by computer-based training courses, has made a massive difference.

Some suggested solutions for evaluating employee training

Online training packages such as eLeaP enable feedback and evaluation to be acquired from staff throughout a course’s duration. Regular feedback and evaluation can be provided and user-defined points which are built into the course. By engaging in feedback this way, it has been demonstrated in controlled tests that employees not only provide more honest and valuable answers, but that the course can even be tailored to meet any perceived deficiencies as it is being delivered.

This is really a vast improvement over simply taking a feedback sheet at the end of the course, and can make a massive difference to any organization. Online training courses flexible and holistic approach to employee training feedback and course evaluation can not only give an organization a better idea of how well a course is progressing, it can ultimately contribute to an organization’s increased efficiency, and ultimately bottom line profit.

According to a recent survey, training and development is a major concern in companies across the country. Employees cite problems ranging from not having training at all, to goals and expectations differing between managers and employees. The survey also reveals that employees feel they do not receive the performance feedback and recognition they need and deserve. Fortunately, effective training and development programs using a learning management system like eLeaP can eliminate the skills gap employees possess, while addressing each of the concerns mentioned in the survey.

Creates Just-in-Time Training

In many circumstances, implementation of training and development programs isn’t until it is absolutely necessary. Other training comes into play only when training sessions are available locally or at a certain price point. Access to social media, on-demand training, mobile devices and the cloud changes the training and development landscape.

Now, employees are able to obtain the information, training and practice they need when and where they need it. Delayed gratification is no longer a concern in the training and development realm.

Prepares Internal Employees for Higher Roles

It costs a company less money to keep an employee than it does to find and hire a new employee. It can also be efficient and cost-effective to promote from within, but only 32% of survey responders claim receiving training and development in the last six months. This again is where training and development comes to the rescue.

You can teach internal employees the skills they need to hold middle and upper management positions. Training and developing employees for promotions helps to retain employees. It also works to boost company morale and tends to create a higher bottom line for the business.

Turns Employees into Team Members

Companies are only successful when managers and employees have goals that align with one another. The survey reveals that only 25% of the respondents say employee goals and management goals are the same. Training and development resolves the gap that can exist between management and employees. Proper training opens the line of communication between employees and managers.

Essentially, training turns employees into team members. Training and development creates coaches out of managers. When managers and employees have the same goals, the individual employees succeed and the company succeeds.

While the survey reveals some of the primary concerns regarding training and development, proper training resolves the issues. With the right training and development programs, employees and managers obtain the training they need to set goals and expectations that align. Additionally, training and development programs eliminate the skills gap employees possess, preparing them to move up the company ladder. In the end, development and training creates a better working environment for employees, managers and the company as a whole.

Contact eLeaP at www.eleapsoftware.com to discuss any of these suggestions or even custom requirements you might have. We try to be as flexible as possible. Call us 1-877-624-7226 or email help@eleapsoftware.com

We have been hard at work. I am excited to introduce some of the new features in the system.

1. We have increased the number of languages in eLeaP so that you can have the choice of your preferred language: Spanish, French, Chinese, Portuguese, and German.
2. We added an option for your users to ‘hide completed’ courses so they can focus on pertinent, up coming training deadlines.
3. For users, a quick and easy way to download their training completion records right from their home page. Now all they have to do is to click on “Download Completion Report”.
4. For Admins, you can easily file employee records by downloading comprehensive individual user records in Excel. Save time and make sure your compliance records are up to date

Other new features:

How to set Non-Completion alerts:

This enables account Admins to set an automatic email notification to email addresses they specify which will indicate which of their users have not completed their assigned course(s) as of the deadline date

This feature is critical if you have any audits or compliance requirements for users to complete their courses and trainings by a specific date. The system sets and monitors the deadline and an email summary is sent to emails the admin sets. This is a great time savor and increases your training and legal compliance needs. Learn more >>

How to set Quiz Retry options:

We have upgraded the eLeaP quiz tool to now include a new feature which prevents users from checking their answers in between retries. For example, you have a multiple choice quiz question which has 2 retry opportunities. Previously, users could simply submit their attempts, make note of the right or wrong quiz answer, and try to use that information to ‘guess’ the right answer in their next attempt. While we don’t believe this behavior is widespread, we at eLeaP are continually working to make sure the integrity of our online training system is maintained and the authenticity of quiz results is enhanced. This upgrade now ensures that users who submit quiz answers during retries are not able to decipher that quiz scoring is till their final submission. Learn more >How to set Feedback as Required:

This feature enables you to set the feedback form as a required component before eLeaP can release a certificate of completion to a user. The feedback form is a survey tool built into your course. To enable feedback, make sure your course details (click ‘edit course details’) indicate Active Feedback as YES

Next, click on [Feedback] within your course and add your feedback forms. Once satisfied with the feedback form questions, click [Advanced Settings] and make sure ‘Require Feedback’ is set to ‘YES’. Once set, eLeaP will then monitor the course completion data to ensure that your users have provided you with feedback by completing the feedback form prior to allowing them download their certificate of completion. If users attempt to download a certificate without providing feedback, eLeaP will remind them to complete the feedback form. Learn more >>

Upgraded Advanced Settings:

We have upgraded the course settings and Advanced settings tabs.

When applied on an enterprise level, the unique display idea represented more than a million dollars in additional revenue of the SHUR-LINE Teflon 9″ Metal Tray.  With that single serendipitous public share – employee-to-employee – at the kind of scale that Lowe’s enabled with its full workforce deployment, ideas like this can easily pay in full for the technology platforms that enabled it.  And this is just a single example.

Use your eLeaP LMS Forums or White Board features to generate discussions – you never know when the next million dollar idea is lurking!

Training, as a management practice, is often viewed in polarized terms by decision-makers in organizations. On the one hand, it is seen as a panacea for all problems; on the other, it is viewed merely as a cost for the organization in terms of time and money. Certainly, training is a critical consideration that should be evaluated carefully to ensure it achieves its intended purpose. Ignoring training requirements leaves companies and organizations vulnerable to inefficiency, liability and possibly fatal consequences.

Recent Trends:

Five recent developments in employment law including compliance legislation, litigation, personal liability and high cost of training have conspired to make an already difficult situation get even more and less certain. In our 10 + years of serving the workforce development and e-learning technology needs of our clients, we have never seen a more complex, confusing and frankly scary landscape as we are seeing right now – when it comes to corporate compliance documentation.

Some of the most recent dangerous trends facing organizations and professionals like you include:

1. Overwhelming growth in Employment laws
2. Increasing Personal Liability of Professionals like you
3. Increasing Governmental/Legal Fines and Penalties
4. High Costs of Poor Training
5. Declining Competitive Advantage