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Are you confident that your training program leads to results? According to Ron Drew Stone, of the ROI Institute, Inc., the best way to influence results and a return on investment (ROI) is to "stop a runaway train before it leaves the station". What does this mean? It means that it's critical to identify the business need and design and develop the solution to address that need.
Drew told an audience at this month's American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) 2006 International Conference & Exposition in Dallas that there are five phases necessary to align training to results:
Phase 1: Discovery
Phase 2: Design
Phase 3: Develop
Phase 4: Implement
Phase 5: Execution and Results
Measurement is necessary at each phase to ensure results.
ROI for a training program is calculated by dividing net program benefits by program costs. To do this, benefits must be normalized to a monetary value (such as increased sales, increased output, etc.). ROI is always expressed as a percentage. An example would be if the monetary benefits were $100,000 and the program costs were $50,000 then the formula would be ($100,000-$50,000)/$50,000 = 1 x 100 = 100%. This would be a very successful program with a 100% ROI! The program costs must be covered in order to have an ROI.
There is opportunity for ROI, Drew contends...
WHEN a business need is identified,
AND a performance gap exists or a new requirement is introduced,
AND a focused solution is implemented at the right time for the right people at a reasonable cost,
AND the solution is applied and supported in the work setting,
AND linkage exists to one or more business measures.
The linkage to business measures is critical to the success of a results oriented training program.
An important component of assessing the business need is a gap analysis on why people don't perform. Reasons could include:
- Vague/unknown expectations
- Inadequate/unsuitable feedback
- Inadequate tools
- Inadequate/unsuitable consequences
- Improper task/process design
- Improper job match.
To develop an effective and results driven training program, the reasons that training doesn't "stick" must be addressed. Drew noted the top ten reasons that learning transfer doesn't occur:
- A person who's been trained can choose not to perform as instructed
- Lack of confidence by the trainee - training should leave the employee confident!
- Performers do not believe in the solution - it's important to get their buy in!
- Trainee belief in "my way is better than yours" - again, important to get trainee buy in.
- Trainee is rewarded for old/wrong behavior
- No one helps employee when attempting to perform differently
- No one is watching employee to reinforce training results
- Previous work habits are hard to break - learning results must be reinforced.
- Competing priorities - there are always competing priorities that can pull the trainee away from their plan to perform according to the training program
- Intervening variables - the working landscape changes continually and can affect the employee's ability to perform as instructed.
In short, results-oriented training is possible. Be sure you evaluate the business need and match the training to that business need by thorough process of discovery, design, development, implementation and execution for results. And always remember that training is not an event, it's a process.