What do you do if your Training and Development (HR) program is lacking efficiency?

It's absolutely true that you need to assess the needs first. All L&D programs should be needs based. But how we identify the needs is another question. Of course, you can go to first-line resource of asking employees and managers, another way is to see the business results, financials, audit reports, staff surveys, JDs. In my experience, L&D will always bring positive results if the programs are tailored to actual needs and everything else stays constant in the company.

What would you do if your training and development programme is lacking efficiency? Analyse the feedback and results of your training and development programme. Identify the gaps( Did the trainee understand the concepts well and applied the learning successfully/Did you deliver the training clearly/Were there right resources for training). Analyse the feedback. Create development plan focusing on Knowledge of the subject and the training delivery style. Undertake the required training to enhance your knowledge and skills in training and development. Apply the learning at work. Seek feedback and improve your skills as required.

Antes de qualquer implantação de programa de T&D, cabe às equipes de DHO/RH reforçar internamente a cultura de aprendizado contínuo, começando pela alta gestão e levando este comprometimento às suas equipes, observando que a empresa sim atuará como canal facilitador, mas cabe também ao colaborador esta busca de enriquecimento. Vencida esta etapa de sensibilização, trabalhar no levantamento de necessidades - técnicas e comportamentais, assim como nos canais de oferta destes cursos - cursos presenciais, online, híbridos - por exemplo. O acompanhamento de toda esta jornada, avaliando o efetivo retorno do tempo investido pelo colaborador vs a real aplicação na empresa, traduz se o programa foi efetivo ou não.

The sooner you understand that your L&D programs don't work, the better. Thus, it is crucial that you have ongoing monitoring. The best tool you can use to evaluate the efficiency of L&D programs is probably Kirkpatrick model. Important thing to notice is that training effectiveness cannot be evaluated by only training and HR teams. The managers of the departments whose employees are trained should be involved in the evaluation process.

L&D staff should always get feedback from multiple sources: participants, their supervisors, trainers, external customers, etc. The feedback always helps to improve the programs. It is important to collect feedback and share the necessary information with relevant bodies, for example trainers, course developers, management, participants. So L&D team collects and shares back the feedback.

You will always know if your program needs improvement when you seek feedback from attendees. So prepare an evaluation feedback form and let the attendees evaluate your program post-training. Once reviewing the evaluation you will know your areas of improvement and makes the specific updates.

When evaluating a training and development program that lacks efficiency, it's crucial to look beyond the obvious and consider factors such as alignment with business objectives, learner engagement, technology and delivery methods, post-training support, organizational culture, stakeholder involvement, continuous improvement, transfer of learning, ROI and business impact, and future skills and competencies. By taking a holistic approach and examining these elements, you can gain valuable insights into areas that need improvement and make informed decisions to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your HR initiatives, ultimately contributing to the organization's success.

Incorporate "Root cause analysis" into your post training course evaluation and assessment. Define the issue to analyze - break down the details - determine causes - identify root cause. Of course this is only a simple outline. But determining the root cause, while identifying SWOT can enhance any future delivery of training courses and avoid any deficiencies or mistakes made previously.