Evaluating Training’s Effectiveness

I saw a book on Amazon and plan to order it today. The title is “Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation”. On the cover it says “Based on the Groundbreaking Work of Donald L. Kirkpatrick. The authors are James and Wendy Kirkpatrick. I am interested in this book because Kirkpatrick’s approach to evaluating training has had a profound impact on my understanding of training and ultimately my career. For that I am truly grateful, and I would like to see what new insights the authors provide. Never stop learning, right?

To summarize Kirkpatrick’s approach, we ask four questions.

Level 1. Did they like the training?

Level 2. Did they learn the training?

Level 3. Did they use the training?

Level 4. Was the training worth it?

Briefly, here is an explanation of each level.

Level 1 represents the typical training evaluation that is offered at the end of a class. Questions like “Were the objectives clearly stated? Or “What did you like most (or least) about the training? And so forth, even down to how comfortable the training facility was.

Level 2 is an attempt to find out what knowledge and skills were learned. There is an art to developing a test that truly measures what was learned, as opposed to testing one’s ability to take a test. These tests can be either written or practical, but it is all about gauging to what degree the objectives were achieved.

Level 3 is a post-class evaluation looking at whether or not there was a transfer of training from the classroom to the workplace. Are the participants using what they were supposed to have learned?

Level 4 looks at the training experience from a business perspective. Was the training a waste of time and money? Could we achieve better results?

Let’s use PPE training as an example. After determining we need to put our employees through a PPE training program, because of our observations in the workplace, we work on developing (or purchasing) the training program. We want to make sure that we are achieving our objectives, and we increase PPE usage to the degree we require.

So, once we begin the deliver the training, we can immediately begin evaluations by asking the participants what they thought about the training (Level 1). We can also test their knowledge and skill when it comes to PPE (Level 2). By observation, we can evaluate the training effectiveness in terms of usage after the training compared to usage before the training (Level 3). The big question would be, based on the expense of the program, did we achieve the gains that we aspired to achieve? (Level 4)

Unfortunately, calculating the cost/benefit of the training is often left undone. The results of our evaluation could lead us to make changes with respect to the training provider or training location or training materials, etc. We want to get the most for our training investment.

This has been a very quick summary of the topic, and I can’t wait to see what is in the book. Who knows, I might go back and rewrite this very article! Either way, I’ll be writing something, even if it’s just reporting on what I found in the book.

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For information and insights into the topic of excavation safety I refer you to my book at www.trenchandexcavationsafety.com