Evaluation Research
Purpose
Evaluation research is implemented to assess the impact or effectiveness of training and other organizational interventions. It can be used to:
Link training to outcome measures such as sales, market share, profit, or customer satisfaction.
Identify what cha nges are required to enhance effectiveness.
Position training as an investment by linking it to bottom-line results.
Process
Quantify behavioral change through primary research (360-degree surveys, behavioral observations, etc.).
Collect appropriate productivity data.
Utilize advanced statistics to establish significant relationship between behavioral measures and productivity.
Benefits
Identify the Return On Investment of the training or other interventions for an organization.
Isolate the factors that have the most significant impact on business results.
Identify any competencies taught in training that do not have statistically significant impact on business results thereby streamlining focus and investment.
Improve future initiatives and reinforce the quantitative benefit of current training and other organizational initiatives.
Case Study
When a major technology company was interested in its return on investment in sales training, a Level IV evaluation study was conducted. The study isolated the specific skills training that had significant impact on business results.
Findings revealed that greater industry knowledge and superior interpersonal skills resulted in an average monthly increase of $23,276 in sales and $6,000 in margin per sales representative.
Result
Training was redesigned to focus on the skills most critical to market performance.
