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5 evaluation methods to measure staff training results

5 evaluation methods to evaluate staff training results

When commissioning training for your healthcare staff, consider the following 5 evaluation methods before investing in any training programs:

1. Satisfaction and participant reaction

The most basic evaluation of training measures satisfaction. Usually, the trainer will hand out a survey at the end of the course to see how the participants reacted to the training. We send out an electronic survey to measure satisfaction rates with our training courses. What specific levels of satisfaction and reaction to the training are you looking for? It could be:

In most cases, training evaluation begins and ends here. However, there are 4 other important ways to evaluate any training program.

2. Knowledge acquisition

The second level of evaluation is knowledge acquisition. In our experience, many work-related training courses do not have an examination attached. A valid and reliable examination following training can help determine if the content was learned or not. It can flag participants that did not acquire the learning and further support those who did (potentially making them mentors). Also, it can flag trends of areas that may require further training or additional coaching. What specific knowledge and skill(s) do you want the participants to develop? As an example, our Increase telephone conversion rates course examination, also completed by participants online, asks questions like:

We find that participants take training more seriously when they know they will be requested to demonstrate what they learned after the training. So, we send participants the exam within a week of training, grade their responses, and share these with their line managers. This can help ensure that any gaps in knowledge can be quickly sown up so that participants don’t pick up new, poor habits.

3. Behavioural application

The third level of evaluation answers the question – are they applying what they learned. What behaviours are you seeking to change as the knowledge and skills are applied on the job following training? For our custom training programs, we evaluate behaviour (level 3), in addition to reaction (level 1) and knowledge acquisition (level 2).

For example, for our Custom Increase telephone conversion rates course, we conduct at least 10 mystery calls before that training, record them and grade them according to the learning objectives of our course. After training, we conduct a further 10 mystery calls and compare their results with the results from the pre-training and present this report to management.

This, more than anything else, can demonstrate the degree to which participants apply their new knowledge in the real world. This can provide clear evidence of who is applying the training and who is not, and can lead management to correct misapplication, and reward close application after training.

4. Measurable business improvement

At the end of the day, business training is about generating a business improvement. What specific business measures or KPIs (key performance indicators) do you want to change or improve as a result of the training? Our Increase telephone conversion rates course, for example, has the following business improvement aims:

5. Return on investment (ROI)

The last level of evaluation training relates to return on investment. What specific return on investment are you after as a result of the training? To evaluate your return on investment on healthcare telephone training for example, we suggest you

See this example of a telephone training return on investment calculation. By using these methods, we’ve been able to help large healthcare organisations, like Optimax Eye Clinics, generate a significant return on investment from their telephone training.

Why you need to consider all 5 training evaluation methods

Usually, return on investment follows a business impact, a business impact follows application, application follows learning, and learning follows satisfaction with training. Choose a training company that understands how to evaluate training properly, and you can be confident that they monitor their client’s results, and improve their training protocols as a consequence.