Five Ways to Insure Training's Impact on Business Success
CFO's want to know, “ What benefits does your organization get in return for the expenses it incurs for training?” In order to answer that question you must:
Work backwards. Decide on the business result your organization wants. Set up the evaluation to measure the results. Design the training to get the measurable results. Evaluate to prove you got the desired results.
Partner with other managers in the organization to understand how they define “significant business results.” Business results have to do with helping people overcome the problems they actually face on the job. Find out what the problems are and go back to step number 1.
Realize that bottom-line numbers are not the only legitimate indicators of business success. Look for what Dean R. Spitzer, PH.D. defines as “intermediate indicators of organizational effectiveness.” Talk about manufacturing defects, missed customer opportunities, lost-time and accidents due to stress. The list goes on and on.
Be a detective for a “civil case”. You don't have to prove that training was the sole entity responsible for business success, just identify anecdotal and evaluative evidence that demonstrates “beyond a reasonable doubt” that it contributed to the successful results.
Understand the large organizational puzzle. Your organization has hundreds of pieces that make it successful. You must demonstrate how your training piece insures the successful outcomes. Use logical inference to connect the pieces.
If you can understand the entire picture of success, have partnering conversations with managers, know the problems employees face, then you can initiate training by . . . you guessed it . . . going back to step number 1 and working backward.
For solutions that work, contact Donna Steffey at Vital Signs today!