Debbie T. Williamson 
Evaluating training and therefore proving business value has long been a challenge for those of us in training and development and workforce development roles. What is the return on investment? How do we define business value? And as we look at a score of 4.75 in the survey, we wonder how we could honestly answer these questions. The process of measuring financial benefits is essential for learning leaders within an organization, but often seems impossible.
Since its inception in 1959, Kirkpatrick’s model has formed the basis of assessment at four levels: learner reaction to experience, increase in learning and knowledge, behavior change, and business results. Although level four, assessing business outcomes, is the most desired outcome of training, it is typically the most difficult to achieve and often overlooked.
To justify keeping your project at the top of an organization’s priority list, setting behavior change goals and demonstrating business value are the best weapons, but it’s not easy.
Some have tried to adapt Kirkpatrick’s model to the modern world, but why fix what isn’t broken? The model is not the problem; we are. We start too late to think about evaluating the results of the company.
How many times have we walked through a project (especially with a high-priced vendor!) and then said, “Now is the time to determine the business value. I need to interview about two dozen of the target audience. Hindsight is never really 20/20.
We get stuck because we doubt our own abilities to measure, saying things like, “You can’t measure the business results of soft skills” or “Compliance training isn’t about the business.” These types of beliefs set us up for failure.
Take the challenge and make the Kirkpatrick model work for you. As learning partners, we need to flip the script. To start with business value and behavior change, and define those metrics before develop the training intervention. Establishing metrics early initiates valuable conversations with stakeholders and also forms a common thread throughout training development and all project-related activities that influence the outcome.
Kirkpatrick was on to something when he established these four levels, forming the basis of assessment for the next century. It forces us to think about the Why of the project and focus on the desired behavior change and business value.
About 10 years ago, I started thinking about Kirkpatrick’s model by asking questions: what do you want the learner to do (say, show, know or find) differently than they do now? Without realizing it, I was getting into the behavior change stage of the assessment model. These questions have evolved to look at how the customer currently measures success and how a change in behavior might influence that business value.
Look at the business value in terms of time and money. The Net Promoter Score (NPS), for example, reflects the willingness of customers to recommend the company. Knowing your customer’s NPS before you start helps you set the context and estimate the potential impact. You might be wondering how long it takes for a new recruit to learn skills. Using full-time equivalents (FTEs), you can estimate this shorter duration of mastery as a measure of business value.
This approach provides opportunities for much-needed conversations and also strengthens your program as a whole. Reverse the script on the Kirkpatrick model starting with focusing on behavior change and business results. Change the way you think about measuring business value before you start and you will be surprised. Then all you have to do is stick the landing.
For a deeper dive, join Carol for the Conference and EXPO ATD 2022 session, The Promise of Performance Transformation: Creating a Performance-Based Learning Success Plan.
