Is your training program eligible for impact measurement?
Contrary to popular belief, we should NOT be measuring the business impact of all learning initiatives!
Kevin M. Yates, who joined me in this week’s Industry Leader Chat, reminds us, "Not all training programs are equal.” It's best to prioritize impact measurement for initiatives most likely to produce meaningful results. What are these initiatives you ask? Initiatives that are designed to create change in actions, behaviors, habits, knowledge, performance, or skills. Everything else (your compliance and mandatory training programs) aren’t eligible for an impact investigation.
The Society of Human Resource Management 2022 Workplace Learning Report found that on average 70% of training initiatives within L&D departments are compliance, mandatory, or regulatory programs. This means their primary goal is not to develop employee skills, habits, or performance. If your L&D department aligns with the average learning team, this means that 70% of your programs are not eligible for impact measurement.
Don’t waste your time trying to measure the impact of programs that aren’t designed to influence change!
This might explain why most L&D teams (23% according to the 2023 ATD Measuring Impact Report) are only tracking the outcomes of learning for every program). For most of us, every program isn’t designed to influence a performance or business outcome!
While all training is valuable, measuring impact is most appropriate for training designed to influence behavior change and performance, rather than just disseminating information for compliance purposes.
Kevin says, “We don't want to discount the value and importance of regulatory and compliance training. We just want to be clear about where it makes the most sense for us to try to measure impact."
Here’s your playbook for determining if your program is eligible for impact measurement … It’s essential this playbook is used BEFORE we design our programs, not after!
Your Impact Measurement Eligibility Playbook
Before designing a program, determine if it’s eligible for an impact investigation.
Answer this question: What do we hope will be different after participants complete our program? If the answer reveals some change related to human performance, your program is eligible for impact measurement. If the answer is simply, we need people to have access to information. You’re off the hook for impact measurement.
If you’re still uncertain, consult Kevin’s 6 P’s Criteria:
Priority: Is the learning initiative on the c-suite’s radar?
Position: Is the learning initiative intended to influence employee performance?
Purpose: Are there clear performance outcomes associated with the learning initiative?
Pinpoints: Are there clear metrics that can be used to evaluate the outcomes of the initiative?
Power: Is there additional support available to contribute to the performance goals aside from training?
Payoff: Is there a large investment of time or cash associated with the learning initiative?
Answering yes to all or most of these questions is a clear indicator your program is eligible for impact measurement!
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