Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Organisations spend heavily on training yet most can report only attendance and satisfaction scores. When budgets tighten, learning functions struggle to show whether programmes changed behaviour at work or moved any business result, and weak programmes keep running unchanged. This Core Concept course equips learning and development managers to plan and run evaluations with recognised models, from defining business outcomes to isolating the effect of training and calculating return on investment. Participants work on case material from several sectors and leave with a Training Impact Evaluation Plan for a programme in their own organisation.
Course Objectives
- Define the business outcomes a programme must influence and build the chain from learning to results before design begins
- Select evaluation levels and methods, including Kirkpatrick, Phillips ROI, LTEM and the Success Case Method, to suit a programme's purpose and budget
- Design data collection instruments and plans that capture reaction, learning, on-the-job application and business impact
- Isolate the effect of training from other factors and convert impact data into monetary value and ROI
- Diagnose barriers to learning transfer and turn evaluation findings into programme improvements
- Produce a Training Impact Evaluation Plan that a sponsor can approve and fund
Target Audience
- Learning and development managers responsible for programme portfolios and budgets
- Training evaluation and learning analytics leads measuring programme effectiveness
- HR business partners accountable for capability-building investments
- Corporate academy and training centre managers reporting to senior leadership
- Instructional design managers responsible for programme quality and redesign
Course Outline
Day 1: Foundations of Training Impact Measurement
- Learning-to-Results Value Chain and Evaluation Drivers
- ISO 10015:2019 Competence Management and People Development Cycle
- Current-State Audit Using an L&D Measurement Maturity Checklist
- Business Outcome Definition with the 6Ds Define Discipline
- Stakeholder Expectation Mapping for Sponsors, Line Managers and Learners
Day 2: Evaluation Models and Standards
- Kirkpatrick Four Levels and the New World Kirkpatrick Model
- Phillips ROI Methodology: Five Levels and Twelve Guiding Principles
- Thalheimer's Learning-Transfer Evaluation Model (LTEM) Eight Tiers
- Brinkerhoff Success Case Method
- ISO/TS 30437 Learning and Development Metrics: Efficiency, Effectiveness and Outcome
Day 3: Designing and Running the Evaluation
- Evaluation Planning Worksheet and Data Collection Plan
- Reaction Questionnaire and Knowledge Assessment Design
- Application Measurement with 30-60-90 Day Follow-Up Surveys and Manager Observation Checklists
- Business Impact Data Sourcing from Operational KPIs and HR Systems
- Isolation Techniques: Control Groups, Trend-Line Analysis and Adjusted Participant Estimates
Day 4: ROI Analysis, Transfer Barriers and Continuous Improvement
- Converting Impact Data to Monetary Value and Fully Loaded Cost Calculation
- ROI and Benefit-Cost Ratio Calculation with Sensitivity Testing
- Transfer Barrier Diagnosis with the Learning Transfer System Inventory
- Evaluation Data Quality Checklist: Bias, Attribution and Response Rate Risks
- Programme Improvement Using the PDCA Cycle and Lessons-Learned Logs
Day 5: Case Work and the Training Impact Evaluation Plan
- Sales Capability Programme Case Study: Tracing Results to Business Impact
- Patient Safety Training Case Study: Success Case Interviews and Findings
- L&D Scorecard Build Using TDRp Efficiency, Effectiveness and Outcome Measures
- Training Impact Evaluation Plan Drafting
- Impact Findings Presentation and Peer Review Panel
Skills You Will Gain
- Learning Needs and Outcome Alignment
- Evaluation Design
- Survey and Assessment Instrument Design
- Training ROI Analysis
- Learning Transfer Diagnosis
- Learning Analytics Reporting
- Evidence-Based Programme Improvement
Why Attend This Course
- Return to work with a Training Impact Evaluation Plan for a live programme, already tested against peer challenge
- Answer a sponsor's question about what a programme delivered with evidence rather than attendance figures
- Decide which programmes to expand, redesign or stop, based on application and impact data
- Compare evaluation practice with learning professionals from other sectors and countries
Conclusion
Training earns continued investment only when its contribution to performance can be shown and improved. This course moves from defining the business outcomes a programme serves, through the principal evaluation models and instruments, to isolating the effect of training, calculating ROI and removing the barriers that stop learning reaching the job. The final day turns that material into a Training Impact Evaluation Plan that participants take back to their sponsor, giving them a structured and defensible approach to evaluating their next programme.