This research will educate you about training measurement and give you practical and proven solutions you can use to implement a scalable measurement process in your organization.

Research Background:

This comprehensive and practical report is based on 3 years of research into best-practices and proven solutions to the challenge of training measurement.  It describes proven solutions for the implementation of an easy-to-follow, scalable, and actionable program to measure corporate training programs.  As basis for this research, Bersin & Associates conducted two broad industry surveys reaching more than 300 organizations (one in 2005 and one in 2006), interviewed more than 50 training directors and CLOs, and reviewed products and services from more than 30 different solution providers. 

Target Audience:

This report is designed to be highly actionable for organizations which are new to training measurement, organizations that already have some measurement process in place, as well as organizations which have extensive experience and systems yet want to advance and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their current techniques.  It is an invaluable resource for CLOs, Directors, and HR executives who want to understand the state of training measurement, the benefits to implementing an integrated program, and a proven roadmap for implementing a scalable measurement solution.

This comprehensive study includes:

I.  A detailed discussion of the State of Training measurement Today:

• What do organizations measure today?  What are the underlying business processes in L&D which make measurement easier and more effective?
• Why is training measurement so difficult?  What is holding back a broader adoption of repeatable measurement programs?
• Where does the Kirkpatrick model fit and why is it becoming obsolete?  This research explains the limitations of the Kirkpatrick four-level measurement model and why it holds organizations back from implementing a complete measurement solution.

II.  General Principles and Findings:

• The concept of actionable information and how training measurement can deliver pragmatic information for business improvement
• How and why training measurement should not be used to cost-justify the training investment
• The role of ROI and why its use is and should be very limited
• How to make measurement a process, not a project 
• A roadmap to the implementation of a scalable, low-cost, repeatable program.

III.  The Bersin & Associates Learning Impact Measurement Framework®:

• Through our research we identified and developed a complete model for training measurement, the Learning Impact Measurement Framework.  This model decomposes the true underlying causes for business impact from training, and describes how to measure each of these steps to deliver actionable information.
  
  
• A step-by-step approach to implementing a measurement program, using this model, including a discussion of how to implement the nine training measures which monitor, track, and evaluate training:
  
  
  1. Satisfaction
  2. Learning
  3. Adoption
  4. Utility
  5. Efficiency
  6. Alignment (Business and Manager alignment)
  7. Individual Performance
  8. Organizational Performance
  9. Attainment of Customer Objectives.
     
     
• A detailed comparison of the Bersin model against Kirkpatrick and other measurement approaches.

IV.  The Training Measurement Process:

• An in-depth, step by step description of the proven seven-step measurement process which best-practice organizations use.
• Specific business processes in the training organization which facilitate and enable integrated measurement.
• Best practices in the implementation of these processes, including tips on how to develop indicators, how to implement evaluations, and how to ask the right questions to get actionable information for improvement.

V.  How to Measure Business Impact:

• A detailed discussion of the challenges and solutions to measuring true business impact, including a discussion of the role of ROI and other business-centric techniques
• How to correlate training with specific line-of-business metrics
• How to correlate and integrate training with performance management.

VI.  How to Measure Business Alignment:

• One of the most neglected measures in corporate training is the measurement of business alignment.  This section includes a detailed discussion of how to measure alignment with business strategies, initiatives, and line manager programs.
• Examples of how Caterpillar, CNA, and other organizations' integrate training with their business planning and measure alignment on an ongoing basis.

VII.  How to measure Customer Satisfaction and Six-Sigma techniques:

• A key to successful measurement is the measurement of your customer's satisfaction.  This section describes examples and best-practices in the development of processes to focus on and measure client satisfaction.
• A discussion of the role of Six-Sigma, a proven approach to measuring any business process, in the application of training measurement.

VIII.  Measurement Tools and Technologies:

• A review of key tools and technologies which make training measurement easy and affordable.
• A discussion of the role of the LMS and how to best leverage your LMS investment in training measurement.

In-Depth Case Studies:

This report includes two detailed case studies of best practices in the implementation of complete and affordable measurement programs:  HP and Randstad.  These two organizations embody many of the best-practices in this report and their measurement solutions are explained in detail, including sample evaluations, reports, and business processes.

Detailed Measurement Examples:

The report includes examples of specific training measures which have been implemented by the companies interviewed for this research.  Readers can easily understand and select from these measures in the implementation of their measurement solution.

Training Analytics Specification:

One of the biggest trends in training measurement is the implementation of a system to analyze training data in detail.  This report inclues an in-depth specification for training analytics - designed to help training managers understand, specify, and either buy or build such a solution