Training evaluation: which KPIs to choose?

Whether you are in charge of training or responsible for human resources, monitoring your employees' training plan is one of your main tasks.

The stakes are high : successfully assess the performance of training and model the return on investment for each of them!

In other words, it's about proving to your management that your training plans create value for employees and profits for the company. We still need to know how to measure this progress.

So what are the good relevant performance indicators to integrate into your dashboard?

Performance indicators for “traditional” training

The best way to assess the effectiveness of training is to follow in a dashboard the key indicators that correspond to your objectives.

Here are the three main categories of indicators you can use:

1.Descriptive indicators

Descriptive indicators, or so-called “management” indicators, make it possible to assess the progress of the established training plan.

Among these indicators are:

• the percentage of the payroll (or rate of participation in training)
• the percentage of employees who completed training during the year (number of trainees / average workforce)
• the list of the number of trainees and the number of training hours
• the average duration of training
• the attendance rate at training
• the percentage of requests satisfied (follow-up of the completion rate compared to acceptances)

With these first indicators, it is a question of setting a conceptual framework and ensuring better visibility of the implementation of the training plan.

Depending on your objectives, it is possible to go into the details of certain indicators. For example, we can distinguish within the percentage of the payroll different categories of population to verify that they are each well represented (men / women, level of seniority or services).

2.Cost indicators

Secondly, cost indicators should be listed in the training evaluation. The most obvious are for example:

• the amount of trainers' fees
• travel expenses
• equipment purchases

However, we must not forget to take into account the indirect or hidden costs of training. This can be the occupancy rate of the premises that are allocated to training times or the unit cost of training, that is to say the loss of earnings for the company that represents an employee in training instead of be active.

3. Efficiency and effectiveness indicators

Finally, a final category of indicators should allow you to follow the training courses carried out in more detail.

The aim of these indicators is to ensure the quality of the training system both in terms of its efficiency (what efforts are put in place to achieve the objective?) And its effectiveness (what results do we manage to obtain? Are they consistent with the original objectives?)

Let’s start with efficiency: you must be able to establish the time necessary to both detail training needs, identify the appropriate program and implement it. The shorter this time, the more efficient your device is supposed to be.

To assess effectiveness, the Kirkpatrick model based on 4 assessment levels:

• Level 1 - Reaction : what is the appreciation of the participants concerning the training, its program, its organization and the trainer?
• Level 2 - Learning : what is the level of absorption of knowledge by learners?
• Level 3 - Behavior : what are the consequences of the training on the work done when returning to the company?
• Level 4 - Results : how well did the training achieve the objectives set?

If the model which dates from 1959 is well known, know that it has since been somewhat "modernized".

In 2010, James and Wendy Kirkpatrick, from Kirkpatrick Partners, therefore redesigned this model in more depth:

• Level 1 - Reaction: beyond the sole appreciation of the participants, we also measure the relevance of the training content and the involvement throughout the course.
• Level 2 - Learning: are learners engaged? In trust ?
• Level 3 - Behavior: two elements are pointed out, namely learning on the job (thanks to exchanges and interactions during training) and the different levers to activate before / during / after training (thanks in particular to tutoring, coaching, etc. .)
• Level 4 - Results: finally this last level obtains a new indicator "return on expectations" (or ROE - Return on expectations). Compared to Return on Investment (ROI), ROE makes it possible to assess the overall impact. It includes both the identification of the sponsors' expectations upstream, translated into performance indicators and which will subsequently become the evaluation criteria.

If the measurement of “average” indicators is relatively easy to implement, that of “outcome” indicators remains a more complex part. Satisfaction questionnaire at the end of training and knowledge tests are no longer sufficient to accurately assess these results.

As the reworking of the Kirkpatrick model proves, the evaluation of training includes several components more or less identifiable and measurable depending on the tools used.

Fortunately, the training environment has evolved since 1959 and so have the tools!

New indicators thanks to digital learning

The advent of digital learning breathes new life into monitoring training objectives.

Depending on the platforms, it is now possible to access indicators such as:

• the number of active users and their duration of connection to the training platform
• the average progression on the training course
• the success rate in tests, challenges and others
• the number of points earned
• ranking of participants

For their part, learners often have the opportunity to mark the different training content, discuss in a dedicated space and provide detailed feedback at the end of the module.

All of which facilitate the measurement of the efficiency and effectiveness of training.

In conclusion

The evaluation of your training system therefore results in a clever mix of descriptive indicators, cost indicators but also results indicators!

The choice of these indicators varies from one company to another depending on the training policy and the objectives initially thought of. Keep in mind that here it is a question of carefully selecting the most relevant KPIs to respond to the company's problems, at the risk of drowning the main information.