HR, L&D Capability and Role

An interesting piece on evaluation of learning and some of the challenges of Kirkpatrick.

I look at evaluation quite simply - learning is behaviour change, so we need to focus on measuring changes in behaviour and in our context, improvements in work performance (at an individual, team, process or organisational level). Our stakeholders tell us what desired performance (future state) looks like and this is what we need to measure (i.e. did we reduce errors, increase sales, improve quality). If we do nothing else, we confirm that stakeholder expectations have been met.

The performance consulting process is an effective way to determine what to measure and the gap between current and desired state (which helps us get to the root causes of the performance problems). The process also allows you to engage with stakeholders to determine how and when you will measure, and how you will use the data to make decisions.