Training Talk: Hard-Hitting Articles on Computer Training, Management, and IT-related Issues.

So what can you do to ensure that your training efforts are not only fiscally responsible, but also actually accomplish the intended goal of improving your workers' abilities to do their jobs? The answers are fairly simple, and easily within your reach. Let's look now at 3 things you can implement immediately to improve the return on investment and cost-effectiveness of your training efforts.

You have no possible way to accurately gauge the effectiveness of your training efforts without some concrete metrics, and pre/post course tests can give you the data you need. Without knowing exactly how the training is affecting your employees, you cannot make any assumptions about what is working or not working, and you have no basis for implementing changes to improve your efforts.

What is the difference between a test and a survey? The test portion actually asks your employees technical questions to ascertain their level of technical acuity; the survey will ask qualitative questions about the training session, including questions about the instructor, the material, the pacing, the room setup, etc.

It is very possible to combine both tests and surveys into one document or online form, and this makes it easier for employees to handle. I highly suggest using an online survey company such as HostedTest.com or ClassMarker.com. Companies like these can make your life much easier, including the ability to automatically tabulate scores, email results, and administering the tests via the net.

This might sound a little silly; after all, who would take the time and expense to survey employees about their training experience, and then not take action to rectify issues? You would be surprised at how many!

You want to pay particular attention not only to technical improvements in employees' skills, which is the primary reason for even holding the training; but you also want to look at the qualitative aspects of the day as well. Was the instructor dynamic, interesting, and knowledgeable; was the room setup correctly; were there technical problems that need addressing; and finally, was the course enjoyable and not too long?

For maximum impact, training sessions should be no longer than 5 hours; beyond this and the Law of Diminishing Returns sets in, and this can actually detract from students' learning.

The final piece to making your training initiatives effective is to ensure that topics covered in training courses mirror employees' job tasks. If you've read some of my other articles, you have heard me mention this point before, but it bears repeating. Generic training sessions produce generic results.

Yes, it costs more to customize your courses, but not much more, and in the long run, you gain an immense return in productivity as employees learn skills specifically targeted to their weaknesses. And who wants to sit through a deluge of information, for hours and hours on end, that has very little bearing upon one's job? People turn off their brains at that point, and this is when computer training is draining in every sense of the term.

(c) 2009 Michael J. Phillips