While it is essential to train and skill a large portion of the workforce, measuring the application of such knowledge and information presents a real challenge.

Most of the Business Heads and Heads of Learning & Development (L&D), who work for small to mid-sized businesses, say that it's hard to analyze and measure how well training put on by their team affects performance.

How can you tell if your training works? How can you make your teaching or delivery better? Anyone who has read the forms for post-training evaluations is aware of the difficulty in obtaining constructive and actionable feedback on how to enhance learning and development programs.

Hence, the following are the most frequently cited reasons for not being able to measure the impact of training beyond the feedback received after the program:

• Not aligning training programs with the team or business performance:
  No improvement can be linked to a training program if it is not aligned or connected to a business measure. Too frequently, training is implemented for the wrong reasons—a perceived need, trend, or desire that may not be connected to a business measure. The program will have trouble convincingly driving any business outcomes without proper business connections.
• Incomplete existing performance data:
  When the L&D team is asked to provide analytics on the relationship between the suggested solution or intervention and performance issues, they frequently require additional data. They primarily rely on data from the Training Needs Identification (TNI) survey, which isn't done in a scientific way but is based on what managers might say during performance reviews. This inadequate information makes it difficult to precisely measure the impact of trainings for L&D professionals.
• Also read: The Learning Challenges L&D Professionals May Face In 2023.
• Not having the right tool to measure the impact: It has been noted that the L&D team lacks sufficient training in performance analytics to establish a link between performance data and issues. For instance, they are unable to determine whether the ground salesperson's inability to enter data in mobile tabs is the result of connectivity issues, software complexity, or both. Take the GST portal, where many entrepreneurs and their teams found it difficult to enter data. Filling out GST returns was challenging even for officials in the indirect tax field. Therefore, partners in L&D and Business HR ought to be able to either improve their ability to establish causal connections for underperformance or raise performance levels.
• Measuring long-term impact:
  The long-term impact of any training program can be hard to measure. Participants may forget what they learned over time, or they may not apply their new skills immediately. Most of the programs have a final assessment which kind of misses capturing the day-to-day learning. Learners solely depend on the end of the program notes to clear the assessment, without retaining anything worthwhile from regular sessions. They sometimes also miss out on the practical application of special training.
• Demonstrating ROI:
  Measuring the ROI of training programs is challenging because it is difficult to attribute business outcomes solely to training. Many factors can impact business results, including external factors such as economic conditions, changes in the market, and internal factors such as leadership changes, company culture, and product launches. Demonstrating the ROI of training programs requires a significant investment of time, resources, and expertise, and requires careful consideration of the unique circumstances and challenges facing each organization. It can be difficult to quantify the impact of the training program in financial terms, especially if the benefits are intangible.

Some effective solutions to tackle the challenges

• Instead of holding open workshops or seminars, train the L&D team on performance analytics using actual company data.
• Instead of merely nominating their business teams, HR teams should attend strategic thinking programs themselves.
• Explore new tools and methods to calculate the effectiveness of the program.
• Work with the business team to consistently capture data in an integrated HR information system so that there are no or very few gaps in the data that are missing.
• The insights and patterns gleaned from the analyzed data should be the focus of HR meetings held every week or month, and only tactical and operational data should be discussed afterwards.
• Quizzes and competitions can be held during the training to keep the learning practical and more effective.

These are just a few of the challenges that we thought learning and development professionals may face while measuring the impact of training.

What do you think we’ve missed out on? Leave a comment to share your challenges and solutions.

Also read: 5 Ways To Foster A Leadership Mindset Across Your Company