Measuring Impactful Results
A comprehensive two-year evaluation documented 5 levels of training impact, including significant positive growth in Becket Family of Services leaders, their programs and staff with comments such as, ‘This training has had a huge impact on me and the way I approach work and life.’ The evaluation documented a return on training investment of $127,000 for 7 MA Adult programs, and a 44% drop in staff turnover in the NH Adult program.
A Growing Leadership evaluation three months after a training event showed that the training and follow-up coaching had many positive benefits. Participants reported improved supervision and goal setting, strengthened team building, improved time management, increased staff appreciation, greater staff ownership of client outcomes, a better work environment, and improved planning.
Training participants strongly benefited from the follow up coaching. Senior managements also reported positive operational impacts. Participants wrote:
“I have a renewed interest in developing others.”
“Staff are feeling more valued and listened to. We are all working well together and positive communication is increasing.”
“Improving management skills directly reflects and impacts the programs, resulting in improved ownership of outcomes, motivation of the teams and building a positive work environment.”
“Coaching helped me to feel held accountable, and it was really nice to feel supported on a different level.”
Many US Workers are Disengaged and Dissatisfied
According to Gallup’s State of the American Workplace research:
Only 37% of American workers report they are engaged in their work
78% are not convinced their leaders have a clear direction for the organization
Only 23% of employees agree that their manager provides meaningful feedback
3 in 10 workers say that someone at work encourages their development
But Leaders Can Make a Difference!
Research shows that how a leader acts explains, more than any other variable, whether people feel engaged in their work; that the most effective leaders bring out two to three times more staff talent than do the least effective leaders; and organizations with the best leaders are the highest performing. (James Kouzes and Barry Posner in Learning Leadership)
Great Leaders are Made not Born
With right training and support, people can rise to a higher level that brings value-added to their business or organization.
Training Must be Value-added
It is important to measure whether training brings significant value-added to an organization. Growing Leadership uses the following Training Assessment Levels:
whether participants liked the training
whether they learned useful things
whether participants made positive behavior changes
whether there is a positive program/business/customer impact
return on investment.
The typical evaluation right after a workshop, while useful, is limited to assessment levels one and two while more in-depth evaluation will measure higher-impact levels