Issues that arose during the Evaluation Process
The decision to provide training to newly hired sales personnel of Borkeuf Company by the two vice presidents of sales and marketing was highly welcomed. The reaction of the sales personnel to the training program was positive though the majority of them wanted the training to be conducted in a new environment, not in the already scheduled regional sales meetings (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2009). According to the questionnaires that the employees filled, most of them suggested that a new environment like a college that offers advanced training could be a better place for them as it could look like a training ground. Additionally, the new environment would be a motivation for the sales personnel to learn unlike in the regional sales meetings that would look as though the learners are in a meeting getting instructions and advice from the trainers. The learners also had the feeling that a college would offer the materials that are necessary for facilitating learning. They also felt that the training should be more elaborate in a manner that more sales topics including human relations topics and other styles of presentations like the use of videos should be included. As such, the level of training would give more satisfaction to the learners.
The design of the training is to cover basic topics in sales and marketing without the need for the assessment of the learning during and after the training program to determine the impact of the training program on the learners. Proposals for the learning stage assessment were self and team assessment was to be conducted at intervals during and after the training (Mitchell & American Society for Training and Development, 2008). The assessment has to focus on the matters that include how to begin the sales discussion, how to ask the right questions, cultural orientation, and how to ask for the sale. The measurement of the attitude of the learners by use of questionnaires with questions that require responses such as neutral, agree, disagree, and strongly agree is also necessary for this program. Such measurement will help in determining the level of interest that learners have in the program.
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An important issue that also arose during the evaluation of the training program was the manner in which the behavior change of the participants would be measured. There should be a way to determine the benefits that the training will have on the job performance of the learners after the completion of the training program. The condition at the workplace setting will determine the likelihood of the transfer of the acquired behavior in the training field to the job place.
The training program did not put in place the appropriate control group as well as the allocation of the timeframe that is necessary to realize the result of the training program. It is also critical to note that it will be difficult to find out if the training of the sales personnel will benefit the company.
Decision on the Variables that the Evaluation will focus on
Since the training focuses on matters such as how to begin the sales discussion, how to ask the right questions, cultural orientation, and how to ask for the sale, it was vital to decide on the variables that would help improve the issues of interest to the training program (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2009). As such, I found it significant to focus the evaluation process on knowledge content, level of interest, implementation of the training program, and motivation to transfer learning to the place of work. The content of the knowledge that the training should focus on should be less costly and one that will benefit the trainees and the company in the long run. The trainees’ level of interest in the training plan should be higher to make the entire process efficient. As such, there should be factors in place that should motivate them to take part actively in the learning process.
Having been involved in the evaluation of a training program in the past, I found it vital to evaluate the implementation of the training program because of my previous experience in its evaluation. Implementing a training program would ensure that the process is not in vain (Mitchell & American Society for Training and Development, 2008). The transfer of the acquired skills and knowledge from a training field to the place of work is imperative as it proves that the spending of the resources was not in vain. Additionally, through reading and observation, I realize that motivation is critical when it comes to the transfer of learning to the workplace. As such, I found it imperative to evaluate its efficiency regarding the training plan of Borkeuf Company.
Limitations of the Kirkpatrick Approach
Kirkpatrick’s model which has four levels is a presentation of a training view that is oversimplified, and thus its effectiveness does not put into consideration the contextual or individual influences in the training evaluation. On the other hand, the outcomes of Kirkpatrick’s model tend to be below the outcome lines (Phillips & American Society for Training and Development, 1998). Such a fact means that several factors that intervene must occur for the outcomes of level four to materialize. Therefore, people who carry out training programs should not be extremely optimistic in their expectations of a better outcome of the level-four model after conducting a single program in training.
The four-level model totally presumes that examinations of particular factors are not significant for efficient evaluation. The factors that are assumed to be insignificant are contextual, and they include learning of the organization’s culture, values, and goals of the organization, climate for transfer learning, and the availability of substance resources. As such, the level-four evaluation model does not factor in all the aspects that are necessary for examining a training program to the level that it improves the outcomes.
Missing Issues from the Kirkpatrick’s Four Level Evaluation Approach
Kirkpatrick’s four-level evaluation approach does not have the secondary data, and thus, it becomes difficult to measure the variables. Recording of the variables such as sales and turnover at a regular period is also difficult to carry out because of the unavailability of data for pre-training. On the other hand, Kirkpatrick is unclear about the precise nature of the causal linkages that take place between outcomes of the training. He simply indicates in his work that a causal association is present between the evaluation levels.
What could be done to make this approach more useful, relevant, and effective?
To make this approach more useful, relevant, and effective then there is need to sort out the limitations of the model. Consideration of the contextual or individual influences in the training evaluation is critical for the approach to be effective (Phillips & American Society for Training and Development, 1998). Also important is the invention of appropriate measures that will ensure that the model is above the outcome line by intervening through several factors that are appropriate. Additionally, there is a need to add the secondary data to the model to make it easier for the measurement of the variables. On the other hand, the addition of data that is essential for pre-training will make it easier to record the variables at a regular period, and thus, the Kirkpatrick’s approach will be more useful, relevant, and efficient. It is also critical for Kirkpatrick to be clear about the causal linkage’s precise nature.
References
Kirkpatrick, D. L., & Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2009). Fast Fundamentals: Evaluating Desktop Application Courses for Pollak Learning Alliance, Australia . San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Mitchell, J. K., & American Society for Training and Development. (2008). Train the trainer guide . Alexandria, VA: ASTD.
Phillips, J. J., & American Society for Training and Development. (1998). Implementing evaluation systems & processes . Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training & Development.
