Lastly, as you deliver training you want to ensure its effectiveness and that it is meeting the goals you set out to achieve and that it’s providing a worthwhile return. The following video highlights the four common methods to evaluate training effectiveness. 

Watch the Video: Kirkpatrick's 4 Levels of Evaluation

To summarize, training effectiveness is measured by:

1. Reaction - how did people feel about the training? You can measure this by simply providing a questionnaire after training or orientation is done to see what people’s reactions were.
2. Learning - what did people learn in contrast to the learning outcomes? This is often done through some level of testing after the course is complete.
3. Behaviour - did people change their behaviour as a result of the training? This is often done through observational evaluation or through peer feedback models.
4. Results - were the goals of the training achieved? This is often not able to be measured right away. For example, if you did training in how to communicate with parents, one of your goals might be to reduce the amount of complaints or emails managers receive from parents. You wouldn't know if this training was effective until later in the summer. 

What methods do you currently use to evaluate different training and orientation activities? What methods could you employ to better measure training effectiveness?

When thinking about orientation and training programming for staff, we need to expand our thinking more broadly into creating learning organizations. Adult learners are unique and there are a variety of ways to help them learn and grow. These activities include informal and formal methods not limited to; orientation, training and onboarding. By expanding our definitions of what these activities look like and what instructional design might best suit various content, we begin to build great employee experiences. 

When thinking about training in general, all great training begins with a foundation of needs analysis, organizational goals and meaning. From there learning outcomes can be built, content created, training implemented and evaluated for effectiveness. There is a lot to do as a Program Director, and you may want to tackle this in pieces as you approach a new year of programming. We hope this course has assisted you in taking the first steps!