Results-based Internal HRD Policy (excerpts from actual policy for a large firm in South Africa)

1. Purpose
2. Mission
3. Evaluate all programs, which will include the following levels:
1. Participant satisfaction (100%)
2. Learning (no less than 70%)
3. Application (50%)
4. Impact (usually through sampling) (10%) (highly visible, expensive)
4. Evaluation support group (corporate) will provide assistance and advice in measurement and evaluation, instrument design, data analysis, and evaluation strategy.
5. New programs are developed following logical steps beginning with needs analysis and ending with communiocating results.
6. Evaluation instruments must be designed or selected to collect data for evaluation. They must be valid, reliable, economical, and subject to audit by evaluation support group.
7. Responsibility for HRD program results rests with trainers, participants, and supervisors of participants.
8. An adequate system for collecting and monitoring HRD costs must be in place. All direct costs should be included.
9. At least annually, the management board will review the status and results of HRD. The review will include HRD plans, strategies, results, costs, priorities, and concerns.
10. Line management shares in the responsibility for HRD programs. Evaluation, through follow-up, pre-program commitments, and overall support.
11. Managers/supervisors must declare competence achieved through training and packaged programs. When not applicable, HRD staff should evaluate.
12. External HRD consultants must be selected based on previous evaluation. Central data on resource base should exist. All external HRD programs of more than one day in duration will be subjected to evaluation procedures. In addition, participants will assess the quality of external programs.
13. HRD program results must be communicated to the appropriate target audience. At a minimum, this includes management (participants supervisors), participants, and all HRD staff.
14. HRD staff should be qualified to do effective needs analysis and evaluation.
15. Centralize the data base for program development to prevent duplication and serve as program resource.
16. Union involvement is required in total training and development plan.

Policy statements provide guidance and direction for the staff and others who work closely with evaluation. They provide an oppurtunity to communicate basic requirements and fundamental issues regarding performance and accountability. More than anything else, they serve as a learning tool to teach others, especially when they are developed in a collaborative and collective way.

Guidelines for measurement and evaluation are important to show how to utilitize the tools and techniques, guide the design process, provide consistency in measurement and evaluation, ensure that appropriate methods are used, and place the proper emphasis on each part of the evaluation process. Guidelines are more technical than policy statements and often contain detailed procedures showing how the process is actually undertaken and developed, including forms, instruments, and tools. Table 8-6 shows the table of contens of evaluation guidelines for a multinational company. As this table of contents reveals, the guidelines are comprehensive and include significant emphasis on ROI and accountability.

Preparing the Staff

One group that will often resist evaluation is the training and development team who must design, develop, and deliver training. These team members often see evaluation as an unnecessary intrusion into their responsibilities, absorbing precious time and stifling their freedom to be creative. On each key issue or major decision, the staf should be involved in the process. As policy statements are prepared and evaluation guidelines developed, staff input is absolutely essential. Staff members will have difficulty criticizing something they helped design and develop. Through meetings, brainstorming sessions, and task forces, the staff should be involved in every phase of developing the framework and supporting documents for evaluation.

            The training and development staff usually has inadequate skills in measurement and evaluation and needs to develop some expertise in the process. Measurement and evaluation is not always a formal part of staff member’s preparation to become trainers or instructional designers. Consequently, each staff member must be provided with step-by-step training to learn how measurement and evaluation works. In addition, staff members must know how to develop an evaluation strategy and specific plan, collect and analyze data from the evaluation, and interpret results from data analysis. Sometimes a one- to two-day workshop is needed to build adequare skills and knowledge to understand the process, appreciate what it can do for the organization, see the necessity for it, and participate in a successful implementation.

Trend Consequences

Impact

From the viewpoint of all parties involved, this is a welcome trend. Systematic evaluation is a necessary process to ensure that all stakeholders have the information desired and to clearly pinpoint the success of training.

A systematic approach also requires the T&D leader to pay more attention to the training and development staff and communicate information about evaluation more frequently. This can reduce the resistance to increased evaluation. To ensure that increased evaluation is effective, the management group usually acts as a part of this systematic evaluation, and the participants will assume more responsibilities in the future.

 Mr . suGianToro : posT