Tips For Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Your Company’s eLearning Programs
An effective e-learning strategy is very important for the success of any large organization or startup.
Companies all over the world are now investing billions on employee training. A report by the Training Industry Magazine revealed that in the United States alone, the budget for employee training and education is growing by 14% every year.
However, it is not enough to take your employees through a well planned and carefully executed e-learning program. You need to assess and evaluate the online course periodically to find out if it is effective.
Measuring the results of past training will give you an idea of how to improve your e-learning strategy in future.
Here are some of the things to look out for when assessing the effectiveness of your company’s e-learning programs:
1. Learner’s reactions
Assessing learners’ reactions to the online learning program will show you whether it was effective or not. Use forms, questionnaires and surveys to collect feedback immediately after the training. Ask questions such as:
- Was the course easy to understand and relevant?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the course?
- What is your main take-away from the course?
- How can we improve this course?
This assessment will show you how well the course was received and reveal any loopholes in the training content.
2. New knowledge/skills
Measure the skills and knowledge learners acquired from the online course. You can gauge this using different metrics such as:
- Pre- and post-training tests
- Assignment and quizzes during the training
- Course completion and certification
- Supervisor feedback and report
- Influence on performance KPIs
This information will show you whether your learning goals were achieved. In addition, you will have an idea of how to enhance your content and method of delivery.
3. Efficiency impact
You need to check if there is any improvement in the things such as the company’s workflows and operational efficiency. This will require going out and observing how employees are handling their everyday activities, from dealing with customers to working on the assembly line.
Find out if there is any qualitative or quantitative improvement compared to the situation before training. Are employees applying the tips, techniques and practices that were covered in the course?
If not, find out why this is the case. Maybe a technique is not being adopted because it is too complex or impractical.
Besides evaluating by observation, you can interview employees, their peers, customers and managers.
4. Cultural impact
If you are doing any cultural sensitivity training, ethics training or on-boarding, you will need to evaluate the impact of your training program on company culture. This can be done by comparing things such as customer complaints before and after training.
You could also assess improvements in employee-to-employee and employee-to-management engagement.
Methods such as focus groups, informal feedback from peers, customer surveys and self-assessment questionnaires will help you carry out this evaluation.
5. Business results
Evaluate the tangible outcomes of your e-learning program such as improved quality of products or services, lower cost, increased productivity, faster project completion, increased sales, better marketing leads, higher morale and better employee retention.
The ultimate aim of any e-learning program should be to boost the bottom line of your company.
Author: Charles Mburugu
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