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Next Learning 2023: from learning to performance

On April 18, our colleagues Deborah, Joost and Emma went to the Next Learning event: a congress on how the new learning in an organization can/should be different. An inspiring congress with sessions on a variety of topics:

  • How do you move from learning to results?
  • How do you get actionable data from evaluations?
  • How do you measure the Return on Investment of learning interventions?

This year's theme was: how do you make learning matter? Our colleagues attended several sessions and take you through their key findings.

How do you move from learning to results?

Evitha Scharloo and Henriëtte Kloots opened the day with an inspiring presentation. How do you get from traditional (classroom) training, which you don't always know what it delivers, to an impactful learning solution? How do you go from learning to results, or from learning to performing?

Evitha and Henriëtte describe this path as a journey in which you pass through many landscapes. A journey through a landscape full of analyses about the organizational culture and the organizational problem. Along the challenging mountain range, looking at what you can do with all the data from analyses, what the stakeholders' interests are and how to strive for continuous change. You can also travel on to the science area to use knowledge from psychology, anthropology and marketing to determine and develop the best learning solution. Sometimes it may be wise to traverse the area learning culture during your journey: how is learning and development viewed in the organization and how is knowledge shared?

In short, there are countless opportunities to achieve an impactful learning solution by including different areas. By using analytics, you can even better design and deploy your learning solution to achieve your goal. You can also achieve a better learning solution when you include the interests of your stakeholders in the design of your training. Which areas you include in the development of your learning solution, in short, which route you choose, depends on what you want to achieve.

How do you get actionable data from evaluations?

Carmen Smeenk and Guus van Deelen discussed how best to set up training evaluation forms to collect useful data for improvement. A clear questionnaire appears to be crucial here.

Many questionnaires use a question format with a rating scale. For example, the question "I liked the training" with response options "Totally disagree - Disagree - Neutral - Agree - Totally agree." These response options are subjective: when is something agree or disagree? And the data that comes out of this does not help you identify what needs to be improved about your training.

It is more effective to ask questions related to what participants learned during the training and whether they can apply it after the training. This way you create awareness among participants of what they should be able to do after the training:

  1. Participants can apply what they have learned in practice.
  2. Participants understand what they have learned.
  3. Participants remember what they learned.
  4. Participants are motivated to apply what they have learned.
  5. Participants receive support to apply what they have learned.

Here it is important that you also write out the answer options. For example: you want to know whether participants receive good support after the training in applying what they have learned. This way you encourage participants to think critically about the questions and answer options. Moreover, these questions and answer options are easier to visualize in an evaluation dashboard.

Although writing out questions and answer options requires a little more reading for the participants, it does provide much more valuable data and you will know how to improve your training in a more targeted way.

Determining return on investment of a training course

Marielle van den Broek and Patricia Maas talked about how to measure the Return On Investment (ROI) of training. To do this, they used the theory of Jack Philips. He talks about five levels of evaluation, including the level of response. This can be done by asking questions such as, "How did you like the training? What did you think of the trainer?" The top level of evaluation is return on investment, that is, has the training been worth the investment. Here you look at the cost of the training itself, but also, for example, the cost of the time the employees cannot do their own work. You weigh this against how much more efficiently the employees can now do their jobs. In this way, you can determine the return on investment of training. This makes it easier to gain insight into how the learning interventions contribute to business goals.

Determining the return on investment starts as early as the design and development of the learning intervention. By doing this from the beginning, you are better able to evaluate at the end. For example, by including 0 measurements at the beginning of the program and a 1 measurement at the end, you can clearly identify the difference. Something to consider for the next learning intervention you design.

Need advice or support on learning?

Contact us at info@precongroup.com or +31 (0)30 - 65 66 010.

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