Who Is Responsible for Monitoring Performance after Training?
Jim and Wendy Kirkpatrick have two cats, Dena and Attila. Many times, they watch their cats and see similarities to the challenges that people have with training evaluation.
A number of years ago, Jim Kirkpatrick visited the Google headquarters in California. As one would expect from such a visionary organization, Jim enjoyed learning from them as much as they learned from him.
The unique Google culture relies heavily on peer-to-peer support and accountability. Employees share goals with each other, use the counsel of their peers to determine what training courses to take, and actively hold each other accountable for team-based performance goals. They even share their individual performance scorecards publicly to create a bit of healthy competition. In this type of environment, trainers can turn to the peers of training graduates to provide some of the post-training monitoring that is so critical to success.
Attila, one of the Kirkpatrick cats, thought he could get away with jumping on the table, but his sister, Dena, caught him in the act. Like the employees at Google, Dena was holding Attila accountable for his actions.
Google brings Level 3 required drivers to life in a way that doesn’t require any additional resources other than a bit of each employee’s time to help a co-worker. While this technique would work well in any culture, it is a particularly good idea for organizations struggling to get post-training support from managers and supervisors.
Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation sums up the importance of Level 3 and supporting post-training efforts: “Level 3 is more than just evaluating, it is a comprehensive, continuous performance monitoring and improvement system. The degree to which required drivers are identified and implemented is one of the most important parts of a successful plan. Level 3 is a challenging level that for decades has appeared to be a ‘no-man’s land.’ L&D has shied away from taking their share of responsibility for it, and organizations are ultimately focused on Level 4 Results. Level 3 truly is the missing link in moving from learning to results.”
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Additional Resources
Kirkpatrick Four Levels® Evaluation Certification Program – Bronze Level