Kirkpatrick's Model

We have an interesting mix of clients using SST^® ranging from Fortune 100 firms to small professional practices with one or two partners focusing on business development. For those of you in training departments with large organizations, reference to the Kirkpatrick model for evaluation is as elementary as ABC (I don't mean always be closing). However, for readers in firms too small for a dedicated training department, Kirkpatrick's model is one you should know about.

Kirkpatrick is one of those enviable guys who has parlayed his dissertation into a career. He introduced his model in the late 50s and today it is the standard by which organizations evaluate training. What I like about the Kirkpatrick model is the utter common sense that it makes.

Level one is "Reaction". This is where most training evaluations start and end. How did the participants react to the training? Did they like it? By themselves, favorable reactions and smiling faces are not enough. Kirkpatrick's level two examines "Learning" new skills or acquiring new knowledge.

Rackham has observed that the requisite question in evaluating a sale straining program is "Do people use it?" Pardon the pun, but this is a different SPIN, on Kirkpatrick's level three where changes in "Behavior" are assessed. It is not sufficient for a training participants to have liked the program and to have learned something. They need to behave differently.

Finally, level four, looks at results. Did the training deliver EVA, or add economic value to the organization.

For some kinds of training, like team building, gathering quantifiable data at level four is difficult. That's not the case for sales training. Here the acid test should be improved sales performance, quantifiable in the number of new accounts as well as in dollars.

SST^® has built in assessment mechanisms at all four levels. We would be delighted to work with you to construct a four level assessment. It is the only way to know that the training you are providing is delivering the results you want and need.