Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2019 - 20

early in the planning phase is critical not
only for the success of the program, but
also for the continued existence of the
training function.

CREATING A LEVEL 3 PLAN
The first step in creating a credible Level
3 plan is to define, in observable and
measurable terms, the critical behaviors
that training graduates should be able to
perform as a result of the training.
To ensure training graduates do what they
know they are supposed to do, your plan
should include a variety of methods and
tools to reinforce the importance of critical
behaviors, provide coaching and support
in performing such behaviors, track the
degree to which they are performed,
reward those who do them reliably and
correct those who do not.
In reality, executives are not physically
there on a daily basis, and even direct
supervisors often feel that they do not
have enough time to support training
graduates, or possess high enough
comfort level in tracking performance
and correcting employees who are not
implementing the behaviors taught
during the training. Therefore, during
the program development process,
there must be buy-in for roles and
responsibilities after training to ensure the
plan is followed. The degree to which the
Level 3 plan is implemented defines the
initiative's overall success.

IMPLEMENTING A LEVEL 3 PLAN
Training analytics are often summative
in nature, meaning they occur at the
completion of a training program or
implementation phase. Focus instead on
formative evaluation, or that which occurs
during a phase, so you can correct issues
and maximize performance and results
along the way.
Before training, find out what analytics
are important to stakeholders, managers
of training graduates, training graduates
themselves and the training group.
Determine who will gather and report the
data, and decide how the data should be
formatted. Determine which data will be
reported throughout the initiative, and

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how often, to track progress and identify
areas for improvement.
Let training participants know before
and during training what is expected
of them after training, what support
is available to them and how their
performance and outcomes will be
tracked. Making this connection has
countless benefits, including increasing
training relevance and engagement,
because participants can see the training's
purpose and how it connects to their
personal performance and contributes to
greater organizational success.
When the formal training is over, the
important work begins. As training
graduates return to the job, schedule
regular checkpoints to ensure that the
reinforcement, support and accountability
actions are occurring. Automated
reminders to check in with key parties,
such as managers of the graduates, are a
good practice.
Expect to have a few setbacks, and be
prepared with a remediation plan. This
is a normal part of the process, and the
reason that continual monitoring and
reinforcement is required for success in
most programs.

A LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT EXAMPLE
In Alisa's leadership development program,
a critical behavior for new leaders could be
conducting weekly team meetings with all
direct reports to review key projects and
progress toward milestones. This behavior
could be supported by requiring new leaders
to submit monthly reports documenting
when team meetings were held and the key
issues discussed during each meeting. New
leaders failing to submit their reports or to
hold the required meetings would have
a conversation with a senior leader about
their reason for doing so.
The underlying belief here is that team
meetings foster communication which, in
turn, fosters good decision-making that
contributes to timely and satisfactory job
completion. This will produce pride in the
team, leading to employee satisfaction,
higher retention rates and possibly
awards and recognition showcasing the
organization as a great place to work.

FIGURE 1: The Kirkpatrick Model
LEVEL 4
Results
The degree to which targeted
program outcomes occur and
contribute to the organization's
highest-level result.

LEVEL 3
Behavior

The degree to which participants
apply what they learned during
training when they are back on
the job.

LEVEL 2
Learning

The degree to which participants
acquire the intended knowledge,
skills, attitude, confidence and
commitment based on their
participation in the training.

LEVEL 1
Reaction

The degree to which participants
find the training favorable, engaging
and relevant to their jobs.

These lofty outcomes can have a variety of
contributors. This is where the story that
underpins the data is required to credibly
connect training to performance and to
organizational results.

REPORTING ON
LEVEL 3 ANALYTICS
Powerful data is a combination of numbers
and information that supports them. This is
the formula that connects what is learned
to what is done on the job to the results
it creates. However, there is always the
objection that some other factor created or
influenced the results.
Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2019

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