The following guest commentary, co-authored by Jim Kirkpatrick,
Ph.D., Wendy Kirkpatrick and Chuck Udell, MAAP, is part four of a six-part
series on key strategies for making the most out of employee training
opportunities. To read past articles, click here.

Research has validated that training events in
and of themselves typically produce about 15 percent on-the-job application. To
increase application and therefore program results, additional actions need to
occur before and after formal training.

Historically, the role of learning professionals
has been Levels 1 and 2, or just the training event. Not surprisingly, this is
why many learning professionals spend almost all of their time on Level 1 and
Level 2 results.

Producing return on expectations (ROE), however,
requires a strong Level 3 execution plan. Therefore, it is critical not only to
call upon business stakeholders to help identify what success will look like,
but also to design a cooperative effort throughout the learning and performance
processes in order to maximize results.

Before training, learning professionals need to
partner with supervisors and managers to prepare participants for training.
Even more critical is the role of the supervisor or manager after the training.
They are the key people to reinforce newly learned knowledge and skills through
support and accountability. The degree to which this reinforcement and coaching
happens directly correlates to improved performance and positive outcomes.

Building
a Successful Leadership Development Program

This example comes from our work with a client to
develop and deliver a leadership program for regional managers.

With competition in the client’s market area
intensifying, it was imperative that all regional managers improve their
leadership skills. Doing so would enable them to work with their store managers
so as to increase store sales and employee productivity.

The client’s expectations were that after this
leadership program, regional managers would work with each of their store
managers to:

1. Increase store employee productivity

2. Increase store sales profitably with great customer
service

3. Enable store managers to reach their full potential
as team leaders

These expectations start with the end in mind and
were quantified as follows:

* Store manager productivity = store gross profit
dollars per store employee, to increase by 3 percent calculated on FTE  (full-time equivalent)

* Store gross profit dollars to increase by 2
percent per year, with no decrease in number of customers served

These clearly defined and quantified program expectations
served as the starting point for developing the leadership development program. 

To ensure that these results and expectations
occurred, critical behaviors were determined. These behaviors were what the
regional managers were expected to do after training, i.e., to apply what they
learned. Management drivers also were determined; these were the specific
actions that the VP of Store Operations would take to ensure that the regional
managers were applying what they learned. The driver package was developed in
partnership with executive management and the VP of Store Operations, with an
eye toward what would be realistic as well as effective. The driver package
included monitoring the actions of and reinforcing, encouraging, and
recognizing regional managers who performed well on the job.  

Two other key events had to occur to ensure the
success of this project. First, before the training event, the VP of Store
Operations met individually with each regional manager to discuss: 

* Objectives of the training program

* On-the-job performance expectations after training

* Monitoring that would take place, and other drivers
in place to help them to succeed

* Support that the VP and others would provide
throughout the initiative

The second key event occurred after the training
program, when the trainer met with the VP to review his role in monitoring,
reinforcing, encouraging, and recognizing his regional managers who had
successfully applied what they learned and performed to standard. The meetings,
vital to this project’s success, went a long way in creating business
partnership between training and store operations key management.

In two weeks, we will be back with another
real-life example illustrating how to make your training count.

About the Authors
 
Jim Kirkpatrick
Dr. Jim Kirkpatrick is a senior consultant
for Kirkpatrick Partners. His major area of expertise is the Kirkpatrick
Business Partnership Model. Jim consults for Fortune 500 companies around the
world and is a masterful facilitator, conducting workshops on the Kirkpatrick
Model, business partnership and his newest topic, Training on Trial. Jim has
co-written three books with his father, Don Kirkpatrick, the creator of the
Kirkpatrick Model. He also has written three books with his wife, Wendy
Kirkpatrick: "Then and Now," "Training on Trial" and
"Bringing Business Partnership to Life: The Story of the Brunei Window
Washer."
 
Wendy Kirkpatrick
Wendy Kirkpatrick is the founder of
Kirkpatrick Partners, a company dedicated to helping organizations become more
effective through business partnership. She applies her skills as a certified
instructional designer and expert presenter and facilitator to lead companies
to measurable success. Wendy’s results orientation stems from her two decades
of business and training experience. She held positions in merchandising,
direct importing and product development before becoming a product manager with
Springs Industries and Rubbermaid. Most recently, Wendy was a training manager
for Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, where she managed the training curriculum
for 1,500 sales and customer service representatives across North America.
 
Chuck Udell
Chuck Udell, MAAP, is a senior partner with
the Essential Action Design Group, focusing on improving performance and
profitability for clients through improved sales, marketing and leadership
development solutions. Part of his client engagement includes developing and
implementing Kirkpatrick evaluation plans. Chuck is the former president of the
University of the Aftermarket – an operating division of Northwood University, and
prior to that was president of AWDA University, the education division of the
Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association (AWDA). While at AWDA, he
received several awards including the association’s Pursuit of Excellence Award
in 1997 and the AWDA Memorial Education Scholarship Award in 2000. He also is
the 2010 recipient of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association’s (AAIA)
Mort Schwartz Excellence in Education Award. He serves on a number of industry
training and education committees, and is a silver level certified Kirkpatrick
facilitator.
 
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