Training Productivity versus Training Activity
Training productivity is very much different from training activity. The former deals with measuring the fruitfulness of a program. The latter just simply talks about what happens during the program.
Human resource managers always have a top concern when it comes to employee productivity. They tell the board members of the company to invest more on expensive training modules, software, tools, high profile resource speakers, and state of the art learning facilities. The ultimate goal is to make employees more productive. But what most HR managers tend to forget is the importance of measuring training productivity.
Yes, above everything else, since training requires time and monetary investments, managers should consider measuring the effectiveness of a training program. Otherwise, the company will end up spending thousands on seminars that do not do anything good at all. In reality though, there is no such thing as one-training-fits-all. Every skills enhancement session that takes place should be a custom program, one that specifically targets and meets the actual needs of the employees.
So, how you do you measure the productivity of a training program? Well, it actually starts by clearly defining the difference between activity and productivity. In most cases, activity can surface as something that is productive. But this is not always the case. For instance, a training program that involves plenty of dynamic games, role-playing segments, demonstrations, and tests is an activity. If it does not produce good results though, it will never become productivity.
Therefore, it is safe to say that a person can be active, but not productive. The same applies with training. Training can be fun, exciting, exuberating, and engaging, but unless it makes employees more prompt, more positive their works, more team oriented, more time conscious, more visionary people, training remains nothing but plain activity.
The best yet modest way to measure efficiency is to compare data before and after. Say for instance, the seminar is about time management. Time management programs offer workers sweet honeycomb promises, like less stress and more productivity. But if you try to compare the sales of the agents before and after the program, are there any changes or improvements? If there is, make sure that it is positive. And if it is not, then the training may just need to look deeper into the needs of the employees.
Another good example is a team building activity in a call center company. HR managers should figure out the productivity rate of each employee before and after the activity. Compare data, like improvement in calls per period, decrease in wait time queue, increase in number of satisfied or solved transactions, and decrease in number of return calls or abandoned calls. See, the thing here is that if there are not any significant and affirmative changes that take place after training, then the activity is fruitless.
Well, HR managers cannot always put the blame on the trainers, which is why the company has the obligation to implement strategies that will turn a training program into a fruitful activity. Find resource speakers that speak through experience. He or she does not need to be a popular or a high profile person. Infuse rules like proper decorum, interactivity, and stringent use of an appropriate curriculum.
HR managers should not just come up with training programs just for the sake of having one. Wherever there is an investment, there should also be a return. So, make sure that you measure training productivity, and not just do training for activity.
