Setting business and training objectives – the key to conducting the entire developmental initiative.

Setting Objectives

Setting business and training objectives is crucial for conducting any development initiative, especially if we intend to evaluate its effectiveness at five levels.

Naturally, we evaluate development projects at the five levels if they are aligned with the company’s strategy; are costly, and involve many employees. The objectives form a kind of cycle, which means that in order to achieve a high return on investment (Level 5), participants should first be satisfied with the program (Level 1), acquire knowledge and skills (Level 2), implement new competencies into their daily work (Level 3), and this, in turn, will translate into the company’s business indicators (Level 4). When formulating objectives, it is essential to specify the conditions that must be met for the goal to be accomplished, such as stating that the use of a specific tool or procedure will be necessary.

Example:

Level 1 Objective:

• The average participant rating of the program’s usefulness will reach a minimum score of 4.0 on a five-point scale.

Level 2 Objective:

• Upon completing the training, 90% of the participants will pass the knowledge test with a minimum score of 75%.

Level 3 Objective:

• Within three months after completing the training, 90% of participants will receive a minimum of 20 points in the mystery shopper evaluation.

Level 4 Objective:

• Within six months after the training, there will be a 10% increase in sales.

Level 5 Objective:

• ROI – 50%.