When designing and delivering training programs, learning leaders must continuously assess their workforce’s current knowledge and skills to uncover skills gaps, diagnosis training needs and ensure training enacts a behavior change. This ensures that the training targets the right needs and produces a positive return on investment (ROI).

Assessment tools are an effective approach to assessing skills gaps and training needs. Let’s examine how assessment tools can be used to inform training programs and show the impact of your training investment.

What Are Assessment Tools?

An assessment tool is a systematic method for evaluating and measuring skills, competencies and behaviors in the workplace. “The primary reason [for assessment tools] is to make sure that the training you have is reaching the organization and learner goals,” says Dr. Bill Brantley, CPTM, chief learning officer of BAS2A.

Assessment tools guide learning leaders to identify training needs and evaluate metrics before and after the learning program. These tools help learning leaders make training more purposeful. Loren Sanders, CPTM, senior manager of enterprise learning and development (L&D) at CVS, shares that, “They help evaluate learner performance against a pre-defined objective or goal … and help with decision-making on next steps.” They are essential in proving a positive ROI from training.

Thomas Fenstermacher, CPTM, training manager at Trellis Rx, explains that measurement is an essential step in the training process because it allows learning leaders to illustrate and prove that objectives have been met. “It’s a little harder to present something to leadership based on your feelings and observations than it is to present it based on hard facts and data that you’ve aggregated over time,” Fenstermacher says. That’s why assessment tools are a critical component in the training process.

Examples of assessment tools can include:

• Surveys and questionnaires: These can identify employees’ reactions to the training program and whether it was effective.
• Interviews: Learning leaders can ask for feedback on training from individual attendees.
• Observation: Learning leaders can evaluate how employees’ complete tasks and functions on the job.
• Performance trackers: Leaders can monitor, document and analyze employees’ progress toward achieving a set of goals and objectives.
• Simulations and role-playing: Learners can assume the role or tasks of a job by practicing or simulating real working conditions.
• Gamified assessments: Use games and activities to test employees’ knowledge.
• Artificial intelligence (AI)-based analytics: These metrics offer rich insights into performance assessments that can deliver a deeper understanding of individual and team performance versus traditional reporting.

When Should Assessment Tools Be Used?

L&D leaders should use assessment tools pre-, during and post-training to collect data to determine progress toward meeting objectives. Brantley shares that training assessments should be built into training at every stage: “From the beginning … I’m thinking of how to make a case for training … to determining learning objectives.” Brantley suggests using the analysis, design, develop, implement and evaluate (ADDIE) model to keep up with mid-course corrections and any tweaks made along the way to improve training delivery and content.

Using assessments at every stage of the training process enables more effective training. According to Sanders, assessment tools should be utilized:

1. Prior to training, during the discovery or analysis, to help learning leaders look at baseline skills and what training has been offered and measured in the past.
2. During training to capture feedback and assist learning leaders in making course corrections during a learning journey.
3. Post-training to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the training program, and track long- and short-term progress.

“Training measurement allows us to gather data-driven insights about what is working, when [it was working] and whether the training objectives have been met,” Sanders concludes.

Best Practices for Using Assessment Tools

A critical step in training measurement is proving the efficacy of training with supporting data. With so much data readily available, learning leaders can easily feel overwhelmed on what to focus on. Identifying metrics that correlate to business objectives can help learning leaders track and measure the right data.

To do this, learning leaders must shift their mindset from “collecting” data to instead mining, locating and using those insights garnered from the data. This means that learning leaders should identify data that aligns with the purpose of training and organizational goals. With this mindset, learning professionals can feel more confident that they are analyzing data and presenting training results that matter to stakeholders.

Assessment tools can help learning leaders tell a robust story of impact. Here are some best practices to consider when using assessment tools in training:

1. Keep it simple. Assessments shouldn’t be complicated or complex. Fenstermacher encourages learning leaders to use plain language to ensure effectiveness. “Just make sure your tools are easy so that facilitators can use them effectively, you can interpret them and so anyone at a glance can see clearly what you’re asking for.”
2. Standardization. Along with keeping the process simple, learning leaders should work to standardize the assessment process. Being consistent regarding when and how data is collected enables learning leaders to improve the accuracy of reporting. L&D must also work to provide learners with a consistent learning experience to ensure everyone is receiving the same information across modalities and instructors. This creates a baseline for assessing learners’ performance.
3. Strategic alignment. “[Assessment tools] are best used by aligning them with the learning objectives and desired business results,” Sanders shares. The method of assessment should align with the business objectives and the key performance indicators (KPIs) that you will measure.

Conclusion

Measurement is an important step in the training process. Without assessments, learning leaders lack the insight to evaluate the effectiveness of their training programs and uncover skills gaps across the organization. Assessments help L&D leaders track KPIs (e.g., employee engagement, learning retention and behavioral change) and arm them with the data to show business leaders how training is improving the performance of the business.

Integrating assessments throughout the training journey — before, during and after training — allows learning leaders to show the true impact of their training investment. Creating a structured approach to training measurement can empower learning professionals to leverage themselves as strategic business partners and prove that training was worth it.