Learning Transfer Evaluation – the plot thickens

As many of my readers will know, a close second to my obsession with creating change from training programs is the thorny question of how to measure change created by training.

I had a very interesting conversation with Hamish Brown from Concordia Worldwide last month. His colleagues in the UK have developed a tool for creating a comprehensive picture of exactly what is helping or hindering employees in applying the learning from training programs back in the work place.

I was impressed to find they cover the basics of training design and relevance, the work environment, employee attitudes, people interactions and more. This all seems to add up to a tool that could help pinpoint where exactly along the process learning transfer goes off the rails. Plus, it allows space to approach things differently and could be used to prepare the business case for investing in transfer of learning.

The issue of measuring intangible outcomes remains and I’d be interested to hear of any new innovations in the area. Pleaes feel free to share your comments.

I’ll keep you posted from this end.

Emma Weber is a recognized authority on the transfer of learning. As CEO of Lever–Transfer of Learning, she has helped companies such as Telstra, Oracle and BMW deliver and measure tangible business results from learning. She has also been a guest speaker at learning effectiveness conferences worldwide and authored the hugely successful book Turning Learning into Action. Much more detail around the issues and solutions examined in this article are available in the book – please feel free to download a free chapter. Emma and her team also developed Coach M, a coaching chatbot that delivers fully scaleable learning transfer. She is also a co-author of the books Making Change Work, and Designing Virtual Learning for Application and Impact. Her work and approach is also featured in Data and Analytics for Instructional Designers by Megan Torrance (Author), Foundations of People Metrics and Analytics – by Renjini Joseph and an ATD 10-minute case study series – Chatbot Coaching for Learning Transfer.