In part 1 of this posting we covered the first 2 principles: Align Purpose with Situation and Context is Key. Here I will go through the next 3 principles.
3. Not All Assessments Are Created Equal – Focus on Participation and Validation.
As discussed in the first blog posting in the series, assessment instruments should exhibit strong reliability and validity (i.e., consistently measure what they are supposed to measure); however, even a well-designed, sound assessment can fail without adequate participation.
Full participation (100 percent) is not usually necessary. Prior to the start of the assessment, it is important to determine the appropriate participant sample size needed to achieve high confidence in the assessment findings. The same holds true for the management sample for validating employee self-responses and performance outcomes. If a large sample is needed, more frequent communications, participant incentives and other motivational techniques may be necessary to encourage high response rates. Also, executive sponsor participation is critical to help achieve adequate manager participation.
4. Achieve Active Support and Communication – The Critical Success Factor.
A critical success factor for any assessment is: communication, communication, communication. Participants and managers should be informed about the assessment before, during and after to ensure the assessment achieves its intended results. Communications should be frequent and include communications to participants and managers from the assessment lead and from the senior executive championing the assessment.
Participants must feel that their time and input are valued and understand how their input will be used to make a difference in the organisation. Leaders and managers must perceive the assessment as valuable, take the time to participate and encourage employee participation. Shortly after completion, assessment findings should be presented to employees and managers with a solid approach for performance improvement; participants want to feel that their time spent was worth it.
5. Establish WIIFE (What’s In It for Everyone) – Feel Confident About Your Training and Development Programme.
Training assessments help learning and development professionals feel more confident their training and development programmes are meeting the needs of stakeholders: Employees are receiving the training and support they need in the appropriate format (classroom, applied workshops, mentoring, etc.) to foster efficient skills application, and leaders and managers are aware of how to create an environment that effectively supports, encourages and rewards skills application to achieve performance outcomes. Unfortunately, when performance does not seem to improve post-training, the blame may fall reflexively upon the training and development programme. Training assessments help uncover the real issues and, without this valuable information, the only other alternative to address performance problems will be to use a strategy consisting of anecdotal improvement recommendations with hit-or-miss results.
The next blog posting will focus on why employees should welcome training assessments and should participate fully to help enhance their training programmes and impact changes in the organisational environment that will support their new skills application and improved performance.