Business Performance P/L Announces New Training Evaluation Toolkit

Melbourne, Australia, May 26, 2008 – Even though U.S. organizations alone spend upwards of one billion dollars each year on employee training and development, most do not evaluate the effect of that expenditure on organizational results. The American Society for Training and Development reports that less than 10 percent of companies attempt to measure the bottom-line impact of their employee training efforts.

The new Training Evaluation Toolkit released by Business Performance P/L this week is designed to lift the lid on training investments. Vicki Heath, Director of Business Performance P/L, explained, “Many training managers and consultants have understandably been reluctant to put much effort into measuring training impact because of the expense and time involved. Also, they recognize the difficulty of separating the impact of training from other non-training factors influencing results. With our new toolkit, all the practical guidance and measurement tools are in one place.”

The author of the evaluation toolkit, Leslie Allan, added, “As any professional trainer knows, the performance benefits resulting from employee training are often interlinked with other non-training factors. The difficulty in separating out these non-training factors has scared many trainers away from conducting meaningful organizational impact evaluations. This toolkit has simplified the process so that even people not versed in statistics or finance can conduct a credible evaluation exercise.”

The toolkit provides simple yet effective tools for calculating non-financial benefits, such as productivity, efficiency, quality, customer satisfaction, and so on. With the use of the financial tools, these can then be converted to financial values. These include Benefit to Cost Ratio (BCR), Return on Investment (ROI), Payback Period and Net Present Value (NPV). As an added benefit, the toolkit includes methods and templates for quantifying what has come to be known as the “intangible” benefits of training.

Trainers have a number of methods available to them to isolate the impacts of training and to quantify the results. This guide provides easy to follow selection charts to help trainers decide which is the best method for which situation and then gives them the necessary tools to complete the evaluation task.

The guide also comes complete with an array of data collection forms, analysis spreadsheets and reporting templates. These are all provided in softcopy format so that trainers can customize and reuse them time and again.

Heath went on to say, “Whether you are a novice or experienced professional, with this comprehensive training toolkit you will be able to plan your evaluation exercise, collect all relevant data, isolate non-training factors and then analyze and report the results convincingly to your key stakeholders.”

The reusable and customizable forms and worksheets are supplied as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel files. The toolkit can be used on any Microsoft Windows-based PC with Word and Excel installed. The guide is supplied as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. Adobe Acrobat PDF files are readable on almost any computer. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available as a free download from the Adobe website.

Business Performance P/L has made available the introductory chapter of the guide and the resource list as a free download. The complimentary download and the full toolkit are available from the Business Performance P/L website at www.businessperform.com/html/training_evaluation_toolkit.html

ABOUT LESLIE ALLAN:
Leslie Allan has been assisting organizations improve their capability for over 20 years. He has contributed in various roles as manager, consultant and trainer within the manufacturing and service industries, both for public and private sector organizations. Mr. Allan’s external and internal consulting roles have seen him lead successful projects in strategic planning, workplace communications, and quality and HR information systems. He is also a seasoned instructional designer and trainer, having taught programs in both vocational colleges and industry. Mr. Allan is a prolific writer on business issues, with many journal and web articles to his credit. He is also the author of five books on employee capability, training and change management.

ABOUT BUSINESS PERFORMANCE PTY LTD:
Established in 2003, Business Performance Pty Ltd provides business and management consulting services globally in a range of business areas. From its website, the company also proudly supplies a wide selection of business and management software products designed to make managing organizations easier and more effective. Products featured include tools, templates and guides in the areas of training and employee development, project management, organizational change and career planning. All products can be purchased and downloaded easily from anywhere in the world from the Business Performance Pty Ltd website at www.businessperform.com