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Keywords
Training, Evaluation, Model, Human resource development, Organisational development
Abstract
This paper is based on a study which examined the current training evaluation activity and challenges that face Kuwaiti organisations. The study sample was five UK organisations (recognised as best practice organisations in their T&D activities) and 77 Kuwaiti organisations (40 government and 37 private). Interviews and questionnaires were used. The study reveals that the majority of respondents, both in government and in private sectors, only evaluate their training programme occasionally. The most popular evaluation tools and technique used by government and private sectors were questionnaires. The most common model used by Kuwaiti organisations is the Kirkpatrick model, while the most common level of evaluation for both government and private sector is reaction type.
Introduction
The Manpower Services Commission (1981) in its Glossary of Training Terms defines evaluation as:
The assessment of a total value of the training system, training course or programme in social as well as financial terms. Evaluation differs from validation in that it attempts to measure the overall cost-benefit of the course or programme and not just the achievement of its laid-down objectives. The term is also used in the general judgmental sense of the continuous monitoring of a programme or of the training function as a whole (McDougall, 1990).
The Glossary of Training Terms also defines the validation of the training as:
Internal validation. A series of tests and assessments designed to ascertain whether a training programme has achieved the behavioural objectives specified.
External validation. A series of tests and assessments designed to ascertain whether the behavioural objectives of an internally valid training programme were realistically based on an accurate initial identification of training needs in relation to the criteria of effectiveness adopted by the organisation (Rae, 1986).
Evaluation has become a very important task for the organisation, and there are several very sound reasons for starting to put more effort into it. According to Kearns and Miller (1996, p. 9):
It is about building credibility and a solid foundation for T&D decisions.
Provides a basis for maximising return on investment.
Helps to categorise training by the type of return you will get from your investment.
For those who get it right, it should lead to...