Assessing Training: For Curiosity or for Making Decisions 7 Key Questions to ask Yourself Before you Start

Curiosity represents a thirst for knowledge and is a major driving force behind much scientific advancement.

Unfortunately, when it comes to human capital, it can also cause frustration and a waste of time and money.

While we have conducted nearly 500 business training assessment projects around the world, we do so only if there is valuable knowledge to be gained and an important business metric to be moved.

Curiosity alone is not a good enough reason to spend the money or the employee time and good will on answering questions that don’t lead to better business decisions. We don’t believe in assessment of any kind unless management is willing to act upon what it learns.

To ensure that you are more than just curious, ask yourself the following seven questions to ensure that a training assessment makes sense:

1. Do you need buy-in and data to initiate a change process?
2. Is there a chance that leadership and employees are not aligned on the root cause or suggested approach?
3. Have you already pinpointed specific skill gaps against a proven standard?
4. Will you be customizing your workshops?
5. Are you planning on employing coaching and Individual Development Plans?
6. Do you need baseline metrics as a starting point?
7. Would it be beneficial to target training investments to the areas of highest leverage?

If the answers to any of the above questions are “YES,” then you are probably on the right path with a training assessment. If the answers are no, then you should probably rethink your strategy.