CHAPTER 6 HOMEWORK

• This chapter discussed several factors that influence the choice of evaluation design. Which of these factors would have the greatest influence on your choice of an evaluation design? Which would have the smallest influence? Explain your choices.

The most important factor in evaluation design is cost, cost is important because the amount of resources devoted to evaluation can help ensure a quality training session. However if evaluation is too expensive it will limit the numbers of trainees that are eligible for training and the evaluation process will be redefined.

The least important factor in evaluation is scale; the number of trainees involved simply changes the size of the training.

• How might you estimate the benefits from a training program designed to teach employees how to use the World Wide Web to monitor stock prices?

Noe says “A numer of methods may be helpful in identifying the benefits of training:
1. Technical, academic, and practitioner literature summarizes the benefits that have been shown to relate to a specific training program.
2. Pilot training programs assess the benefits from a small group of trainees before a company commits more resources.
3. Observance of successful job performers helps a company determine what successful job performers do differently that unsuccessful job performers.
4. Trainees and managers provide estimates of their training benefits.”



• What practical considerations need to be taken into account when calculating a training program's ROI?

1. Identify outcomes (e.g., quality, accidents)
2. Place a value on outcomes
3. Determine the change in performance after eliminating other potential influences on training results.
4. Obtain an annual amount of benefits (operational results) from training by comparing results after training to results before training (in dollars).
5. Determine the training costs (direct costs + indirect costs + development costs + overhead costs + compensation for trainees).
6. Calculate the total savings by subtracting the training costs from benefits (operational results).
7. Calculate the ROI by dividing benefits (operational results) by costs. The ROI gives an estimate of the dollar return expected from each dollar invested in training.