Outsourced, custom training programs are some of the greatest investments a learning and development team will make on an annual basis. Yet, these outsourced investments are rarely measured to clarify how much they moved the needle with organizational performance and strategic business goals.
You’ve likely heard it said, “If you cannot measure it, it doesn’t matter.” Don’t let investments in custom training leave your stakeholders wondering if those costly investments were worth it. Use one of these three tactical approaches to measure outcomes and prove to yourself and your stakeholders that investments in training truly matter for your organization.
The Elephant in the Room: Why We Don’t Measure Training Outcomes
Before we get into the tactical, let’s address why outsourced custom training often isn’t measured in terms of performance and business outcomes.
My good friend and fellow impact measurement expert Kevin M. Yates reminds us, “If we want to make an impact, we must plan for impact.” Similarly, if we want to save money, we must budget. If we want a successful business, we need a business plan. If we want to lose weight, we need a weekly regime. No program can realistically expect to achieve goals without a plan to achieve them.
The honest truth around why outsourced custom training initiatives aren’t regularly measured? Because no one made a plan.
My dad loves to say, “Proper planning prevents poor performance.” So let’s dive into how we can plan properly to increase our chances of achieving our performance goals!
Don’t let investments in custom training leave your stakeholders wondering if those costly investments were worth it. Prove it.
The Quick Win That Changes Everything
Conversations about measurement and data generally make people’s eyes glaze over. So here’s a quick win to get us started!
Imagine your boss emails: “We need conflict resolution training for our middle-managers. Can you hire the best vendor to help us roll out training over the next 6 months?”
Ready for the quick win? Respond to your boss’s email with this strategic intake question: “We’d be happy to support you by finding the best provider. To help me select the best partner and provide the greatest return on investment, can you tell me what you observed with our middle-managers that this training would help address?”
This question invites your training requestor to reflect on specific observations versus opinions, and it frames training as a solution to some expected outcome. With this one question, you’re likely to get two possible metrics to evaluate outcomes.
This question is also powerful because it communicates that training is an enabler of a desired change. Training and learning are never the goal–they’re enablers of performance evolution. My friend and performance improvement expert Holly Burkett says that learning is never the objective of our training investments. It’s what people do with the learning that are our prized objectives.
When we ask training requestors to share what they observed, we invite them to share problems that are likely measurable. When we ask what training will address, we invite them to share performance-focused solutions.
From One Question to Three Metrics (and a Business Outcome)
Let’s say your boss responds:
“Ever since we promoted three new middle managers from within, tenured managers are complaining to directors that new managers aren’t doing their jobs. Instead of going directly to new managers with constructive feedback, they avoid difficult conversations and just complain to the person above them. This is causing tension and everyone’s productivity is suffering.
We want this training to equip managers with tools to initiate difficult conversations, provide constructive feedback to peers, and stop complaining to directors. We’d like to see more conflicts resolved without directors needing to get involved.”
Can you identify the three performance-focused metrics? Here they are:
- Have more difficult conversations with peers.
- Navigate conflict directly versus involving directors.
- Provide thoughtful constructive feedback when problems are observed.
And the business outcome? Productivity.
With this one question, we have three performance-focused goals and one business outcome. Now you’re equipped to tell custom training providers specifically what you expect from your investment. And you’ve empowered your training provider to target exactly what information, practice, and feedback should be featured in the training initiative.
The Data Collection Challenge
Just because we’ve clarified our performance and business outcomes doesn’t guarantee we’ll have the data we need to evaluate our program’s success.
Option 1: When You Have Access to Performance Data
In an ideal world, you can present your training initiative and its corresponding goals to a member of your business intelligence, data analysis, or operations team and ask what data you can use to evaluate your investment.
The approach:
- Use the strategic intake question shared above and identify performance and business outcomes.
- Present your training initiative and specific outcomes to someone who has access to the performance data you need.
- Ask them to help you figure out what data is best to evaluate your desired outcomes.
Easy peasy. Until… you’re told the performance data you desire is not accessible.
Option 2: When You Don’t Have Access to Performance Data (But Can Embed Data Collection)
One common challenge is that learning teams don’t have access to performance data when evaluating outcomes. Don’t worry! This presents an opportunity to collect your own performance outcome data.
The approach:
- Ask the strategic intake question shared above and identify performance and business outcomes (you may need to use the 5-whys root cause analysis).
- Brainstorm with your training vendor: “What are all the ways we can collect data within the training solution to evaluate our performance and business outcomes?”
Here’s how that might look with our conflict resolution example:
Performance goals: Create a rubric establishing expectations for providing constructive feedback and initiating difficult conversations. Use scenarios or role plays where participants self-assess and receive trainer or peer assessment using the rubric.
Business goals: Ask questions at the start and at key milestones to evaluate participants’ perspective on productivity. Track changes over time:
- Are you clear on your productivity goals as a middle-manager?
- What percentage of your productivity goals are you accomplishing every month?
- What currently gets in the way of achieving your productivity goals?
- What currently helps you complete your productivity goals?
Every training provider has the capability to integrate data collection into their program. If they don’t, or if they’re resistant—don’t hire them! Work collaboratively with your provider to identify the right times during the initiative to collect data.
Option 3: When You Can’t Access Performance Data AND Can’t Integrate Custom Data Collection
This is the most complex measurement situation. You should rarely find yourself here–I know it occurs due to technology limitations, data privacy circumstances, or the training environment, but it should be very rare!
The approach:
Share your performance and business outcomes and ask how you might use their native tools to monitor progress toward your goals.
Begin by asking the strategic intake question and identifying outcomes before you’ve identified a prospective vendor.
When interviewing providers, tell them capturing outcomes is important. Ask: “What capabilities do you currently provide in terms of data collection that is native to your technology platform?” Look for: quizzes, discussion forums, interview questions, ability to track clicks/views/downloads.
The Bottom Line: Make Measurement Non-Negotiable
Here’s the truth: measuring the outcomes of your investments in outsourced training isn’t optional—it’s essential. Without measurement, you’re flying blind, unable to prove ROI or improve future investments.
The good news? You now have three tactical approaches to measure outcomes, no matter your data access situation. Start with that one strategic intake question, clarify your performance and business outcomes, and choose the measurement path that fits your reality.
Your stakeholders are counting on you to make smart training investments. Don’t let another program launch without a measurement plan.
Ready to measure what matters? Start your next training conversation with the intake question and watch how quickly clarity emerges.
Guest Author
Dr. Alaina Szlachta, an academic-turned-entrepreneur, is the founder of By Design Development Solutions, helping expert consultants and learning leaders use data effectively to generate revenue and make a demonstrable difference for the people they serve. Drawing on her background as a researcher and public health educator, she specializes in data strategy and systems implementation (collection, analysis, and workflows). She is also the author of the ATD Press book, “Measurement and Evaluation on a Shoestring,” a resource written to make M&E easier and more accessible for anyone – regardless of their expertise.
