!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> Streamline Training & Documentation: Evaluating Development Experiences

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Evaluating Development Experiences

In an earlier post, I talked about the importance of taking time for planning and monitoring employees' development.

Here, as a follow-on, I'd like to highlight a tool for evaluating development activities that I've found effective. It's adapted from an interview template offered in The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development.

The interview asks an employee about the overall impact of the development experience, the degree to which the experience helped meet developmental goals, complementary coaching, and suggestions for improving the experience.

Overall impact
  • What was the best aspect of this development experience for you?

  • What are the two or three most important ways the development experience has helped you?

  • What are you doing differently compared to a year ago that is a reflection of this development experience?

  • Has any aspect of this development experience helped you bring about improvements in your group? If so, describe those improvements and how they happened.

Developmental goals
  • To what degree has this development experience met the developmental goals it was intended to address? What capabilities have you enhanced?

  • What, if anything, impeded your achievement of the targeted developmental goals?

  • In retrospect, were these the most appropriate goals to focus on?

Coaching
  • What kind of coaching have you received?

  • What benefits have you derived from the coaching?

  • Would more frequent or detailed coaching have been helpful? If so, what are some examples of where you think additional coaching would have increased and/or accelerated your learning?

  • Were there ways your coach(es) could have been more effective? If so, please give details.

Suggestions for improvement
  • How can we improve this development experience?

  • Do you have suggestions for individualizing the experience to make it fit the needs of different employees?

Note that you may also want to speak with people who work with the employee in order to deepen your understanding of the impact of the development experience on the individual and on your organization.

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