The last step in our approach is to measure the impact of our work:

• Is training reaching the audience?
• Does it make a difference?

These groupings of KPIs are essential for making training effective. We can give a wonderful presentation of a new concept, if the audience does not understand and implement it, the training itself is wasted.

We prefer to measure leading and lagging indicators. Leading indicators deal with interest, turnout, participation, satisfaction and management support. Lagging indicators are those defined to measure the desired changes in the organization. Using post-training audit tools like 4-week-later surveys, we can determine whether the training made a difference.

Another element of training metrics is the measurement of the training itself. Here we ask:

• Which topic raised the most interest, which created the most resistance?
• Which topics had the most participation?
• Where do the ideas of management and participants diverge the most?
• Did the Train-the-Trainer approach work?
• What topics are not yet covered? Which ones did the audience expect?

As part of the engagement, our clients receive a report of these findings with pointers on how to improve the training effectiveness. We can use these to tweak the training for the next event.