Measuring success is an important topic for HR professionals and trainers; after all, your clients expect performance for their money. So how can I provide my superiors with proof of the success of my further training measures? Donald Kirkpatrick has developed a 4-level model that helps you do just that.
For companies, it is important to know that the training they pay for really delivers the desired effect. Ultimately, such measures should help employees develop relevant professional competencies, skills, and knowledge that bring long-term benefits to the company. As early as the late 1950s, economist Donald Kirkpatrick developed a corresponding evaluation model for measuring training programs to prove their benefit.
This model can be applied to various further training measures: especially with predominantly digital training, you as the person responsible must know the value of the training and communicate it clearly. We will show you which four stages you should consider when measuring the success of your further training measures:
The Kirkpatrick Model at a Glance
The Four Levels of Success Evaluation in the Kirkpatrick Model
According to Kirkpatrick, you start creating your model at the final stage – the results. Ultimately, companies are primarily interested in the goals achieved. From there, you work your way forward to the participants. You should ask yourself the following questions on each level according to the new Kirkpatrick Model:
4. Results: What benefit does your client or company receive?
At the very top of success measurement is your client's business success. The Results level asks to what extent the target outcomes of the training were achieved, and how these contribute to the company's goals. The focus here is on the benefit to the entire company rather than the development of an individual participant.
The goal does not always have to be fully met. Even small developments and impulses from employees towards the company goal are crucial. After all, it can already be a great success if employees' behavior develops in the right direction, helping to achieve goals in the long run.
3. Behavior: What learnings do your participants implement in their daily work routine?
At this level, you look at how the participants of your training actually apply what they have learned in the workplace. The question is whether the behavior of your participants has changed after the training.
Factors that lead to a change in behavior also play an important role. These should, of course, be reinforced so that participants apply what they have learned in their daily work routine over the long term. Ideally, as the training coordinator, you should conduct discussions with participants and managers to highlight these factors and the changes associated with them.
Particularly in the case of digital or hybrid learning formats, it is also worthwhile to define concrete transfer indicators, such as measurable changes in behavior or key performance indicators. This turns a subjective assessment into a traceable measurement of success that also holds weight at the management level.
2. Learning: What did your participants learn during the training?
The learning process is examined at the second level. It asks whether your participants' knowledge, skills, and abilities have improved.
This does not only query the competencies acquired by your participants; small progress is also crucial. After all, it also counts that your participants integrate their new knowledge into their daily work routine and try to implement it. Changes can also show through a higher commitment to the employer, from which the company also benefits.
1. Reaction: How did your participants like the training?
On the Reaction level, participants are surveyed about how they liked your training. It is not only content-related topics such as the variety of methods, the completeness of the training, or the relevance of the topic that are considered. The general conditions also play an important role in satisfaction with your measure.
If participants are dissatisfied, learning motivation drops and so does your training success. You can see how your methods and measures are received by the participants. Ask them directly what they liked or disliked and apply this input to the next training session.
Conclusion
Further training is successful when it develops a measurable impact on behavior and business results – not just positive reactions from participants.
The Kirkpatrick Model helps you view training systematically and not just stop at superficial feedback. By thinking backward from the desired results and consistently working through the four levels, you create transparency about the actual benefit of your measures.
In this way, further training is not perceived as a cost factor, but as a strategic lever for competency development and business success.
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
What is the most important difference between participant satisfaction and training success?
Participant satisfaction only shows how a training session was perceived. The Kirkpatrick Model makes it clear that true training success only occurs when participants change their behavior, thereby achieving measurable results in the company.
Why is a feedback form alone not enough to evaluate training?
Feedback forms primarily capture the participants' reactions to content, methods, or general conditions. However, they do not show whether knowledge is applied in the long term or whether the training actually contributes to achieving company goals.
How can the change in behavior after a training measure be measured?
Changes in behavior can be made visible through transfer indicators, for example, through changed workflows, better collaboration, higher productivity, or concrete key performance indicators. Discussions with participants and supervisors also help in the assessment.
Which level of the Kirkpatrick Model is most important for companies?
For companies, the fourth level, "Results," is particularly crucial. This level examines whether the training has a measurable impact on business goals, such as quality, efficiency, revenue, or employee development.
