CIPD: Evaluating L&D in a Knowledge Economy Presentation

This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of Learning and Development (L&D) evaluation. It begins by defining evaluation, exploring its various types (formative, summative, process, outcome, impact), and outlining its purposes (diagnostics, measurement, experimentation). The presentation then delves into the role of evaluation within L&D processes, emphasizing the importance of knowledge transfer and its impact on Return on Investment (ROI). It introduces key L&D evaluation theories, including Utilization-Focused, Values-Engaged, and Empowerment evaluation, comparing their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, the presentation details the evaluation process, including data sources, the Kirkpatrick Model, and methods of analysis (qualitative and quantitative). Finally, it addresses challenges in L&D evaluation, such as cost and the difficulty in measuring certain aspects, and explores the relevance of L&D evaluation within a knowledge economy, highlighting its impact on intellectual capital and the need for innovation. The Zocdoc case study illustrates the practical application of these concepts.

Learning and Development
Evaluation

Introduction
Learning and development is apart of every organization. Organizations are required to train their employees using a myriad
of techniques and training programmes. However, a crucial part of learning and development is evaluation, an aspect that is
often forgotten. This presentation in an introduction to evaluation in a Learning and development Environment. (CIPD, 2015)
“‘...half of learning and development content is developed from scratch by internal/external L&D practitioners.’” (CIPD, 2015)

1.1Evaluation: Definition, Types and Purpose
This section will acquaint user with the definition of evaluation, some basic types and the
purpose of conducting evaluation

Definition
"Evaluation is a process that critically examines a program. It involves collecting and analyzing information about a program's
activities, characteristics, and outcomes. Its purpose is to make judgments about a program, to improve its effectiveness, and/or to
inform programming decisions development of an internal structure or heirachial ranking of jobs". (Patton, 1987).

Types of Evaluation
There are various types of evaluation, Most Notably: (The Regenets of the University of Minnesota, 2018)
Formative Evaluation
Summative Evaluation

Types of Evaluation (Contd..)
Some other types of evaluation are:
Process Evaluation

Types of Evaluation (Contd..)
Outcome Evaluation

Types of Evaluation (contd.)
Impact Evaluation

Purposes of Evaluation
a) Diagnostics
b) Measurement
c) Experimentation/ Exploration

1.2 Evaluation in the L & D Environment
This section is a very brief introduction to some theories that postulate some ideas
regarding what consists of a good evaluation and how evaluation in a learning and
development environment must be approached.

Learning and Development Evaluation in a Modern
Firm
The Case Study of Zocdoc:
Zocdoc is a digital healthcare Company that allows patients to book doctor appointments online. In this process, the Company is required to
store large amounts of data regarding doctors, patients, insurance networks etc. The company reached a critical mass of patient and doctor
operations where it's data storage architecture capacity began to fall short and the Company had to transfer their business data from local
server architecture to cloud using a third party cloud management system. The firm had to teach all of it's development employees new
software development techniques to migrate to the Cloud. The firm also decided to train its non-programmer employees in SQL. In 12
months, the Company taught various teams to use newer software architecture techniques as well as SQL. Using SQL allowed Zocdoc to save
costs of server, improve the efficiency of database and also allowed better "deep learning" which would allow the Company to match patients
with doctors more efficiently by creating more efficient algorithms and data models.(Amazon Web Services, 2017), (Smith, 2017)

Evaluation in L&D Environment
● Learning and Development process can be extremely personal. Hence, no
learning and development programme can be one size fits all. Evaluation
helps make the process fit better and contextual to the organization
● It is likely that employee welfare would be disregarded in the process of
conducting an L&D programme, Learning and Development Evaluation may
help highlight employee needs and help solve the problems of employees.
(Allamano, 2018)