ASTD's Benchmarking Senvice isnow available for use. Any organization, no matter how large or smal, may take advantage ofthis new service, free of charge. One of trainings most vexing prab- lems is how to measure the results o investments inraning and how to compare one company's - ‘sults with those of others. Lack of industry data en the absence of standard measures have fus- ‘tated peonle trying to make decisions about ‘training by comparing proven results. If you want: ed real evidence of what worked and what didn’t ‘Work ouside ol your own company, you were pretty mach out of ick Andifyou wanted to an- wer taining’ biggest question—How does ‘raining affect an organization's profits and eern- ‘ngs?—forgt it. The data and measurement stan- dards fr making goed decisions just haven't been ‘there, Without those han fact, training has lite -anmanition to defend itself against budget cuts ‘and assaitsonits value. Ths frustrating state of affairs led the American Society for Training & Development to conceive ofa benchmarking ser- vie that would build an extensive database of ‘comparative information about raining expend tues from a large numberof organizations— large small, public, and private In acition, ASTD created standardized measures to serve as a com- ‘on ground forthe comparison of rests, Using the Measurement Kit packaged with his issue of Training & Develogment, you cn participate right ‘away, We believe this isthe only standardized method for examining and evaluating the actual cutcomes of training. And we belive that these ‘wo venturos—the Benchmarking Service andthe ‘measurement tools—will hep firms monitor and improve the effectiveness of training and provide eredibie data for industry-wide comparison. leis frequently said that “wat gets mea- ‘sured gets managed "In aition ta collecting data for eross-orgarizatonal comparisons, an important goal ofthe Benchmarking Service is to provide new, widely zotepted measures of train- ing forthe industry asa whole and to create now information on what works in training and what doesnt. That will help establish accountability ‘within the training industry and create a new credibility forthe professionals who work within it This unique database—with comparable in formation across a wide varity of companies — will enable ASTD to assess the training industry today and rack future trends. twill also enable allofusto tackle many ofthe particularly knotty ‘questions that have long bedeviled training pro- fessionals. For example, we can examine Whether there is, as some practitioners believe, ‘relationship between participants’ intial reao- tion to training and a change in thir job perfor- mance. Knowing the answer could propel rapid continuous improvement. In addition, we can compare measures of training investments to ‘change inthe job performance of average trainees. By combining the data fram the Bench- marking Service with public financial data, we ‘an also examine the relationship between training practices and corporate financial performance In short, the ASTD Benchmarking Service will ‘provide the training industry with standedized ‘and widely accepted measures of taining and enhance the credibility of traning professionals ‘through their new capacity 1 use accepted stan- dards to measure their training efforts and out- comes. Youre imited—at na fee—to be part of this exciting, groundbreaking endeavor. Laurie J. Bassi 15 497) vice presicient of research. Scott Cheney is director of ASTD Benchmarking Forum. Daniel P. MoMurrer is AS7D senior research officer. How To PARTICIPATE IN ASTD's FREE BENCHMARKING SERVICE The first toon the Measurement Kit is for benchmarking the investments thatyour organization makes in rain ing. The second to is for diagnosing ‘and benchmarking the outcomes that those investments produce. ASTD will provide you with a free, detailed, and customized benchmarking roport that matches your investments in ‘raining and the outcomes of your in- vestments against (1) those of compa- rable organizations in your industry and 2 the top national benchmark The Sample Page shows you oniy a small axample of he typeof informa: tion you wil ecgive in your eus- tomized report. You will also receive « summary report by ASTD comparing, your organization’ training function to thatofatersin the same industry and of similar ste | The kitconssts OF AWoarts. Part is designed to measure your organiza- tions training and i ree practices and investments ineuding training expenditures, distribution of traning by course typeyand use of Various dtivery methods, Part also collects same necessary background information, such as numberof em- ployeesend industry group. That in formations ertital to. ensure that organizations can be benchmarked against comparable companies. Pert Ils optional However, we encourage your participation because itis the only way wecan compare the actual outcomes of your traning investments to those of other compa ries. Participation in Pert I provides unique information, such as bench- ‘marks of training outeomes and diag nostic feedback through responses to standardized questions Pat con- tains two sets of core evaluation {questions for collecting information from trainees and supervisors on the effects of traning interventionsThose questions corespondaugh- Iybut not exactly —te Kirkpatrick's Lave! (reaction and Level 3 (change in behavior and performance) evalua tions. For the most efectve bench marking of your outcomes, the tools in Port should be used in as many different courses as possible. In addi- tion, you should administer es many of the core questions as possible. In administering some oral ofthe {questions in Pat to employees, ‘most companies will want to supple ‘ment the core questions with ad tional {nonbenchmarkable} questions tallored to address company-specific issues. After your company gathers the responses tothe core questions ‘that you decide to use (discussed in ‘more detail inthe Pat instructions), you can submit the compited results to the Benchmarking Service so that itcan compare them tothe resuits of other companies in your industry and tothe top benchmarks among ll respondents In short, Part |is designed to collect measures related to your organiza ‘ions training investments and should be submited by al participating com- panies. Pert focuses on training out- comes, andit provides a set of core boenchmarkable questions to acmins- ter to trainees and supervisors test mate the effects of taining Call to Employers That Train Low-Wage Workers Of particular interest isthe effectiveness of training for workers with ttle formal educa- tion, many of whom earn relatively low wages. ‘uch workers have much to gain from work plate training because many lack the neces- saty skis to thrive in an increasingly knawledge-dependent economy. But because evidence shows that most companies spend little money training low-wage workers, ithas been difficult to capture and analyze the ef- fects ofthe training they do receive. So, we strongly encourage companies that provide {raining to low-wage warkers to participate in the Benchmarking Service. Further, ifyou ‘would like explore working more closely with ASTD to examine the effects of traning for low-wage workers, contact us by email at BenchService@astd.org or call 703, 839.5841 ‘Tang Bachman ope Pa ene dps one example he neki ts for a ro How the Measurement Kit Was Developed The benchmarking tools inthe Measure ment Kit were developed by firms inthe ASTD Benchmarking Forum—a consortium of leading companies and agencies that share training cata and work together to develop new methods for measuring train- ing inputs and outcomes. Part of tho kit is based on methods de veloped over the past five years by the Benchmarking Forum to collect useful benchmarking data on traning investments and practices. Patil was developed by the Performance Metrics Working Group, a sub- group of the Benchmarking Forum created to devise methods for measuring training ‘outcomes. This cutting-edge group spent ‘more then a year developing and testing methodologies and core questions that can be applied across companies to measure loyees' reaction to training programs associated changes in em- job behavior. Key Dates May 15, 1998 Dsedinoto submit ‘Measurement Kit, Part! September 15, 1998 Deedineto submit Mea surement it Pot (optional) Fall 1996 Al paricpants receive a storied Fart Bench rating Report anda Summary Reporton the tein industry Winter 1998 ar I participants esive acostonized Part Benchmarking Repos The Sunmay por onthe ‘raining industry as & whole—cisbutd toll Berchnatting Serce paricigantsin 1998 — wil ratbe made avilable to nonpatciatng crgaizations uni 1888, Guarantee of Confi- dental: We recognize that some of the requested information might bo progr etary. ASTD guarantees that allinformaton you provide will be kept strictly confiden- tial and anonymous and that weil never ase co pany infrmation infome tion that would identity any person Sond yourresuts to ast Berchmattng Sevice 1640 King Set Alesana, VA 2318 Format infomation, contact the Benetmaking Seve by eral at. BonehSenice@astt og co call 703.898 841 Frainiig SeDevelopment, Merch 1998 14Copyright © 2002 EBSCO Publishing