The evaluation of your professional training: a long-term strategic approach

While 42% of 18-25 year olds and 41% of executives express a strong interest in professional training, the topic of training evaluation is often neglected initially. This is due to obvious budgetary reasons, but also sometimes due to a lack of time or knowledge. Nonetheless, professional training is now deemed essential for maintaining and improving employees' skills within organizations.

The 2024 budget from France Compétences confirms that investment in skills continues to grow. However, given the amounts involved, it is equally crucial to determine whether these trainings actually achieve their objectives. This is where training evaluation comes in, a strategic pillar for SoWeSoft, ensuring that investments in training are used wisely and contribute to employee employability and the overall performance of the organization.

The evaluation of professional training is an essential process for several reasons, and these reasons often vary depending on whether you are a private or public organization. However, some common motives exist:

• Budget optimization: Each training program represents a significant investment for the company. By evaluating training programs, it is possible to determine which ones are the most effective and offer the best return on investment. This allows for optimal resource allocation and focuses efforts on the most beneficial training.
   
• Employability of participants: One of the main goals of professional training is to enhance skills and knowledge on key topics to ultimately increase employability. Rigorous evaluation measures the real impact of training on participants' skills, ensuring that professional development objectives are achieved.
   
• Organizational performance: Effective training leads to better employee performance, which translates into overall improvements in efficiency and productivity within the company. Evaluating training helps identify areas needing improvement and take steps to optimize organizational performance.

"Having a dedicated solution for training evaluation allows feedback to be transformed into powerful levers for improving programs, by precisely aligning objectives with the specific needs of each organization."

Julien Berquin, Director of Partnerships at SoWeSoft

At SoWeSoft, we understand that an effective training evaluation requires a dedicated solution. Here are the main advantages of our approach:

• Client-specific knowledge: Each organization is unique, with its own needs and challenges. Our team takes the time to thoroughly understand our clients' activities, enabling us to offer personalized evaluation solutions perfectly tailored to their specificities.
• Recognized expertise: Our teams are certified in the Kirkpatrick methodology, a globally recognized approach for evaluating training programs. This expertise allows us to support the implementation of high-quality evaluations based on proven standards, ensuring reliable and relevant results.
• Collaboration and partnership: Training evaluation is not an isolated process. It requires close collaboration between our team and our clients. By working together, we can identify the specific goals of each training program, develop appropriate evaluation criteria, and analyze the results to meet the established objectives.

Evaluating professional training is essential for any company aiming to maximize the effectiveness of its training programs. Having quantitative performance metrics is the best way to support the implemented strategy. At SoWeSoft, we offer dedicated solutions based on a deep understanding of your business and continuously updated with the expertise of our Kirkpatrick-certified teams. By working closely with our clients' training teams, we help them achieve their goals related to employee employability and organizational performance.

• Kirkpatrick Partners - The Kirkpatrick Model : A detailed resource on the Kirkpatrick Model, used globally for training evaluation.

• Training Industry - Training Evaluation : Articles and resources on best practices in training evaluation. 

• Analyse du marché de la formation professionnelle en France 2023 : An overview of market expertise from one of our key partners, Training Orchestra.