Telling Training's Story: Evaluation Made Simple, Credible, and Effective

You know it in your gut-training and development is valuable and worthwhile. But as a trainer, you need to prove this fact over and over to clients focused on bottom-line results. While most training evaluation methods are too elaborate, too complex, too costly, too difficult to explain, or worse, produce data that nobody believes, Telling Training's Story offers a simple, compelling way of evaluating training's impact- The Success Case Method (SCM). Based on careful analysis of participants' first-person accounts of their experiences in a training initiative, SCM doesn't just measure the impact of training, but pinpoints the very factors that make or break training success. Filled with examples, illustrations, tools, and checklists, Telling Training's Story not only shares the power of the Success Case Method to evaluate training, it also offers practical step-by-step guidelines for increasing the ROI of future learning and performance initiatives.

Table of Contents:
Preface 1. Making the Case for Training Impact 2. Step-by-step: How the Success Case Method Works 3. Success Case Method Strategy: Using Evaluation to Build Organisational Learning Savvy 4. Using Impact Models to Define Expectations for Results 5. Forging a Workable Evaluation Plan 6. Fishing for Success: the Success Case Survey 7. Sorting the Catch: Successes, Non–Successes, and Near-Misses 8. Getting the Stories Straight: the Success Case Interview 9. Going Forward from the Data: Success Case ConclusionsCase Examples 10. Applying the Success Case Method to Sales Training at Grundfos in Europe and Around the Globe (Conny Bauer) 11. Applying the Success Case Method to Leadership Development and Coaching at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Inc. (Scott Blanchard and Dennis Dressler) 12. Applying the Success Case Method to Executive Development at Allstate, Inc. (Tim Mooney and Debbie Kuby) 13. Applying the Success Case Method to Technical Training at Hewlett-Packard (Cheryl Brogan and Carmie Boutin)

About the Author :
Robert O. Brinkerhoff, an internationally recognized expert in evaluation and training effectiveness, has provided consultation to dozens of major companies and organizations in the United States, South Africa, Russia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia. Dr. Brinkerhoff's clients include leading companies and agencies in virtually all corporate, government agency, and non-profit sectors. An author of numerous books on evaluation and training, Dr. Brinkerhoff, has been a keynote speaker and presenter at hundreds of conferences and institutes worldwide. Many leading corporations and agencies have adopted his methods and tools for training evaluation and effectiveness.

Review :
No messy statistics, no complicated formulae, no squishy metrics. Brinkerhoff's Success Case Method is a robust and elegant approach to delivering substantive and believable evaluation data about the measurable impact of training and HR interventions.” —Marguerite Foxon, PhD, Principal Performance Technologist, Motorola "I like the approach that Brinkerhoff has used.... You, the reader will be able to adapt his solutions to your own." —Donald L. Kirkpatrick, PhD, author of Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels "The Success Case method is the most relevant and compelling way to put educational results in the right light, and reach the results you’re after.” —Louise Korver-Swanson, Senior Vice President, Executive Development, Bank of America "This book is a ‘must’ for anyone who is serious about learning solutions and the results they can produce. The Success Case Method is simple and practical while yielding compelling and reliable information on training results."  —Dana Gaines Robinson, coauthor of Performance Consulting: Moving Beyond Training and Strategic Business Partner: Aligning People Strategies with Business Goals