Using the Critical Outcome Technique to Demonstrate Financial and Organizational Performance Results

Abstract

The problem and the solution. It has been shown that managers prefer results-type evaluation when making decisions about how to invest in human resource development (HRD) activities. Unfortunately, in the absence of using rigorous, front-end performance analysis to identify outcomes for evaluation, most practitioners are faced with a complex array of tools and techniques to perform post-hoc analyses of their HRD efforts. This article demonstrates how Critical Outcome Technique can be used as a simple and effective way to demonstrate the effectiveness of HRD programs. Of importance in program evaluation are the constructs of the evaluation process, organizational culture, evaluation context, and decision-maker perceptions of the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of evaluation reports.

Benefits of Training and Development for Individuals and Teams, Organizations, and Society

“…Another leading consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamilton, believes in developing workers as a long-term competitive advantage and manages its learning functions as revenue centers (Fox 2003). Managers and other decision makers in these organizations prefer information and data on business-related results to make decisions about how to allocate resources, including resources for training activities (Mattson 2005). Training for the sake of training, an approach that focuses on developmental ideals and supportive organizational environments, is not aligned with today's business realities, including compressed career progression pathways, budgetary cuts and constraints, highly competitive environments, and market-driven economic philosophies (McGuire et al 2005).…”

Training Evaluation: Knowing More Than Is Practiced

“…This approach requires training and HRD professionals to incorporate stakeholder requirements into the design, development, and delivery of training, increasing stakeholder interest in the outcomes and in evaluating those outcomes in ways that offer meaning and value to all the stakeholders. Other latest methodological development of organizational impact for training programs also includes learning effectiveness measurement approach that focuses on the relationship between training and business causal chain (Spitzer, 2005), and critical outcome technique that concentrates on result-oriented program evaluation (Mattson, 2005).…”

Improving sexual harassment and sexual assault training effectiveness by aligning training efforts with business strategy

“…Such results-type criteria tend to be favored by managers and increase perceptions of training effectiveness (Aguinis & Kraiger, 2009), contribute to the continued allocation of company resources to training initiatives (Mattson, 2005), and may even lead government policymakers to subsidize organizational costs through external resource allocation (Bartel, 2000). Indeed, evidence suggests that strategically aligned programs may very well warrant additional investment.…”