Return on investment has been a hot topic of conversation at Trainers’ Library®? recently – as I’m sure it’s been for many of you. (When is it not?)
In a recent Peer-Power Hour, we discussed the idea of reframing a Return on Investment as a Return on Expectations, which as a concept, I really like.
And in my last Insight, I highlighted some of the challenges with traditional tools used to evaluate the effectiveness of learning and development and, in particular, the risk of ‘double counting’ benefits. If you didn’t see that Insight,
you can read it here.
And I talked too about the value of stories in measuring the impact of change.
On the back of this, I've been working on a new framework for evaluating training, which is, hopefully, easy to remember, and easy to use: SHIFTS.
Firstly, I love SHIFTS as an acronym because it contains an implication of change – and as I’ve argued many times before, learning and development should always result in change – a change in beliefs, attitudes and/or behaviours that benefit individuals, teams and organisations.
So, what is SHIFTS and how should you use it?
Let’s look at each element in turn.
S – Success Criteria
- What was the training expected to deliver?
- What challenge was it intended to address?
- What behavioural change was sought?
Here’s a top tip – make sure you know the success criteria before you even start developing the training programme! Too often, when managers and leaders are asked what they want training to achieve, they’ll use on trend phrases like “we need people to have a growth mindset.” As an expectation, that’s vague and very difficult to measure, which makes any form of meaningful evaluation difficult.
So, as Learning and Development consultants, we have to be stronger. We need to challenge leaders to define exactly what changes they expect. What specifically will people be doing differently if the training is successful? What visible changes will there be to how people perform tasks? How will people feel and behave differently?
And we need to ensure that those attending the training share the same expectations, or, at least have clear expectations that are aligned with the organisation’s big-picture goals.
Understanding everyone’s expectations before we start avoids setting ourselves up for failure - and establishes a clear benchmark for success.
H - Highlights
- What hit home during the training?
- What key ideas, insights or moments stood out most?
- What made you (the learner) think differently?
This is the part that will help you identify what really stuck and what generated those all-important lightbulb moments that excite and energise learners.
And where, perhaps, you need to redesign elements of the training to make it more engaging, impactful or learner-led.
I – Impact
- What impact did the training have?
- How has your thinking, confidence or understanding changed?
- What feels different compared to before?
This is about understanding how the learning has affected the individual's thinking, and how it inspired and motivated them to implement required changes.
F – Follow Through
- What actions have you taken to implement the learning?
- What changes have you made?
- What is being done differently?
- Who has supported that and how?
- How has the learning been embedded in the way you work and/or the team/organisation’s culture?
This is all about the actual transfer of learning to the workplace. It’s about identifying how the impact has resulted in clear actions and change.
T - Tangible Improvements
- What improvements have you, your team or the organisation witnessed?
- How has the customer experience changed?
- How has your experience or that of your colleagues improved?
- What visible evidence of improvement can we see?
Simply put, have those actions resulted in a positive improvements we can see and identify?
S – Support
What further help or support is needed?
The final S is about further support that will help individuals maximise the impact of the learning and about identifying next steps in the learning and development journey.
In conclusion:
In my last Insight, I talked about the value of the individual experience and of anecdotal evidence that supports the impact training has had. However, stories can be vague, incomplete or superficial – lacking the evidence the business needs to see if it’s to be convinced that investment in learning and development is not just desirable, but essential.
Using a framework like SHIFTS helps us capture stories and frame them in a way that is powerful and persuasive.
I'd love to know what you think of SHIFTS and how it could be improved, so please drop me a line with your thoughts!