Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Model for Hotel Training Evaluation

Introduction to Training Evaluation

There are a number of ways to measure training effectiveness. A basic framework that can be used is Kirkpatrick's four-level training evaluation model. The model is based on the idea that training should affect employees at all four levels, and that each level can be measured in order to understand how effective the training was. The four levels are reaction, learning, behavior, and results (MindTools, 2014). With respect to the hotel's training program, the participatory nature of the training should allow us to evaluate on the reaction level. This will be a subjective evaluation to determine whether participants are excited about working through the scenarios and engaged with the content.

Learning can be measured with a short quiz, just to get a sense of whether the basic concepts are sinking in. This should take only five or ten minutes, but will afford us the opportunity to ensure that everybody understands the fundamentals. Behavior and results become more important after the training has been completed. This is when we examine employee behaviors — for example, by direct observation and by gathering supervisor reports about whether behavior changes have occurred. For instance: Are employees taking more ownership of issues? Are they escalating problems appropriately? And how is this affecting overall organizational performance? The result we are looking to achieve from this program is an improvement in customer service scores, which can be measured directly through customer surveys, complaint tracking, and online reviews — the same channel through which the problem was originally identified.

Measuring Reaction and Learning

For the reaction level, surveys will be completed by the trainers while participants are taking the quiz that measures learning. The survey will be brief, covering questions about trainer observations of participants during the training session. An independent evaluation will also be conducted to avoid any concern that trainers might shade their responses if they fear that poor participant reaction will reflect negatively on them. This also serves as an indirect test of trainer attributes — such as enthusiasm and customer service orientation — since these are traits expected at the point of hire, and the training environment reveals whether they remain present.

The quiz will focus on core concepts. Rather than testing specifics such as departmental reporting structures, it will assess whether employees remember the customer service slogan and can identify the different divisions of the hotel. Participants will also be asked why the training is being conducted, since explaining the rationale is used as a motivational tool. The quiz is therefore primarily a test of employee knowledge rather than procedural recall.

Evaluating Behavior Through Performance

Testing for skills is a more complex matter, particularly for soft skills such as customer service. It is important that workers be evaluated on the basis of their real-world performance, because that is ultimately what matters. To that end, new customer service elements will be incorporated into performance evaluations. Workers will be assessed on behaviors such as "takes ownership of customer problems," "escalates issues when necessary," and "ensures that the customer is satisfied before ending communication." These are the behaviors the training is designed to develop, and embedding them in formal evaluations ensures they are tested and tracked consistently over time.

References

MindTools. (2014). Kirkpatrick's four-level training evaluation model. MindTools. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/kirkpatrick.htm