Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs • The Skilled Facilitator • Trainer Basics • Facilitation Basics
Two of the most central issues in the field of HR development are explored in-depth in recent books on return on investment. Jack Phillips looks at the business purpose of training and how the benefits can best be measured and communicated, while Roger Schwarz examines the skills needed for effective facilitation.
Featured after that are two introductory self-help books on the basics of training and facilitation. New trainers or those subject matter experts who find themselves playing a new training and facilitation role may benefit from these overviews of what’s involved.
Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs
By Jack Phillips, 375 pages, Butterworth Heinemann, 2nd ed. (2003)
ISBN 0-7506-7601-9
At bookstores or www.bh.com
Jack Phillips is well-known for several groundbreaking books on measurement and return on investment (ROI) in the HR profession. The first edition of this book on training ROI made a significant impact on the HR development front and this new edition comes at a time when the subject has gained even greater importance.
From the preface: “Several issues are driving the increased interest in ROI. Pressure from clients and senior managers to show the return on their training investment is probably the most influential driver. Competitive economic pressures are causing intense scrutiny of all expenditures, including all training and development costs. Total quality management, re-engineering, and Six Sigma have created a renewed interest in measurement and evaluation, including measuring the effectiveness of training. The general trend toward accountability with all staff support groups is causing some (HR development) departments to measure their contribution. These and other factors have created an unprecedented wave of application of the ROI process.”
The book presents a comprehensive ROI methodology covering planning and chapters address:
•key issues and trends in ROI measurement;
•overview of the ROI model;
•collecting data (records, observations, tests, surveys, interviews and focus groups);
•isolating the effects of training;
•converting data to monetary values;
•tabulating program costs;
•calculating the return;
•identifying intangible measures;
•ROI forecasting: why, how and when;
•communicating results; and
•implementation (overcoming resistance to ROI, preparing HR development staff and the management team).
Readers will find case studies, detailed examples, research findings and lists of reference articles and books. There’s also an assessment survey for managers: “How results-based are your training and development programs?” This can be used to raise awareness and gain support for ROI efforts and for accountable HR development programs.
The Skilled Facilitator
By Roger Schwarz, 407 pages, Jossey-Bass, revised (2002) ISBN 0-7879-4723-7
Distributed by Wiley Canada, 1-800-567-4794, www.wiley.com
A decade after the first edition of this landmark guide, the new and revised edition of Schwarz’s “comprehensive resource for consultants, facilitators, managers, trainers and coaches” is out. This reference and instructional book is a must for anyone with a serious interest in serving as a facilitator with management, employee or other stakeholder groups.
Fundamental to the book is recognition of the importance of facilitation skills for the third-party facilitator (process expert, content-neutral), the consultant (who also brings content expertise) or the coach, trainer or leader — formal or informal — at any organizational level. The different positioning of these facilitative roles is significant, but they have a common goal “to guide groups toward realizing their creative and problem-solving potential.”
The introductory sections of the book describe the facilitator role and the associated values, skills, contributions and challenges. There’s also an in-depth overview of group effectiveness, ground rules and behaviours that enhance, or hinder, effective outcomes.
The author distinguishes between basic facilitation (which aims to help a group solve a problem or accomplish as task) and developmental facilitation (which, in addition, helps the group improve its process):
“A basic facilitator fulfills her responsibility to the group by designing an effective process for the group to accomplish its work, acting consistently with the core values, identifying for the group when members have acted inconsistently (or consistently) with principles of effective group behaviour and letting the group make free and informed choices on the basis of the facilitator’s interventions. In addition, a developmental facilitator helps group members learn how to identify when they have acted inconsistently with principles of effective group behaviour, how to explore the conditions that create the ineffective behaviour and how to change these conditions to generate more effective behaviour.”
Four core values are central to the skilled facilitator approach. Schwarz bases his model largely on the work of Chris Argyris and Donald Schon, authors of the 1974 book Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness.
•Valid information: Share information in a way that enables others to understand the facilitator’s reasoning and, ideally, to determine for themselves whether the information shared is accurate. This means sharing all information relevant to an issue, including assumptions and feelings about how the issue is being addressed.
•Free and informed choice: The facilitator does not change people’s behaviour. The facilitator provides information that enables people to decide whether to change their own behaviour. If they decide to, the facilitator helps them learn how to change.
•Internal commitment to the choice: The facilitator feels personally responsible for the choices made. If people are internally committed to a decision, there is little need for traditional over-the-shoulder monitoring to make sure they are really doing what they said they would do.
•Compassion: A stance toward others in which judgment is temporarily suspended, evoking empathy.
Specific chapters provide a wealth of insight, theory, examples and guidelines on facilitation:
•deciding whether, how and why to intervene;
•using ground rules;
•combining facilitation with other processes including problem-solving, process improvement, action planning, developing a vision, values or mission;
•beginning and ending meetings;
•dealing with emotions;
•contracting on how to work together;
•working with another facilitator;
•serving as facilitator in your own organization; and
•facilitative skills as a leadership core competency.
Underlying the entire approach is the need to minimize the group’s ongoing dependence on the facilitator. There’s also advice on when to leave the facilitator role in order to assume a mediation, evaluation or content-expertise role.
Practical resources at the end of the book include sample group process ground rules, a letter and agenda for a planning meeting, guidelines for contract development, a sample facilitation agreement, questions for co-facilitators and guidelines for using experiential exercises and self-knowledge instruments.
Also available from Jossey-Bass is Facilitating with Ease!, a step-by-step guidebook with worksheets on CD-ROM (by Ingrid Bens, 206 pages, 2000, ISBN 0-7879-5194-3). It covers facilitation practices and tools, an overview of the stages of a facilitation process, ways to better understand participants and their needs, and how to handle conflict, meeting management, decision-making and process designs to meet specific objectives.
Trainer Basics
By George Piskurich, 132 pages, ASTD Press (2003)
ISBN 1-56286-350-9
www.astd.org
This brief overview with its emphasis on “how to” may be useful to new trainers or those who want a better understanding of the role in order to select, coach and manage trainers. It may also be valuable as an introduction to training for those subject matter experts or line employees selected to serve as occasional trainers or to fill project training roles.
Like Facilitation Basics, reviewed below, this book is part of the American Society for Training and Development’s (ASTD) Training Basics Series (along with titles on training design, presentation skills, communication and performance).
The book aims to answer three basic questions:
•What does a trainer do and why?
•How can I develop must-have skills quickly?
•How do I apply training knowledge today?
While the book is understandably more successful on the first count than on the others, it offers a good starting point and could form the outline of a skill development curriculum for trainers.
The introductory section differentiates between training and education, explains instructional design and defines terms such as attendee, audience, student, trainee, participant and learner. This is followed by a non-technical overview of adult learning theory encapsulated in two summary statements: “Good trainers pay attention to why adults want to learn. Failure to do so can often lead to training that no one really wants or can use” and “Your training is not successful unless your learners have actually learned what you intended them to learn. Assessment is necessary to find this out.”
Subsequent chapters outline approaches to analyzing training needs, the importance of learning objectives and use of several levels of evaluation. The topic “Creating a training program” touches on delivery options: classroom, one-on-one, self-directed and e-learning. An outline of skills and tools for trainers includes classroom presentation and facilitation skills, as well as project management. For more on facilitation, see the book below.
Facilitation Basics
By Donald McCain and Deborah Tobey, 168 pages, ASTD Press (2004) ISBN 1-56286-361-4
www.astd.org
A good complement to Trainer Basics, reviewed above, but here the aim is to help readers enhance their skills as a facilitator, create supporting and effective learning environments and ensure learning is transferred to the job.
Facilitation Basics deals with facilitation in the training context: “Those who teach, or facilitate learning, and do it well know their subjects (both content and application of that content to the job) better than anyone else. Subject matter expertise is the foundation for facilitating an effective learning experience. Furthermore, facilitation proficiency — the focus of this book — is a new skill set that supports your ability to facilitate others’ learning and application of the subject matter.”
Three basic assumptions are given at the start:
•readers will possess a degree of comfort in “platform skills” (presenting, public speaking, use of media);
•they are expert in the subject matter and can share knowledge, examples and experiences; and
•there is a well-designed course design already developed.
Selected topics include differing learning preferences and styles and the implications for facilitating learning, various learning and transfer activities, managing difficult participants, using media to support learning and assessing facilitation quality through feedback and observation.
The format is based on brief explanations and illustration of key points, with numerous worksheets and charts such as facilitator behavioural competencies, facilitation role self-assessments, a planning checklist for a learning event and methods for engaging learners. The chapter on facilitation techniques touches on tips including use of questions and transitions, remaining neutral, control of discussions, responding to body language, respecting silences and debriefing thoroughly.
Ray Brillinger is a certified management consultant who works with clients on organizational change, HR strategy and performance improvement. He can be reached at (905) 547-8193 or [email protected].
Featured after that are two introductory self-help books on the basics of training and facilitation. New trainers or those subject matter experts who find themselves playing a new training and facilitation role may benefit from these overviews of what’s involved.
Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs
By Jack Phillips, 375 pages, Butterworth Heinemann, 2nd ed. (2003)
ISBN 0-7506-7601-9
At bookstores or www.bh.com
Jack Phillips is well-known for several groundbreaking books on measurement and return on investment (ROI) in the HR profession. The first edition of this book on training ROI made a significant impact on the HR development front and this new edition comes at a time when the subject has gained even greater importance.
From the preface: “Several issues are driving the increased interest in ROI. Pressure from clients and senior managers to show the return on their training investment is probably the most influential driver. Competitive economic pressures are causing intense scrutiny of all expenditures, including all training and development costs. Total quality management, re-engineering, and Six Sigma have created a renewed interest in measurement and evaluation, including measuring the effectiveness of training. The general trend toward accountability with all staff support groups is causing some (HR development) departments to measure their contribution. These and other factors have created an unprecedented wave of application of the ROI process.”
The book presents a comprehensive ROI methodology covering planning and chapters address:
•key issues and trends in ROI measurement;
•overview of the ROI model;
•collecting data (records, observations, tests, surveys, interviews and focus groups);
•isolating the effects of training;
•converting data to monetary values;
•tabulating program costs;
•calculating the return;
•identifying intangible measures;
•ROI forecasting: why, how and when;
•communicating results; and
•implementation (overcoming resistance to ROI, preparing HR development staff and the management team).
Readers will find case studies, detailed examples, research findings and lists of reference articles and books. There’s also an assessment survey for managers: “How results-based are your training and development programs?” This can be used to raise awareness and gain support for ROI efforts and for accountable HR development programs.
The Skilled Facilitator
By Roger Schwarz, 407 pages, Jossey-Bass, revised (2002) ISBN 0-7879-4723-7
Distributed by Wiley Canada, 1-800-567-4794, www.wiley.com
A decade after the first edition of this landmark guide, the new and revised edition of Schwarz’s “comprehensive resource for consultants, facilitators, managers, trainers and coaches” is out. This reference and instructional book is a must for anyone with a serious interest in serving as a facilitator with management, employee or other stakeholder groups.
Fundamental to the book is recognition of the importance of facilitation skills for the third-party facilitator (process expert, content-neutral), the consultant (who also brings content expertise) or the coach, trainer or leader — formal or informal — at any organizational level. The different positioning of these facilitative roles is significant, but they have a common goal “to guide groups toward realizing their creative and problem-solving potential.”
The introductory sections of the book describe the facilitator role and the associated values, skills, contributions and challenges. There’s also an in-depth overview of group effectiveness, ground rules and behaviours that enhance, or hinder, effective outcomes.
The author distinguishes between basic facilitation (which aims to help a group solve a problem or accomplish as task) and developmental facilitation (which, in addition, helps the group improve its process):
“A basic facilitator fulfills her responsibility to the group by designing an effective process for the group to accomplish its work, acting consistently with the core values, identifying for the group when members have acted inconsistently (or consistently) with principles of effective group behaviour and letting the group make free and informed choices on the basis of the facilitator’s interventions. In addition, a developmental facilitator helps group members learn how to identify when they have acted inconsistently with principles of effective group behaviour, how to explore the conditions that create the ineffective behaviour and how to change these conditions to generate more effective behaviour.”
Four core values are central to the skilled facilitator approach. Schwarz bases his model largely on the work of Chris Argyris and Donald Schon, authors of the 1974 book Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness.
•Valid information: Share information in a way that enables others to understand the facilitator’s reasoning and, ideally, to determine for themselves whether the information shared is accurate. This means sharing all information relevant to an issue, including assumptions and feelings about how the issue is being addressed.
•Free and informed choice: The facilitator does not change people’s behaviour. The facilitator provides information that enables people to decide whether to change their own behaviour. If they decide to, the facilitator helps them learn how to change.
•Internal commitment to the choice: The facilitator feels personally responsible for the choices made. If people are internally committed to a decision, there is little need for traditional over-the-shoulder monitoring to make sure they are really doing what they said they would do.
•Compassion: A stance toward others in which judgment is temporarily suspended, evoking empathy.
Specific chapters provide a wealth of insight, theory, examples and guidelines on facilitation:
•deciding whether, how and why to intervene;
•using ground rules;
•combining facilitation with other processes including problem-solving, process improvement, action planning, developing a vision, values or mission;
•beginning and ending meetings;
•dealing with emotions;
•contracting on how to work together;
•working with another facilitator;
•serving as facilitator in your own organization; and
•facilitative skills as a leadership core competency.
Underlying the entire approach is the need to minimize the group’s ongoing dependence on the facilitator. There’s also advice on when to leave the facilitator role in order to assume a mediation, evaluation or content-expertise role.
Practical resources at the end of the book include sample group process ground rules, a letter and agenda for a planning meeting, guidelines for contract development, a sample facilitation agreement, questions for co-facilitators and guidelines for using experiential exercises and self-knowledge instruments.
Also available from Jossey-Bass is Facilitating with Ease!, a step-by-step guidebook with worksheets on CD-ROM (by Ingrid Bens, 206 pages, 2000, ISBN 0-7879-5194-3). It covers facilitation practices and tools, an overview of the stages of a facilitation process, ways to better understand participants and their needs, and how to handle conflict, meeting management, decision-making and process designs to meet specific objectives.
Trainer Basics
By George Piskurich, 132 pages, ASTD Press (2003)
ISBN 1-56286-350-9
www.astd.org
This brief overview with its emphasis on “how to” may be useful to new trainers or those who want a better understanding of the role in order to select, coach and manage trainers. It may also be valuable as an introduction to training for those subject matter experts or line employees selected to serve as occasional trainers or to fill project training roles.
Like Facilitation Basics, reviewed below, this book is part of the American Society for Training and Development’s (ASTD) Training Basics Series (along with titles on training design, presentation skills, communication and performance).
The book aims to answer three basic questions:
•What does a trainer do and why?
•How can I develop must-have skills quickly?
•How do I apply training knowledge today?
While the book is understandably more successful on the first count than on the others, it offers a good starting point and could form the outline of a skill development curriculum for trainers.
The introductory section differentiates between training and education, explains instructional design and defines terms such as attendee, audience, student, trainee, participant and learner. This is followed by a non-technical overview of adult learning theory encapsulated in two summary statements: “Good trainers pay attention to why adults want to learn. Failure to do so can often lead to training that no one really wants or can use” and “Your training is not successful unless your learners have actually learned what you intended them to learn. Assessment is necessary to find this out.”
Subsequent chapters outline approaches to analyzing training needs, the importance of learning objectives and use of several levels of evaluation. The topic “Creating a training program” touches on delivery options: classroom, one-on-one, self-directed and e-learning. An outline of skills and tools for trainers includes classroom presentation and facilitation skills, as well as project management. For more on facilitation, see the book below.
Facilitation Basics
By Donald McCain and Deborah Tobey, 168 pages, ASTD Press (2004) ISBN 1-56286-361-4
www.astd.org
A good complement to Trainer Basics, reviewed above, but here the aim is to help readers enhance their skills as a facilitator, create supporting and effective learning environments and ensure learning is transferred to the job.
Facilitation Basics deals with facilitation in the training context: “Those who teach, or facilitate learning, and do it well know their subjects (both content and application of that content to the job) better than anyone else. Subject matter expertise is the foundation for facilitating an effective learning experience. Furthermore, facilitation proficiency — the focus of this book — is a new skill set that supports your ability to facilitate others’ learning and application of the subject matter.”
Three basic assumptions are given at the start:
•readers will possess a degree of comfort in “platform skills” (presenting, public speaking, use of media);
•they are expert in the subject matter and can share knowledge, examples and experiences; and
•there is a well-designed course design already developed.
Selected topics include differing learning preferences and styles and the implications for facilitating learning, various learning and transfer activities, managing difficult participants, using media to support learning and assessing facilitation quality through feedback and observation.
The format is based on brief explanations and illustration of key points, with numerous worksheets and charts such as facilitator behavioural competencies, facilitation role self-assessments, a planning checklist for a learning event and methods for engaging learners. The chapter on facilitation techniques touches on tips including use of questions and transitions, remaining neutral, control of discussions, responding to body language, respecting silences and debriefing thoroughly.
Ray Brillinger is a certified management consultant who works with clients on organizational change, HR strategy and performance improvement. He can be reached at (905) 547-8193 or [email protected].
