Measuring Training Effectiveness: A Case Study Of Public Sector Project Management In Pakistan

Abstract

Many organizations do invest precious resources on training and development but without examining how training interventions could effectively contribute in the achievement of organizational objectives, eventually resources are wasted. To yield desired level of performance, it is an imperative that organizations effectively plan, implement and evaluate their training interventions. Several authors have studied the training and development practices but most the studies lack any operational framework for diagnosing the training and development system. This study used Kunder’s (1998) indicators of training ineffectiveness and developed a framework for measuring effectiveness of training and diagnosing problems at various stages of training and development. We developed a questionnaire based on framework and collected data from 115 project directors to measure training effectiveness in project organizations in Pakistan. The study had found that on overall basis training practices are ineffective. Results reveal that there is a poor mechanism of evaluation of training and use of evaluation results. The framework developed by this study can be used in other organizations to measure training effectiveness and diagnose problems at various stages of training cycle.