Surveys are regularly used as a means of attaining feedback from employees on training that they’ve attended or participated in. While surveys generally represent what is referred to as an “applause meter”—an indication of whether employees liked the training, as opposed to whether the training had an impact—they are a useful means of learning about opportunities for improvement.
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Although these types of training evaluation assessments appear, on the surface, to be fairly easy to create, it’s important to ensure that they are designed appropriately so that the results are valid and reliable.
Here are some tips for creating and generating great results from an effective survey.
Start with the End in Mind
When creating a survey or poll of any kind, it’s important to think about what you will do with the information and insights you glean after the survey has closed. What decisions will the information help you make? What decisions do you need the information to help you make? Developing specific objectives before you create your assessment tool can help ensure that the results you attain will be actionable.
Your objectives will help you determine, specifically, what kind of information you need to gather and can also help you identify questions that you don’t need to ask to keep your assessment tool at a manageable length.
Seek Comparatives to Provide Context
For instance, in a survey as a follow-up to training presented through a webinar, you might ask: “How effective did you feel this format was in presenting the information.” To provide comparative information, though, you might reframe this question:
“Please indicate whether you felt the webinar format was more or less effective in presenting this information than other training options:
| Less Effective | More Effective | |
| Live presentation | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | |
| Self-study through video | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | |
| Self-study through written document | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | |
| Hands-on training session | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | |
Another means of comparison would be benchmarks that could be attained from other organizations or through trade and professional organizations.
Share the Results
The failure to share the results of a survey with survey participants is a common misstep many organizations make. One of the most important ways to not only boost up-front response but also to create greater engagement with respondents is to let those surveyed see the overall results. People are curious by nature; furthermore, by sharing results, you’ll give participants some reassurance that their participation was worthwhile. This is especially important if you plan on doing more surveys with the same audience in the future.
Another interesting impact that sharing survey results can have: providing respondents with some insights into whether, and to what extent, their perspectives are shared by others. A difficult-to-please employee who consistently rates every training session as “extremely poor” may have cause to ponder that perception if survey results indicate that the majority feel they are “good,” or “extremely good.”
Clearly there are many more considerations that go into constructing, distributing, and analyzing surveys to gain maximum results. But these are some of the “big rocks” that tend to trip trainers up as they work to assess the value of their efforts.