If you’re a frequent visitor to this blog, you may have noticed our name change. Strategic Training is now eParamus™. The new name is based on the Latin terms for evaluate and prepare. It reflects our ongoing commitment to the success of our customers through effective preparation and evaluation.

Evaluate

Let’s consider those terms for a minute. Evaluate. What does that mean to you? In the business world, we use that term a lot. We evaluate employees, suppliers, products….any number of things. In short, to evaluate means to assess or ascertain value.

As I’ve said on this blog many times before, those inside and outside of the training profession often miss the mark when it comes to evaluating training. Many of us have wrongly believed that training value cannot be accurately assessed.

I don’t mean the evaluations done via smiley sheets handed out at the end of a training class. (We’ve got those down pat.) Those belong to the perception models of evaluation, where you ask people what they think and feel.

I’m referring to the impact models of evaluation, like the ROI by Design™ model formulated by eParamus. Our model measures the actual progress—individually and organizationally—of a training program before, during, and after the training.

Prepare

Next, let’s consider the word prepare, which means to put into a condition of readiness. If training has a purpose, this is it—putting employees and organizations into a ready state. You want your employees made ready to handle whatever comes their way. If your individual employees are ready, then that should translate to making your organization ready. Training programs, when done right and well, achieve this state of readiness.

How can you use training to evaluate and prepare? You can read some of my past blog posts to learn more about that. But I also have an exciting announcement. My book, ROI by Design, Unlock Training’s Impact Through Measurable Instructional Design, is available now from Amazon. It describes how you can determine organizational impact for every training program you design. Stay tuned. I can’t wait to tell you more!