An evaluation of an on the job training program at a UK based public health care company

Many organizations the world over spent considerable amounts of resources on training. The effectiveness of these training programs is often not known due to non-measurement, despite the fact that recent studies show that training evaluation is far more important today than in the past. The importance of this study is that it assesses a training program to establish its effectiveness. Literature shows that, such evaluations are not always carried out and if they are, the results are usually for internal consumption only. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an "on the job training" program at a health care company. The secondary aim was to find if gender or job function had an effect on the perception on training effectiveness. A convenient sample of 110 employees was chosen for analysis. The Kirkpatrick model was used to evaluate the program. Questionnaires based on the model were administered face to face to all the 110 employees. A total of 74 questionnaires were returned for analysis. The research found out that the training offered was not effective in the areas assessed, learning, behavior, reaction and result. It also found out that neither gender nor job function had a significant effect on the employees perception on training effectiveness.