Onboarding new employees and contractors, certifications, skills management and training programs are now critical in most organizations. Simply having training programs is no longer enough, courses must be effective, and that effectiveness must be measured. Therefore, it is essential to objectively assess the quality of each training course to know whether it has achieved its training goals and truly served both the learners and the organization.
By using training assessments, you can continuously improve the quality of your training programs. This means evaluating every aspect of a course, from planning to logistics, to accessibility, activities, learner engagement, trainers, knowledge retention and real-world impact.
Training assessment can give organizations clear, tangible and multidimensional insights into what needs to be improved in the course. To take a continuous improvement approach, you must first establish quantitative key performance indicators (KPIs) to track, and then evaluate the results of each, using various assessment tools depending on the level of precision.
No Training Assessment Without Automation
Traditionally, training was delivered in person by an instructor within a classroom setting, such as a conference room. However, the preferred learning modality has shifted: The world faced the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, learning management systems (LMSs) have evolved and now companies increasingly rely on online training, not only because it is more scalable, but also easier to organize and more cost-effective.
Since learning delivery has evolved, so has training assessment. Training managers used to hand out paper surveys to participants at the very end of a course, which were then quickly filled out and returned, without much thought. The surveys were then processed manually, enabling the risk for human error, such as loss or misinterpretation.
Today, digital solutions can help learning leaders automate training assessments and gain a deeper analysis of a course’s effectiveness. By automating training assessments, you can evaluate your program at multiple points in time: before, during and after the training session. For example, you can schedule an assessment to be sent 30 days after the training session to evaluate learning retention and application.
Don’t limit assessments to learners alone. Collecting feedback from managers and colleagues can also be valuable to improving your training programs and gaining another perspective — and automation is one of the most practical, cost-effective ways to collect it at scale.
How to Automate Your Training Surveys
Surveys are essential at gathering feedback from learners, identifying areas of improvement and gauging overall sentiment of the course. And with an automation tool, they can be sent to learners via email or accessed through a QR code, making the process seamless and efficient.
1. Choose a survey platform.
Select a tool that supports automation, analytics, and integration with your learning management system (LMS). Popular options include Google Forms (with add-ons), SurveyMonkey, Typeform or specialized tools like Qualtrics or Microsoft Forms.
2. Design the survey template.
- Use mostly closed-ended questions for easier analysis.
- Include a net promoter score (NPS) question to measure learner satisfaction.
- Add a few optional open-ended questions for qualitative feedback.
3. Set up automation rules.
- Use your LMS or email marketing tools (e.g., Mailchimp, HubSpot, or your survey platform’s built-in automation) to schedule when the survey goes out — typically immediately after training or 30 days later for retention checks.
- Include logic that sends reminders to those who haven’t responded.
4. Choose a delivery method.
- Email: Include the survey link in a follow-up message.
- QR Code: Generate a QR code that links to the survey for in-person sessions.
- In-platform pop-up: Trigger the survey directly within your LMS post-course completion.
5. Collect and analyze responses.
- Set up auto-generated reports within the platform.
- Use AI tools or large language models (LLMs) to summarize trends in open-ended responses.
- Schedule regular review sessions to translate insights into improvements.
6. Close the feedback loop.
- Share key findings with stakeholders.
- Adjust course content, format or delivery based on feedback.
- Thank participants for their input to boost future response rates.
Automating Skills Assessments
Training assessment goes beyond surveys — while surveys are valuable for gathering feedback and measuring satisfaction, they do not objectively measure skill development. Instead, you can use skills assessments, like quizzes or tests, to evaluate knowledge and skill proficiency. Skills assessments can help answer these key questions: Has the training really taught anything? Are learners able to demonstrate what they have learned?
Automating skills assessments can help you focus on connecting with your learners and evaluating training data. Let’s review three best practices to effectively using automated skills assessments.
- Measure before and after training.
Schedule pre- and post-training assessments to objectively measure knowledge and skill gains. You can use an LMS, assessment platforms like SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, or Typeform, or workflow automation tools such as Zapier, Pabbly Connect, or Microsoft Power Automate to trigger assessments based on course completion. This approach can not only help you gauge the true impact of your training programs but also free up time to focus on refining design and delivery. - Combine virtual and hands-on evaluations.
Automating skills assessments can free up plenty of time in a busy training manager’s schedule, however, it’s important to not neglect the importance of hands-on reinforcement. Blend online assessments with practical, real-world evaluations to get a fuller picture of skill development and application. - Leverage modern assessment tools.
Use learning platforms that can measure both hard and soft skills. Many tools now offer easy-to-build quizzes and automated insights to save time and improve accuracy. Automation features for these tools can include auto-grading, conditional logic, psychometric analysis and/or report generation.
Looking Ahead
Training assessment can take multiple forms and reflect the organization’s ambition regarding continuous improvement and training. Investing in robust training assessment means investing in better learning, better performance and better results. It must rely on modern digital solutions. With the right tools and methods, any organization can make training truly meaningful and measurable.
