Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
April 2009
Don’s incredible vision is evident in a quote he obtained from a The ultimate intent of
colleague back in 1959: the Four Level was
“Managers, needless to say, expect their manufacturing
then, and is today:
and sales departments to yield a good return and will go
to great lengths to find out whether they have done so... To show the business
likewise, training directors might be well advised to take value and worth of
the initiative and evaluate their programs before the day training.
of reckoning arrives.”
Consider those findings in combination with a study conducted Dr. Brent Peterson,
Columbia University, 2004
by Dr. Brent Peterson at Columbia University in 2004. He
compared the amount of time that is spent developing training
and related activities, and what actually contributes to learning
effectiveness. He found that the typical organization invests 85%
of its resources in the training event, yet those events only
contributed 24% to the learning effectiveness of the participants.
The activities that led to the most learning effectiveness were
follow-up activities that occurred after the training event.
What does this mean? That we are putting most of our time into
designing, developing and delivering training (L1 and L2) and
only getting about one-quarter of the benefit. And we are
spending virtually none of our time on the follow-up activities that
translate into positive behavior change and subsequent results
(L3 and L4) that we intend our training programs to deliver.
It is now time to pull the wraps off not only the true Kirkpatrick
model, but also the complete model. While it contains the same
ideas that Don (and we) have been communicating over the last
50 years, we felt a more complete illustration of the model would
help both learning professionals and their business partners to
create more training value together.
Start in the upper left corner of the model. Note that it starts with a formal connection between the
business and learning, whereby a request is made to work toward resolving a business problem, or taking
advantage of a market opportunity. As mentioned already, the end is the beginning because you are
working from L4 to L1 in the first four steps. You will determine what success will look like (L4), and then
subsequent critical behaviors and organizational drivers (L3). We identify “critical behaviors” as the few,
targeted behaviors that program graduates must apply back at their jobs in order to bring about the
identified outcomes. “Organizational drivers”, on the other hand, are the actions and processes that are
carried out by others (e.g., coaches, mentors, peers, software programs, etc.) that are designed and
implemented to reinforce the participants to perform their critical behaviors.
Next, we deal with the required KSAs – or competencies – needed for participants to be able to perform
their new on-the-job behaviors (L2). Finally, we subsequently address the learning environment and
conditions that will support learning effectiveness and enjoyment (L1). We define “environment” as the
venue and modality for training, and “conditions” as prerequisites for ultimate success (i.e., corporate
culture, participant readiness, etc.).
Once the four levels have been dealt with from a planning perspective, it is time to get your instructional
designers working on the actual program or programs that have been identified as necessary to bring
about the targeted outcomes. Importantly (and often forgotten), this is also the time to determine the best
way to measure each of the four levels, and build the tools and measurement plan you will use. Next
comes the delivery of the program(s), in whatever modality and venue you selected earlier. This is also
when formal evaluating begins with Level 1 and Level 2. This is probably familiar territory for most
learning professionals.
Let’s put some real faces on what we have talked about. In the
right margin, there are photos of two men who seemingly have
the same job. The first is a man that I (Jim) saw in front of a hotel
in Asia. While I was waiting for a taxi, I went up to him and asked
him,
“I wash windows.”
Upon seeing this “legacy” left for all to see, I went into the house,
asked Wendy where a screwdriver was, and proceeded back
outside to add my own mark. Well, obviously the cement had
dried since 1995. I was too late to leave my mark on the front
walk. Hamilton, OS
Learning Team
You, however, are not too late to leave your mark in the learning
industry. During this time of economic challenge, and when our Thanks, Don, for a very useful
industry is under fire, the good news is that business leaders – 50 years. Thanks for showing us
our jury members – are looking everywhere for solutions to their a path to creating true value to
incredible challenges. You have the unique opportunity to the business world, and the
provide significant answers for them – and to carve out a new people we serve. Now it is up to
learning legacy by becoming true strategic business partners. all of us to heed your warning,
Fortunately, these economic times won’t last forever. This and effectively apply what you
creates a limited time frame and urgency for you to take action and others have taught us.
before the cement dries (or the rock bridge collapses).
Jim has co-written three books with his father, Don Kirkpatrick,
the creator of the Kirkpatrick Model.