How do you measure the impact of training?

Proposed by Donald Kirkpatrick in the late 1950s, the model evaluates training at four levels, from the most immediate to the deepest. Each level answers a different question, and none is enough on its own.

Training can be enjoyable without teaching anything, learned without being applied, and applied without changing results. The four levels show where things get stuck.

• Level 1, reaction: did learners enjoy the training?
• Level 2, learning: what did they understand and remember?
• Level 3, behaviour: what do they apply at work?
• Level 4, results: what effect on the business?

This is the immediate evaluation, right after the session: interest, clarity, pace, perceived usefulness. A short satisfaction survey is enough, sent within the hour or completed at the end of the session.

Limit: a good score does not tell you whether anyone learned anything. Level 1 measures the experience, not the learning.

This is where the live quiz is most useful. After each topic, two questions check what has been understood, and you explain again straight away what has not. Testing yourself also helps you remember: this is the testing effect, documented by Roediger and Karpicke (2006).

Compare with the starting level, measured by a positioning survey before the training: you see real progress. See our page Make training stick.

The real test comes a few weeks later. The follow-up evaluation, sent after 30 days for example, asks what has been applied, in what context and with what difficulties. Evalandgo surveys let you schedule this mailing and its reminders.

If possible, add the manager’s view: they see what has changed in practice.

The last level links training to business indicators: fewer errors, fewer incidents, higher sales, better customer satisfaction. It is the hardest to isolate, because other factors play a part.

Choose one or two indicators when designing the training. On PRO+ plans, Evalandgo connectors (API, webhook, Make, Zapier) automatically send answers to your tracking tools, Excel or Google Sheets.

Live and surveys are in the same account: you follow learners from start to finish, with one invoice and data hosted in France.

• Before: a positioning survey for the starting level.
• During: the live quiz for level 2.
• Immediately after: a satisfaction survey for level 1.
• Later: a scheduled follow-up evaluation for level 3.
• Results: your indicators, fed by connectors for level 4.