Understanding the true value of training can be difficult to quantify for a company.

We see how much the trainer costs and how much time is ‘non-chargeable’.

So, our question to you is this:

How does the company understand if employees have benefitted from training?

Leading on from our compliance culture article, you may wish to consider introducing a Reflective Journal for your staff.

It doesn’t have to be complex or time-consuming, but here’s why our Head of Compliance, Jackie Fergusson, is a fan of the approach:

What I Thought Was a Waste of Time… Wasn’t

I had never encountered a Reflective Journal before undertaking a recent course with the ICA, so this came as a huge surprise to me—I admit to being highly sceptical at the start.

Part of the course outcome was dependent on the Reflective Journal being submitted and marked.

• What were my opinions and understanding of a topic before the session?
• What key points did I pick up from the session?
• How will I take those key points forward?

Three simple questions, a breeze, I thought. How wrong was I!

Those three questions really made me think about what I had learnt and how much of the session I had retained. It was such a revelation to me—and extremely difficult to do.

One of the sessions we covered was about management style and how it impacts people around me and getting the job done.

It was during my review of the notes that I thought to myself—Why haven’t I done this before?

At the end of the course, I now have a document that shows:

• My understanding beforehand
• The key points I took from the training
• How I will use the key points going forward

The action of recording my thoughts in this way was such a clear example of good practice.

I now have a document that covers all my training throughout the year. It has shown me how to improve my uptake from training.

So, maybe consider replacing a course survey sheet with a simple one-page Reflective Journal.

It might be the small shift that makes training actually stick.