Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

The last word

by Personnel Today 1 Sep 2003
by Personnel Today 1 Sep 2003

Trainer
and writer John Charlton kicks off his new column with a personal view of
‘happy sheets’

What
are the words that training managers most dread to hear? Other than "that
delegate’s an Al Qaeda sleeper", for example, the phrase "I think
it’s time we improved the feedback forms" will certainly be near the top
of the list.

Herculean
labour it may not be, but it certainly is tricky, especially for those of us
who find forms hard enough to fill in, let alone design.

Take
the format: usually it’s a single A4 sheet filled with questions and tick boxes
designed to elicit delegates’ reactions to a training session as accurately as
possible. These are usually seasoned with some open questions to tease some
comment out of the delegates, such as: "how will you apply what you have
learned on the course in your regular job?"

People
tend not to mind ticking boxes, but they don’t like answering open questions.
Answers to the example above, for instance, will often be "in my everyday
work". Really? Are delegates in such a rush that that’s all they can think
of? Sadly, that is often the case.

British
cultural norms also dictate that it’s rude to criticise someone to their face,
unless much alcohol has been  consumed,
or they are wearing a Manchester United tie. So comments about trainers,
especially if they are collecting the completed forms, tend to be biased
towards them.

Even
so, the blandest collection of comments and ratings on a feedback form can
yield clues, and this is where skilful and appropriate form design plays a
part. Give delegates tick-box options, on the quality and content of a course
and the performance of the trainer, that offer several degrees of ‘good’, then
you should be able to spot causes for concern.

If
there are three ‘goods’ – ‘excellent’, ‘very good’ and ‘good’ – but only one
‘fair’ and one ‘poor’, then a majority of ‘goods’ really means ‘OK’. And ‘OK’
isn’t good enough.

I
raised my ‘happy sheet’ concerns at a recent gathering of training managers. To
a woman, they decried feedback forms as ‘rubbish’ and ‘a waste of time’. And
afterwards, like obedient sheep, we filled in our feedback forms. I didn’t
bother with the open questions though.

Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
Police officers to get stress tests
next post
What not to wear at work

You may also like

Five steps for organisations across the globe to...

8 Jun 2022

The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls

24 May 2022

Grants scheme set up to support women’s health...

16 May 2022

How music can help to ease anxiety at...

9 May 2022

OH will be key to navigating ‘second pandemic’...

14 Apr 2022

OH urged to be aware of abortion consultations...

8 Apr 2022

How coached eCBT is returning the workplace to...

8 Apr 2022

Why now is the time to plug the...

7 Apr 2022

Two-thirds of shift workers feel health affected by...

18 Mar 2022

TUC warns of April Covid risk assessment ‘confusion’

14 Mar 2022
  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+