Learn strategies for minimizing impact on results when reducing training course length, including piloting programs, aligning course content, and analyzing costs and outcomes.
Table of Contents
Question
How can an HR director best ensure minimal impact to results and outcomes when considering a training course reduction from five days to three?
A. By implementing a three-day pilot program that runs concurrently with the existing five-day program and comparing the results
B. By creating a syllabus and course outline showing that the same amount of knowledge will be presented in each class
C. By calculating the costs associated with each course and comparing the decrease in costs with the three-day course results
D. By implementing the new three-day course and comparing the results to those previously identified for the five-day course
Answer
To best ensure minimal impact on results and outcomes when reducing a training course from five days to three, the most effective approach would be:
D. By implementing the new three-day course and comparing the results to those previously identified for the five-day course
Explanation
Directly implementing the condensed three-day course and comparing its results to the prior five-day course provides the clearest apples-to-apples comparison to assess the impact of the shortened duration. It allows the HR director to gather concrete data on how the three-day course performs in practice compared to the benchmark of the five-day course.
While the other options have some merit, they are not as effective:
A. Running a three-day pilot concurrently with the existing five-day program could introduce confounding variables that make the results less directly comparable. The pilot may attract different types of participants or instructors may alter their approach knowing it’s a pilot.
B. Creating a syllabus and outline to show the same knowledge will be covered is a good step for course design, but it doesn’t provide hard data on actual results and outcomes. In practice, the shortened duration could still impact learning and retention even if content is comparable on paper.
C. Comparing costs of the two courses is useful from a budgetary perspective but doesn’t speak directly to the impact on training results and outcomes, which is the core consideration in the question.
Therefore, option D, actually running the new three-day course and benchmarking its results against the prior five-day version, is the most effective way for the HR director to concretely assess impacts and make a data-driven decision. The other strategies could potentially be used in combination with option D, but on its own, D provides the most direct and reliable approach to ensure training effectiveness is maintained.
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