Why test: To Measure the Need for Training

Businesses need to measure what people can do in addition to what they ‘know’.

A few illustrations may suffice to clarify this point.

How many people ‘know’ how to diet? How many of us actually diet successfully?

How many people ‘know’ how to save money? How many actually do it?

How many people ‘know’ the speed limit? How many drive it?

There can be a large disparity between ‘knowing’ how to do something and actually performing the action effectively. This disparity is delightfully documented in the book The Knowing-Doing Gap.

By measuring performance, the assessing organization or program can find out what the prospective trainee cannot do – then remediate only that capability. Obviously, this saves time that the trainee can then spend being productive.

Why Performance Test?

To Measure Intellectual Capital
To Predict How People Will Perform
To Assess the Effectiveness of Training