Peter and Howie team-tackle the central problem of training evaluation: what's easy to measure isn't important, and what's important to measure isn't easy. Most companies rely on smile sheets, or participant reaction, to gauge the effectiveness of training. That's because it's nearly impossible to measure the bottom line business results: too many variables, too weak a link.

Our solution is to combine the ease of the smile sheet with the impact of business results: measure client satisfaction as the best proxy of bottom line changes. It's quick, easy, and cheap to solicit client feedback on the behaviors your employees have been taught. It also tells your employees that you're serious about their development, and your clients that you're serious about their satisfaction.

We're not complaining, mind you, but we wrote a more-than-slightly different article than the one that was published in the magazine. If you want to download a copy of our "Director's Cut," click here.

If you want us to send you a reprint of the article as it appeared in Training Magazine, click here.