Building an Evidence Case for Your Training Program

Would you trust a verdict built on a single witness? In the fifth episode of her series on the Kirkpatrick Model, Vanessa Milara Alzate tackles validity — whether an evaluation actually measures what it claims to — and why relying on one data source, usually a survey, quietly misleads more organizations than any other evaluation mistake. Using a retail customer service program that scored 98% satisfaction while complaints and returns never moved, Vanessa breaks down the four most common validity threats and introduces triangulation: strengthening a finding by pulling from multiple data sources, methods, perspectives, and time frames. She walks through all four types — data, methodological, stakeholder, and temporal triangulation — and shows how they map directly onto the Kirkpatrick Model's four levels to build what she calls blended evaluation. Takeaways: why activity (satisfaction, completion, attendance) is not the same as impact; the four most common validity threats; the four types of triangulation and how to use them together; a financial services case study that turned a stalled leadership program into credible, trusted results; and one reflection question to pressure-test your own evaluation data. This episode continues a seven-part series on the Kirkpatrick Model — a good week to pick up Building a Culture of Evaluation ahead of Vanessa's live Book Club discussion this fall.  ### **Building a Culture of Evaluation** Order the book behind the Culture of Evaluation framework and updated Kirkpatrick Model. The book comes with a Companion Guide to help support you on the journey. 👉 Order the book now 👉 Join the Book Club ### **Enterprise Performance Intelligence (EPI) Maturity Assessment** Think your organization is measuring impact? Most aren't. The EPI Maturity Assessment helps you quickly identify where you stand—and what's needed to better connect learning to performance and results. 👉 Take the assessment and get clarity on your next step. **Kirkpatrick Learning and Performance Center of Excellence** Certification builds capability. Accreditation builds systems. The Kirkpatrick Certified Organization accreditation recognizes organizations that have embedded the Kirkpatrick Four Levels® into how they actually operate — through governance, SOPs, feedback loops, and cross-functional accountability. If your evaluation capability would disappear when a key person leaves, this is the credential designed to fix that. Founding Organization status is now open — first year of annual maintenance waived for inaugural cohort members. 👉 Learn more and apply **Not ready to apply yet because you need to build the systems? Grab the SOPs.** We're building a library of Kirkpatrick-standard SOPs — governance frameworks, evaluation procedures for all four levels, planning templates, and implementation guides — so you can build your infrastructure before you apply. 👉 Learn more ### **Kirkpatrick Collective** If you're ready to move beyond activity and start driving real performance, the Kirkpatrick Collective brings together leaders focused on applying evaluation in the real world. Get practical tools, shared insight, and the structure to make better, evidence-based decisions. 👉 Join the Collective and start building evaluation as a capability—not just an activity. Learn more about the Kirkpatrick Model Watch the Show on YouTube! Submit your Questions/Stories: Do you have a question you would like us to answer on the Kirkpatrick Podcast? Have a story about how the Kirkpatrick Podcast or other Kirkpatrick events/programs have positively impacted your career? We would love to hear from you! Follow this link to submit your questions and/or stories, and we may just share them on the next episode of the Kirkpatrick Podcast. **#KirkpatrickPodcast #LearningImpact #PerformanceImprovement #TrainingEvaluation #CultureOfEvaluation #KirkpatrickModel**