How to Use Knowledge Checks in Your Learning & Development Program

As organizations strive to enhance the effectiveness of their learning and development programs, incorporating robust methods to assess and reinforce knowledge retention is key. In this blog, we’ll review what a knowledge check is and how you can use this tool to improve your hiring process and ensure employees retain the information they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

What is a Knowledge Check?

A knowledge check is a tool used for assessing and reinforcing an employee’s understanding and retention of crucial information. Typically, these are tests or quizzes that a learner completes either before or after training.

Companies can use knowledge checks to:

• Assess if a job candidate possesses the knowledge required to be successful in a role.
• Validate that knowledge has been retained after employees take required training.
• Conduct initial evaluations of an employee’s knowledge, which can be used to develop targeted learning plans.
• Quickly find skills gaps and determine where additional training is required.
• Document that employees have received and passed required training for compliance and legal purposes.

How Do You Conduct a Knowledge Check?

Knowledge checks should be strategically used at various stages of employee learning and development. They can be used in:

• The hiring process
• Onboarding procedures
• Training modules; before or after learners complete a course
• Ongoing professional development initiatives (e.g., as part of Learning Paths and career development)

Administer Knowledge Checks in a Learning Management System

Ideally, you will implement learning checks to assess employee competency within your learning management system (LMS).

A great knowledge assessment tool will be integrated within the LMS to streamline processes for both learners and LMS administrators. Vector Solutions’ Competency Assessment does that in a few ways:

• When you build a quiz to assess employee knowledge, you can easily pull questions directly from Vector’s Question Bank. This is the repository of all questions that are embedded into our eLearning courses. This streamlines the process of creating knowledge checks and ensures the questions align directly to courses employees have taken.
• Automatically assign employees to a training plan if they fail a quiz. You can turn this feature off if you’d prefer to manually assign training. But this can be a great way to save time and automate your workflows.

Steps for Creating Knowledge Checks

By using knowledge checks, organizations foster a culture of continuous improvement where employees are empowered to enhance their skills and knowledge and adapt to the evolving demands of their roles and their industry.

To use knowledge checks effectively, it’s important to follow these best steps:

1. Define your goals. Don’t ask employees to take assessments without a clear goal or plan for what you’ll do with a passing or failing score. Define what you want to learn with each knowledge check and what next steps might look like.
2. Choose the right format. Most knowledge checks can be short quizzes administered through your learning management system. Certain skill assessments may require face-to-face or performing a task/action. But mostly knowledge checks are quick and done electronically.
3. Draft your quiz. Make sure your questions align to what you are hoping to assess. And remember, an effective knowledge check shouldn’t be too long. Aim for about 10 questions on the topic to gauge whether the employee retained the required knowledge.
4. Peer review. Have someone else read your quiz questions before administering the knowledge check. Have them ensure that the questions make sense and are free of errors. NOTE: Using Vector Question Bank questions saves you a lot of time on steps 3 and 4.
5. Administer and analyze. At this stage, you’re ready to administer your knowledge checks. Ideally, you’ll have an LMS that allows you to monitor the results and make data-driven decisions on follow-up training required.

Benefits of Using Knowledge Checks in Your Training Strategy

Incorporating knowledge checks into your training strategy offers many advantages that contribute to the overall effectiveness of your learning and development initiatives. Here are some key benefits:

1. Real-Time Feedback. Knowledge checks provide immediate feedback to learners, enabling them to identify areas of strength and areas needing improvement promptly.
2. Employee Engagement. Making your training more interactive by using quizzes and customized training plans promotes active engagement among learners, making the learning experience more dynamic and memorable.
3. Knowledge Retention. Regular reinforcement through knowledge checks significantly enhances information retention, ensuring that employees retain essential knowledge and skills over time.
4. Customization and Adaptability. Knowledge checks help you customize training paths to each employees’ needs. This helps you adapt your approach to be more effective in real-time.
5. Identify Knowledge Gaps. By analyzing assessment results, trainers and managers can identify common misconceptions or gaps in understanding, enabling targeted interventions to address areas of weakness.
6. Risk Mitigation. Ensuring that employees have a solid grasp of critical safety and compliance information mitigates the risk of errors, accidents, or compliance breaches in the workplace.

Product Spotlight: Learn About Vector Solutions’ Competency Assessment

Using knowledge checks as part of your training strategy not only enhances learning outcomes but also contributes to a more efficient, informed, and agile workforce poised for success in today’s competitive landscape.

“[Employees] don’t always want to step up to the plate and say, ‘hey I need help here,’ but if we can have a tool that helps us identify [skills gaps] and opens up that discussion, to me that’s so valuable.”

— Sr. Maintenance Manager

With our Competency Assessment solution, you can quickly create customized assessments to find skills gaps faster and automate training assignments based on passing and failing scores.

• Automate administrative tasks
• Close training loops
• Boost employee retention
• Improve learning outcomes

Want to see it in action? Request a demo today to learn how our LMS and Competency Assessment tool can help you achieve your training goals.