› ‹
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

Dave Basarab Consulting has elevated the training experience, offering an end-to-end comprehensive approach that includes training strategy, instructional design, development, delivery , post program training transfer, and evaluation (via the unique Predictive Evaluation methodology). Virtual Chief Architect Dave Basarab has combined all of these individual training elements with his user-friendly, comprehensive Learning to Performance approach, which significantly increases companies' training ROI.

Why we are different

  • Innovation: Our primary focus is creating learning programs using a Learning to Performance approach.
  • Expertise: Dave offers the depth and breadth of his experience, including working internally at prestigious companies (Motorola, Ingersoll Rand and Pitney Bowes) as well as his knowledge and expertise as a highly-respected, sought-after consultant.
  • Partnership: Basarab collaborates with companies, serving as their own Chief Learning Officer whenever they need to plan, strategize, or implement training initiatives.

Training Services

Enterprise Learning Strategy

Enterprise Learning Strategy

At Dave Basarab Consulting, we're experts in creating Enterprise Learning Plans. We work with you to develop your company's learning strategy and direction.

More...

Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom training is an effective way of developing the capability required to execute your strategy. We are a custom design house that creates programs specific to your business.

More...

Learning Burst Development

Learning Burst Development

We can create and deliver your courses via our unique Learning Burst Method - keeping your employees at their jobs while receiving world-class training.

More...

Predictive Evaluation

Predictive Evaluation

We predict the ROI for your courses and establish success gates. We then evaluate the course against the success gates to show value realized and continually improve results.

More...

Leadership Development

Leadership Development

Turn-key virtual custom leadership development program that combines world-class leadership speakers/educators with post-event personalized coaching to provide you with a cadre of highly skilled leaders.

More...

Predictive Evaluation

Creating an assessment strategy that measures both learning and application

Many Australian organisations pour money into training only to wonder if anything changed on the floor. The gap between classroom learning and workplace performance remains stubbornly wide, especially across the resources, healthcare, and financial services sectors that dominate employment from Sydney to Perth.

Traditional testing captures what someone remembers the morning after a workshop. It rarely reveals whether a supervisor in Melbourne is actually coaching differently, or whether a technician in the Pilbara is applying new safety protocols three months later. Without measuring application, learning budgets become a hope rather than a strategy.

A modern assessment strategy treats measurement as a continuous loop rather than a final exam. It blends knowledge checks with observation, simulations, and business data, giving learning leaders a clear line of sight from course completion to commercial impact.

Anchor learning outcomes to operational reality

In the Australian context, this often means tying competencies to the standards set by industry bodies, or to the specific risk profiles that regulators like the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority watch closely in financial services. When a learning objective reads "understand compliance obligations," it stays abstract. When it reads "identify and escalate conduct risks within 24 hours of detection," it becomes measurable.

This shift requires close work between learning teams, operational leaders, and frontline workers. The best programs emerge from job-shadowing in branches, warehouses, or hospital wards, then translating what people actually do into assessment criteria. A look at competency-based learning in technical roles shows how this approach plays out in practice.

Map competencies against real tasks

Generic competency frameworks fall flat in technical roles. A mining company in Kalgoorlie needs supervisors who can lead a shutdown team under fatigue and pressure. A retail chain across Brisbane and Adelaide needs store managers who can read local sales patterns and respond within a shift.

A focused competency map lists the handful of observable behaviours that matter most in a given role. For a graduate engineer in a Sydney consultancy, that might include writing a defensible assumptions register or running a stakeholder review. Each behaviour then becomes a target for assessment, making the strategy tangible rather than theoretical.

Mix methods so you capture more than recall

Online quizzes are quick and scalable, but they tell you little about behaviour. Adding scenario-based simulations, manager observations, and peer feedback creates a richer picture. Many Australian learning teams now pair short knowledge checks with structured on-the-job observations logged through mobile tools.

The Predictive Evaluation methodology offers a structured way to forecast adoption and impact before launching a program, allowing organisations to adjust their approach based on data rather than instinct. This kind of evidence-led design is becoming standard in larger enterprises and government agencies across the country.

Choose data points that predict transfer

Completion rates and smile sheets are weak signals. Stronger indicators include the time between training and first application, the number of coached practice sessions, and the rate of errors before and after a program. In regulated industries, audit findings and incident reports provide additional hard data.

Leading organisations now build dashboards that combine learning data with operational metrics. When a sales team in a Melbourne bank shows a lift in customer satisfaction scores after a negotiation program, leaders can see the connection directly. This is also where custom training design and development work comes into its own, because it lets you build the right measures into the program from the start.

Account for culture and context

Australian workplaces vary enormously, from unionised heavy industry in the Hunter Valley to flat hierarchies in tech start-ups in Surry Hills. A one-size-fits-all assessment approach ignores the realities of shift work, remote sites, and the informal peer learning that happens on the tools.

Local language matters too. Plain English, direct feedback, and a fair go approach resonate more than corporate jargon. Assessments that feel punitive drive people away from honest self-reporting, while collaborative reviews tend to surface more accurate information about how learning is being applied.

Iterate with evidence

No assessment strategy survives first contact with reality unchanged. The first iteration usually reveals gaps, whether in the clarity of competency definitions, the timing of observations, or the willingness of managers to give feedback. Treat the first twelve months as a design cycle.

Pair quantitative signals with qualitative insights from participants, managers, and customers. When the numbers tell one story and the conversations tell another, dig deeper. Over time, the assessment strategy itself becomes a strategic asset, sharpening how the organisation invests in capability.

Comparing common assessment methods side by side helps clarify which tool fits which purpose.

Method What it measures Strengths Limitations
Knowledge quiz Recall of facts and concepts Quick, scalable, low cost Does not show on-the-job behaviour
Simulation or scenario Decision-making in realistic contexts Reveals judgement under pressure Resource-intensive to build
Manager observation Application of skills in real work Direct evidence of transfer Subjective, time-pressured
Operational metrics Business results linked to learning Connects learning to ROI Hard to isolate cause and effect
360-degree feedback Perceived behaviour change Multi-perspective view Relies on others' observation skills

Signals that predict on-the-job transfer

  • Time elapsed between training and first observed application
  • Number of coached practice opportunities in the first 30 days
  • Change in error rates or rework cycles
  • Self-reported confidence combined with manager validation
  • Business metrics that move within 90 to 180 days

Common pitfalls when designing an assessment strategy

  • Relying solely on post-course surveys as a measure of impact
  • Measuring reaction because it is easier than measuring behaviour
  • Treating assessment as a one-off event rather than a continuous loop
  • Designing criteria without input from frontline subject matter experts
  • Ignoring the cultural and operational realities of specific sites or regions

Start with one role, one behaviour, and one business metric. Build a small assessment loop around that triangle, run it for a quarter, and use the results to refine the approach before scaling. The organisations that get the most value from learning treat assessment as a continuous design discipline, revisited every time business priorities shift.

Learning to Performance

Learning to Performance, a complete training approach, gives companies world-class training to drive significant return. This approach includes upfront work (Impact Mapping, design), training (for staff and company executives), and post-training efforts to ensure training transfer. This unique recipe - the key for successful training and adoption - is changing the way companies implement training. This methodology could work with any content for organizations in any industry.

More...