Your Chief Virtual Learning Architect

Learning to Performance

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Custom Design & Delivery

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Predictive Evaluation

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Enterprise Learning Strategy

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Predictive Evaluation

How to Evaluate Custom Instructional Design Vendors

Choosing a custom instructional design vendor is a strategic decision, not simply a procurement exercise. The right partner should translate business goals into useful learning experiences, support adoption across different workforces and show whether the programme changes performance. Learn more about Adoption Dashboards.html.

For Australian organisations, this assessment often involves dispersed teams, hybrid work, strict governance and varied operating environments. A vendor serving a Sydney head office, regional Queensland sites and FIFO employees in Western Australia needs more than attractive courseware; it needs a practical learning strategy grounded in local realities.

Define Quality Before Comparing Vendors

Start by agreeing what success means for the project. A vendor may produce polished e-learning, yet still miss the real requirement if employees cannot apply the new process, managers do not reinforce it or the programme does not affect business outcomes.

Create a short evaluation brief covering the target audience, current performance gap, required behaviours, delivery channels, accessibility needs and expected measures. Include operational constraints such as shift work, limited connectivity at remote sites, union consultation or the different needs of office-based and frontline employees.

Strong vendors will ask probing questions before presenting a solution. They should be able to explain why a learning intervention is appropriate, where job aids or manager coaching may be better and how the design will fit existing systems such as an LMS, Microsoft Teams or a customer relationship platform.

Examine Instructional Design Capability

Review the vendor’s design method, not just its portfolio. Look for evidence of audience research, task analysis, learning objectives, practice, feedback and assessment. A reliable instructional design team can show how it moves from a performance problem to a learning architecture and then to a measurable solution.

Ask to see examples of custom work similar in complexity to your own. Generic compliance modules tell you little about the vendor’s ability to design scenario-based learning for health services, safety-critical operations, financial services or a fast-growing technology business.

Probe the balance between creativity and usability. Effective custom content may include simulations, branching scenarios, short learning bursts, facilitator resources and manager tools. It should also meet accessibility expectations, work across common devices and remain maintainable when policies, products or regulations change.

Verify Measurement and Business Evidence

A quality partner defines evaluation before development begins. Ask how it will measure completion, knowledge, confidence, behaviour change, operational performance and return on investment. Be cautious when a vendor treats attendance or satisfaction as proof that learning worked.

The sequence matters: adoption data can reveal whether people are using the learning before you interpret survey responses. This explanation of adoption metrics is useful when assessing whether a vendor has a mature approach to evidence rather than relying on smile sheets.

Request sample dashboards, measurement plans and reporting definitions. A vendor should explain the source of each metric, who owns the data, how baseline performance will be established and how results will be separated from other business changes. Predictive evaluation is especially valuable when leaders need an early view of likely uptake and impact.

Assess Fit With Australian Operations

Australian delivery conditions can expose weaknesses that are less visible in a presentation. Ask how the vendor will support employees across Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and regional locations, including participants who work irregular rosters or have limited time online. If the audience includes mining, construction or utilities teams, test the design assumptions against FIFO and site-based work.

Language and tone matter as well. Content intended for Australian employees should sound natural rather than imported from a US catalogue, while examples should reflect local legislation, workplace expectations and customer settings. A vendor should know when plain English, local case studies and concise instructions will improve credibility.

Consider procurement and implementation realities. Large organisations may require information security reviews, accessibility documentation, data hosting details and formal supplier onboarding. Smaller organisations may need a flexible partner that can work with an existing LMS, TAFE relationship or internal subject-matter experts without creating unnecessary overhead.

Compare Collaboration and Governance

Custom development succeeds when responsibilities are visible. Assess how the vendor will manage discovery, stakeholder interviews, content approval, testing, version control and change requests. You should know who makes decisions, what your subject-matter experts must provide and how delays will be handled.

Useful signs during evaluation include:

Evidence of Strong Working Practices

A clear discovery workshop and documented design assumptions
A prototype or storyboard review before full production
Defined accessibility, quality assurance and acceptance criteria
A named project lead with a realistic delivery schedule
A process for maintaining content after launch

The vendor should also demonstrate how it will involve managers and business leaders. Adoption improves when supervisors know what their teams are expected to do after training and can reinforce the behaviour during normal work.

Questions That Reveal Vendor Maturity

How do you test learning with representative Australian users?
Which measures will indicate adoption within the first 30 to 90 days?
How do you handle conflicting feedback from stakeholders?
What content and data remain under the client’s ownership?
Can you provide references for a comparable transformation?

Weigh Value, Risk and Long-Term Fit

Price should be assessed alongside design quality, implementation effort and future maintenance. A low initial quote can become expensive if it hides multiple revision rounds, unclear licensing, limited accessibility or a weak integration plan.

Use a weighted scorecard so commercial considerations do not overwhelm capability. Give greater weight to the factors that determine business value, such as performance alignment, evaluation quality and the vendor’s ability to support adoption. The following comparison can provide a practical starting point.

Evaluation area	Strong evidence	Warning sign
Discovery	Performance analysis and audience research	Immediate solution pitch
Design	Prototypes, practice and relevant scenarios	Attractive screens without application
Measurement	Baselines, behaviour metrics and business outcomes	Completion and satisfaction only
Delivery	Accessibility, device testing and implementation support	Assumptions about technology
Governance	Clear roles, approvals and change control	Vague ownership
Commercials	Transparent scope, IP and maintenance terms	Low price with exclusions

Before signing, run a small discovery or prototype phase where possible. It reveals how the team communicates, responds to feedback and converts ambiguity into usable design. A vendor that can connect learning activity to operational results is more valuable than one that simply delivers content on schedule.

The clearest signal of quality is alignment: the vendor understands the work, designs for real Australian conditions, measures adoption and stays accountable for the outcomes the programme is meant to improve. When those elements are present, custom instructional design becomes a business capability rather than a standalone training purchase.

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.