Many HRD and training programs are purchased by organizations from third parties, such as consultants or vendors. Some practitioners believe that they fulfill their evaluation responsibility in their prepurchase decision. The logic is that they wouldn’t buy a program they didn’t think was going to work, so if they have made a wise purchasing decision (or evaluated the program before buying it), then it isn’t necessary to conduct any postprogram evaluation.

Indeed, supervisors and HRD professionals should be wise consumers of programs and equipment used in their HRD efforts. It is equally important to judge the effectiveness of the program or device after it has been put into place.