Measuring the ROI of Training (Guidelines & Templates) (Word DOCX)

Measuring The ROI of Training (Guidelines & Templates)

This guideline describes how to measure the ROI of training step-by-step, with examples of its implementation. Furthermore, this guideline will include a variety of forms and templates to aid in the execution of the ROI of Training assessment.

Training ROI measures how much an organization gains from its investment in training. It is a financial metric that expands on the benefits and business results relative to a training program. It is not a training satisfaction measure, which indicates how happy the employees are with the training.

Using various measures, you can understand the business impact of a particular workshop, training program, or leadership course, and convert it to monetary value.

Determining the Performance Indicators to be Measured Before and After the Training
This first step is the most important step in the process of measuring the ROI of training (hereinafter abbreviated as ROTI). We need measurable and quantifiable performance indicators before we can measure and calculate ROTI.

The following are some examples of measurable performance indicators that can be used to determine ROTI:
• Number of customer complaints
• Customer satisfaction score
• Sales volume
• Average sales volume per salesperson
• Quantity of production
• Number of manufacturing defects
• Employee Retention
• Number of work accidents
• Employee productivity
• Employee absenteeism rate

Why measure training ROI?

1. Making a case for spending money on training – Your organization's leadership team needs to approve most big training programs. Showing the benefits of past training programs will persuade decision-makers to invest confidently in training.

2. Ensuring that you're investing in the right training initiatives – Measuring training ROI helps you compare the impact of different trainings in terms of ROI. Usually, the training budget is one of the first items that get cut when there are financial turmoil times in an organization. So, choosing the right initiative is important because you might not be able to invest in all training programs.

3. Prioritizing – By understanding the ROI your training initiatives bring, you can prioritize investing in training that has the highest impact on organizational performance improvement.
Measuring and showcasing the value of training has helped create – If you can show the value the training has helped create to the leadership and other stakeholders, you're more likely to secure a budget for the future training initiatives.

Challenges of measuring training ROI

1. Not setting clear goals – A lack of clear goals for what you want to achieve with the training makes it difficult to show its impact. What's more, it causes confusion about what data you need to collect to prove the ROI.

2. Lack of data – Talking about data, calculating training ROI requires different types of data from different sources, which is not always easy to gather. You also need to find ways to convert data to monetary value.

3. Isolating the effects of training – There are other factors that might have an impact on the performance that you're aiming to improve with the training, like organizational culture, market conditions, and more. It might be challenging to attribute the achieved results to the training.

UJ Consulting