Corporate Training Specialists

Measuring a Return On Investment for Training Program Spend

Organisations need a return on the investment (ROI) when they develop their people in skills like, sales, leadership, coaching and more.  Most leaders believe in training for their people which is supported by a study of 15 countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development which found that the majority of organisations believe employee training is responsible for "productivity improvements, greater workforce flexibility, savings on material land capital costs, improved quality of the final product or service, and a more motivated workforce(*). 

“Pre and post-test measurements attempt to control biases in evaluation design and are best for determining whether an uplift in skills, a behavioural change and or an environmental upswing have occurred. ”

Yet many organisations struggle to measure the benefits or ROI of developing their people.
There are over a dozen models which can be used to measure ROI on training spend.  A popular model is the Kirkpatrick model which essentially evaluates meaningful training and its effect on participants and the organisation.

The four levels of Kirkpatrick's evaluation model essentially measure:

• The reaction of the student - what they thought and felt about the training
• The learning - the resulting increase in knowledge or capability
• The behaviour - capability improvement and implementation/application and extent of behaviour
• The results - the effects on the business or environment resulting from the training participants performance(**)

Another model from Shelton and Alliger (1993) suggests that it is generally preferable to measure training outcomes in terms of change and growth from pre-test to post-test rather than just looking at post-test scores.  They attest to the notion that pre and post-test measurements attempt to control biases in evaluation design and are best for determining whether an uplift in skills, a behavioural change and or an environmental upswing have occurred.

What these and other models have in common is they gather direct and indirect costs that can be attributed to the training program, they convert the benefits into monetary units that can be understood by the decision makers in the organisation and they establish a baseline to understand the gains made thorough post mortem of the program.
Finally Bill Stetar of the University of Tennessee (***) offers this advice for your next training program;
“…understand the problem or performance gap, uncover the cost of the problem, research for a solution that out ways the cost of the problem, specify the outcomes of any training program that will be used to address the problem or close the skill gap and set up your measurement model ensuring it is valid and reliable.”

Developing people in an organisation is important for retention, competitive advantage, managing performance gaps and so much more.  Allocating resources to achieve the best ROI for the training spend is a leaders key role.  Check out our next story on how to get a great ROI and transference of learning from the training room to the workplace.

ROI in the Workplace – You Can Do It!

As a business leader, people manager or line manager your role in supporting those in your team participating in training programs or a learning experience is critical. Kevin Lovell, learning strategy director, KnowledgePool says:

“When learners receive line manager support, 94% go on to apply what they learnt, demonstrating a positive correlation between the transfer of learning to the workplace, line manager support and performance improvement “

Below is a comprehensive table but not exhaustive lists of actions you can take to assist your people and your organisation realise a ROI on training spend between training workshops.

This year we welcomed Layne Beachley to Happening People as our Key Note Speaker and Senior Executive Coach. Layne is a seven-time ASP Women's World Champion Layne Beachley is the most successful female surfer of all time. Holding the greatest number of consecutive world titles- male or female. Now athlete to entrepreneur, Layne Beachley is one of Australia’s greatest icons.

Layne is passionate about sharing her experiences in order to inspire and motivate others. Her presentations are personalised according to the audience, theme and subject required.   She covers topics such as; the Importance of goal setting, Turning challenges into opportunities, Teamwork, Maintaining Motivation, Leadership, core values and being a positive HR role model.

Meet Layne Beachley!

Q. How do you keep motivated?
A. I do what I love and I love what I do. I used to procrastinate but made the decision that it was a waste of my time and energy. Every day I wake up and my levels of motivation are different but I look in the mirror, am present in the moment and think about my purpose.

Q. What’s a single piece of advice you have been given that you still work with?
A. There is no second chance to making a first impression! I always think about it, especially when meeting people or presenting myself to an audience so I take a deep breath and commit to the moment.

Q. What gives you the biggest thrill?
A. I have had some excellent career highlights but genuine relationships with authenticity thrill me on a daily basis.

Q. What attracted you to being a Key Note Speaker and Executive Motivational Coach with Happening People?
A. I met Sam (Sam Day our MD) through a client of Happening Peoples. I really felt we were aligned in energy, motivation and above all else our goal of making positive change in people’s lives.

Q. What role models do you have?
A. Role models inspire us to be better people so my dad Neil and my husband Kirk are wonderful role models in my life who keep me honest, motivated and most importantly, happy.

Q. What inspires you?
A. I draw inspiration from the world around me on a daily basis from movies, nature, books and Music. I really respect successful people and love seeing people succeed but I like tangible inspiration like the lyrics in a song.

Q. If you could invite 3 people to dinner (dead or alive) who would they be?
A. I’ve been asked this question before and it depends on how I’m feeling at the time but my husband Kirk would have to be there because he is a great cook! So I’d really enjoy having Graham Kennedy there because I love the way he used to push boundaries.  Drew Barrymore as she is a terrific role model and is passionate about many things outside of acting and Leisel Jones because she is great fun and really easy to chat to and hang out with.

Meet Some of Our Team

Below are some of our corporate training team who specialise is the areas of Leadership, Management, Sales development and more.
Click on their name to link through to our website and find out more.