HR professionals face the requirement to express the benefits of their solutions and strategies for their companies in hard numbers almost every day. If you are worried about the return on investment in your employee training programs, read the following ten tips on how to express it better and more precisely. The recommendations come from the Training ROI: If Someone Asks You've Already Lost Your Budget study by ESI International.
1. You don't have to overdo the ROI calculations
Your task is to demonstrate that your training program pays off in a reasonable degree.
2. Focus on results
The magic word "return on investment" does not mean only numbers, it expresses the whole way of thinking. Training managers should emphasize not only the quality of trainings, but also their impact on improving the business.
3. Count the ROI continuously
You need to have a constant overview of what works and what does not. It makes no sense to train people who do not need or do use it.
4. Specify your arguments
Put together your arguments and support each of them with facts to show that your program will bring more benefits than costs.
5. Provide as much data as possible
Your program will be decide on by people who are interested in how you came to the submitted figures. Include therefore as much data as possible from as many perspectives as possible.
6. Show that ROI is not just about money
Analyze the results leading to the ROI accross four criteria: quality, efficiency, impact on jobs and business results.
7. Be careful
Beware of measuring subjectively distorted data. Reactions of the participants immediately after a training can be significantly different than after some time. Repeat, therefore, your measurements.
8. Make sure you know the amount of initial investment
Without knowing the initial investment you cannot count the ROI. Start by training costs and the amount of wages of the participants allocated over the training days.
9. Tell your story
You must be able to describe the goals you set for your training programs and the challenges you had to overcome to bring a positive change for the company.
10. Don't be discouraged by low numbers
ROI can be improved.
The whole study is available for download in the ESI International website here (for free after fillling in a registration form).
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