Cultivating Training ROI: from Seeds to Success

As most people are back from the summer holiday period these days, some of us are also back to school: children, students, teachers but also seasoned professionals. We will therefore use Training in this article to illustrate the importance of ROI.

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Training ROI is like planting seeds in your company's garden - you want to make sure those seeds turn into blooming, fruitful trees, not just dandelions! It's not just about throwing Training at your team; it's about nurturing their growth, and, most importantly, reaping the delicious fruits of improved skills, efficiency, and productivity.

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Katia will talk about Training - as one example of talent management – and the importance of Training ROI. We will give you a few topics to clarify upfront, to prioritize, to convince and to ensure Trainings will meet your expectations & deliver the required benefits.

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Where to start?

As an experienced trainer, I too often meet with potential clients who just want to know how much it will cost and how long it will last. They “want a Negotiation / Project Management / Responsible Supply Chain Training commercial offer”.

After a few back-and-forth discussions, we often realize that they do not need what they thought they would need, and we work on a customized plan to deliver them tangible (and sustainable) value.

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Don’t get me wrong, price and length are important, but other topics must be clarified first:

o What is the context of the request? What are the pain points & their consequences? Why now?

o Who are the stakeholders (decision makers, impacted people…)?

o Have objectives / KPIs been fixed? What are the needs / requirements? Are they urgent? Here a 360° thinking is fundamental to identify the needs (vs. the nice to have) and to be able to select the best tool(s) to deliver tangible value (it may be a training; it may be something else…). Depending on what you want to achieve, you may want to use coaching, quarterly panel discussions, standard trainings, mentoring, testimonials, change management…

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Once (and only once) you are clear on the WHY?, WHAT? and WHO? of the request, you can start working on the WHEN?, HOW?, WHERE?... The training must be adapted to your context / requirements and not the other way around.

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When you're providing Training to your employees, don't forget the "must-ask" questions!

1.???? Do you know in detail WHY a training is required?

2.???? Do you have a clear understanding of your stakeholders and the required resources?

3.???? Are you clear on expected delivered value?

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Why is this important?

o Because you need to keep the Training ROI in mind, as far as any Training is an investment for the future and need to bring your organization some value.

Let’s take a Negotiation Training example, you cannot decide if you need a 2-day customized Training or a 3-hours standard conference if you did not clarify who will be your audience (procurement / sales team, R&D team…) and what is your expected ROI (reduce costs, increase turnover, improve customers relationships, optimize quality / service, enhance innovation, reduce risks, improve talents retention…).

o Because you need to identify projects / work situations where your talents will be able to apply what they learnt (and have the required resources to do so), ideally before the Training so that people can take ownership of the new tools and plan how to use them.

Let’s take another example: a Project Management Fundamentals Training where talents will learn how to manage the golden triangle (scope / timings / budget) of a project. If these talents do not lead (or participate to) any project shortly after the Training sessions, how will they be able to apply what they have learnt? How will they be able to practice and continuously improve? How will they be able to deliver value?

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No application = no ROI.

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Or, to put it in a lighter tone: no Training application focus is like trying to multiply by zero in maths – it doesn't matter how big the number is; you're still left with zero productivity increase, zero justification for your investment, and a big fat negative ROI!

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Don’t forget to measure your success!

During the process, keeping your objectives / KPIs in mind is not enough. You need to measure regularly the KPIs, communicate progress towards objectives (and/or continuous improvement measures), reward & recognize your people appropriately.

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Even though measuring ROI is fundamental, it is sometimes challenging, especially when you measure intangible elements (for example, team spirit or time lag as results often take time to show up). But nothing is impossible.

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Measuring Training ROI: like nurturing plants, it's challenging but possible!

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In conclusion, remember these elements to create sustainable value for your organization:

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Do not hesitate to reach out in case of questions or comment.

And don’t miss our next article in the coming weeks: we will cover another acronym that can be associated to Training, the TCO (the Total Cost of Ownership or how to make sure that you uncover hidden costs and take informed decisions).

Want more?

As an experienced trainer, Katia has keenly observed some changes over the past few years: work-from-home generalization, market fast-paced evolution and talent shortage?having a profound impact on the world of training.

However, we are eager to VALIDATE whether these shifts are confined to specific regions or have a more global influence. We'll soon extend an invitation for you to take part in a quantitative research study to explore this further and make sure your point of view is heard.

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Anca & Katia