Corporate training is an expenditure that compares to others like recruitment and advertising; however, most companies just pay attention to the course’s cost and number of learners, and fail to measure its return on investment.
Basically, the majority of companies are not tracking how the cost of training transforms into results; but… why should they do this in the first place?
Because in this way, they can improve their training, concentrating on the courses that give results and getting rid of those that add zero value.
Effective corporate training, either through e-learning or on-site, has many benefits, such as:
Knowledge transfer: as knowledge is transferred from one area of the organization to another, more people benefit from it
Expertise gain: people acquire more and better skills
Higher retention: people tend to want to stay in a company that invests in their training
Higher morale: when people feel that the company is investing in their future, there is a boost in morale
More sales: all of the above translates into happier, more effective employees, which in turn increases sales
All of the above can be measured. When you evaluate corporate training results, you are able to see the value behind an effective training course and how it influences the bottom line.
Following are some ways in which companies can measure the effectiveness and value of corporate training:
A company can select a couple of points to assess the numbers for both, before and after the course.
A company can form two groups, a control group and a training group, and track them to measure their performance.
A company can supervise performance on strategic areas that concern a specific training.
A company can ask for comprehensive post-training information that documents the precise actions that were taken and the results of these.
For instance, let’s say a company held a sales course and afterwards it tracked the performance of those who took the course against others who didn’t.
There are two possible results:
1. The control group and the training group perform the same.
2. The training group outdoes the control group.
If the first option is true, then the training was not valuable.
If the second option is true, it means the training was very effective. In this case, the company can take the larger profits made by the training group, compare these to the cost of the training, determine the return on investment, and identify the value of corporate training.
Mark Doyle is a freelance writer who lives with his dog Smokey in the Pacific Northwest and learns best through e-learning.