Optimum Sales – Measuring the return on investment of training programs
No one doubts the benefits of investing in training until they have to pay for it. At this moment, managers, especially those from business units, are faced with countless doubts that they express in phrases like these:
- The salespeople should already know how to sell.
- If we train them, they will leave learned to the competition.
- After the courses, nothing changes.
- Training is an unnecessary expense.
- If the tripartite foundation doesn’t cover it, we won’t do it; we don’t have a budget for training.
- I can’t keep the vendors off the street for so long.
Why is there this dual perspective on training projects when it comes time to invest?
The 2015 Talent Pulse Report found that, although U.S. companies invest $164 billion in training and development annually, only 21% reported that the training provided is used in the workplace.
General or commercial directors don’t care how many people completed the training itinerary last year or if the training sessions were motivating or fun; the only thing that matters to them is the effect these had on the company’s results. The key question that the management team always asks is: What do the salespeople or employees do differently after the course, and how do those differences affect the company’s results?
From our point of view, companies should implement systems that accurately measure the return on investment in training, and to the extent that it is valued as strategic, the intellectual capital of the organization in economic terms.
In this way, the general or commercial management of the company will be able to materialize the economic effort that investments in training and development entail.
Really sophisticated methods for measuring the ROI (Return on Investment) of training can be implemented, or simpler yet highly effective methods that provide us with real measurements of the value gained.
All these methods must start from a clear and precise definition of the objectives that are to be achieved at the end of the training process. Both in economic terms and professional performance.
Once the objectives are defined, we must be able to measure the starting point of the group to be trained, both in terms of knowledge and their current professional performance.
Based on this measurement, the training itinerary should be established, which must integrate its KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) in each of its intermediate phases, as an increase in an employee’s professional performance is not achieved solely by attending a course or completing an online module.
Once all stages of the training itinerary are completed, the professional performance of the trained team must also be precisely evaluated and compared with the assessment from the starting point, establishing metrics in economic terms and the performance of the achieved progress.
It is a challenge for training departments to implement a methodology that measures the ROI of the training provided; it is not an easy task as it involves intangible elements and intellectual capital, but it is key for the general or commercial management of the company to clearly perceive the economic benefits of investing in training.
Optimum Ventas accompanies you in the process of implementing your method for evaluating the ROI of training. Contact us: optimum@optimumventas.es
| David Galve | General Director www.linkedin.com/in/davidgalve |  |
