It can be pretty tricky to determine the return on investment (ROI) of training. In general, it’s safe to assume quality training will yield positive results for your organization but it’s important to understand what favourable outcomes you desire from new training programs and how to determine if your results are worth the investment.
This is where defining your metrics is key, you must know the results you desire from new training programs. For example, a plastics company may wish to reduce downtime due to maintenance-related issues and implement a maintenance management training program. Now they know what they want, which is reduced downtimes and they believe improvements to maintenance SOPs through additional training will bring those results. In order to calculate the proper ROI of this training and determine its effectiveness you must gather the following data:
Average downtime hours prior to training implementation (DTpre)
Average downtime hours after 3 months of training implementation (DTpost)
Cost per hour of downtime (CDT)
Total Cost of training program (TCT)
With this information you can easily determine the ROI of the training program by plugging those figures into the following formula: (CDT * (DTpre – DTpost)) / TCT * 100% = ROI As long as your ROI is above 100% then the training can be considered a success and has achieved the intended outcome. If you are looking to really maximize your ROI and gain the most bang for your buck I highly recommend looking into an eLearning training solution. There are a lot of attractive reasons to consider more modern training styles and they don’t just include ease of implementation.
Saves Time
Technology or online-based training typically saves up to 45% of the time used in classroom courses. This is because it is completely asynchronous & self-paced.
Minimizes Logistics
Online training is easily replicable and requires very little resources to deliver. When working with multi-site organizations you can host training across the entire organization with the lowest disruption in work and no need to travel.
Remain Consistent
Same high quality of content for all employees involved in training. No chances of influencing employee development based on personal characteristics of the trainer, as well as no lost knowledge due to attrition.
Provide Insights
Analytics and reporting capabilities provide HR and management with high levels of valuable data for improving training programs, managing staff development and ensuring organization-wide compliance. This information can be used to enhance training programs and make it more relevant for each employee.
Improved Information Retention
By using the information and metrics gathered, training programs can be built upon to better represent the learning style of their intended learners (staff) resulting in better quality learning. Add to that far higher engagement through integrating interactive aspects of training like quizzes, scenarios and simulations and your staff will greatly improve their knowledge retention.
Lower Employee Turnover
The hands-down best benefit of eLearning is that it reduces employee turnover. This is based on many factors but the main reasons are employee satisfaction is higher and with predictive analytics HR and management can find employees at risk of leaving early and develop a strategy to retain the staff members. It can be very difficult at times to quantify the payback of training. As long as there is a need and a quality solution available training will almost always provide a solid return that can carry forward into the long-term as well. When the time does come to look into investing in your staff’s development I highly recommend considering an eLearning training solution. It will almost always have a better return than traditional classroom-style training is more effective and so much easier!
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