SmartHCM

training ROI

What is training ROI?

Training ROI measures how much an organization gains from its investment in training. It is a financial metric that expands on the benefits and business results relative to a training program. It is not a training satisfaction measure, which indicates how happy the employees are with the training. 

Using various measures, you can understand the business impact of a particular workshop, training program, or leadership course, and convert it to monetary value.

You don’t need to measure all training programs using ROI. In fact, it is recommended to do this for only 5% of training programs. Which programs those are depends on the complexity and business impact of the training offered.

For example, your company might want to measure the training ROI of a two-year leadership training course, but training on the organization’s new code of conduct wouldn’t require measuring ROI. Not all training can also be directly linked to ROI. 

Some data you would collect to link to training ROI include: 

  • Sales data
  • Customer satisfaction levels
  • Productivity and output
  • Any business metric directly related to the organization’s purpose
  • Training costs such as instructor costs, training materials costs, facility costs, travel costs, loss of productivity of trainees costs, and more