What Metrics Should You Track to Determine ROI for Training Programs?

If you’re trying to lose weight, you know that the key metric you need to track is the number on the scale. If you’re trying to read more, you can track the sky-high pile of books on your bedside table as it starts getting smaller.

To achieve success in anything, you need to be able to measure it. When it comes to measuring the success of your HR training programs, it can be challenging to know where to start. Knowing which metrics are best suited for tracking training initiatives’ return on investment (ROI) is essential for a successful data-driven organization. 

This article will explore which key metrics human resource teams should track to ensure the success of their investments in employee training programs. By effectively identifying and monitoring these metrics, businesses can gain insights into how successful their training programs are at delivering value back to their organization.

Metrics for Evaluating Employee Performance

Evaluating employee performance is essential to determine whether training needs are met or need to be improved. Your leadership and organizational stakeholders will want to know that the programs they’ve invested in are working. Here are a few key metrics for evaluating employee performance:

• Training efficiency: Tracking the improvement in completion rates for training modules or assessments over time as an indicator of improved employee performance.
• Productivity levels: Measuring the frequency and quality of employee output over time can provide insights into how practical training translates into improved productivity.
• Compliance rates: Monitoring compliance with training requirements, such as corporate policies or regulatory compliance standards, can be a valuable way to track employee performance and identify areas where additional support may be needed.
• Job proficiency ratings: Monitoring ratings of employee proficiency on essential job tasks over time can provide insights into the effectiveness of training in improving overall job performance.
• Time to competency: Tracking the time it takes employees to achieve job proficiency or acquire new skills after training can be a helpful indicator of how well your training programs prepare employees for job success.
• Employee sales training surveys: Conducting employee surveys can be another effective way to gather feedback on training effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
• Measuring knowledge retention post-training: Examining the “knowledge decay” rate for learners over time can provide insights into the learning effectiveness of the program.

Once you collect data on your employee performance, you can run a cost-benefit analysis of the training investment. If, as a result of the training, there is an increase in employee retention of information, then when it comes to training impact and workplace learning, you’re on the right track!

Customer Satisfaction Metrics

In addition to employee evaluation, it’s crucial to evaluate customer satisfaction. Through customer data collection, you’ll determine where and how your employee training impacts customers. Here are examples of customer satisfaction metrics:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS) : This widely used survey-based metric provides insights into overall satisfaction levels with products, services, or the customer experience.
• Customer retention and churn rate: Tracking changes in your organization’s customer churn rate over time can help determine whether training initiatives are improving customer retention.
• Customer engagement metrics: Measuring critical indicators of customer engagement such as average session length, number of sessions per user, and average session duration can provide insights into how effectively your training programs are helping to increase customer engagement.
• Customer reviews: Tracking customer reviews can help you identify areas for improvement or highlight successes that can be replicated in future training programs.
• Customer feedback surveys: Tracking changes in overall customer satisfaction ratings or responses to key questions on customer feedback surveys over time can provide valuable insights into whether your training efforts are positively impacting customer relationships.

If you don’t have enough customer data, consider implementing automated requests for customer feedback after every customer interaction. You should also incentivize your customer with special perks or discounts to get feedback engagement. This may be more work upfront, but the net benefits of this system is a more accurate look at the facts during your customer training evaluation. 

Cost and Time-Saving Metrics

You can use various evaluation methods or a training ROI calculatorto determine if training costs are too high. Whichever way you choose, focus your evaluation on the following metrics: 

• Employee turnover rates: Analyzing whether employee turnover occurs more or less often after training programs can help determine the ROI of employee training initiatives.
• Cost per hire: Tracking the cost of training over time can help you to identify areas where programs may be going over your training budget.
• Revenue increase: Measuring changes in your organization’s revenue over time and the percentage of revenue directly attributable to employee training programs.
• Frequency of errors and workarounds: Tracking the frequency of mistakes and workarounds in employee tasks over time can help to identify areas where training may be needed to improve safety, efficiency, or accuracy.
• Cycle times: Monitoring changes in average cycle times for employee workflows can provide insights into how well your training programs are helping employees to work more efficiently.

Revenue Growth Metrics

The bottom line HR and leadership teams often want is the monetary value of your training programs. To determine whether your employee training programs have a positive business impact, track the following metrics: 

• Sales conversion rates: Tracking changes in sales conversion rates over time can provide insights into whether employee training is positively impacting overall sales performance.
• Sales pipeline: Measuring the health of your organization’s sales pipeline can help you identify areas where deals get stuck and focus your training on those specific areas.
• Average deal size:Tracking average deal sizes over time can help identify the types of customers your training needs to focus on.
• Total number of leads: Tracking the number of leads over time can help you identify areas where employee training boosted lead generation.

By tracking these key metrics over time, employers can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of their training programs in delivering ROI for their organization. Whether looking to improve employee engagement, increase monetary benefits, or reduce program costs, employee training can be a powerful tool for driving results.

Using ROI Data to Add Wellness to Your Training and Development Programs

No one ROI formula works for every business. But the data you collect as you track and measure your training program metrics can help you shape future programs that increase effectiveness exponentially. One of those critical areas is the health and wellness of your employees. So remember to track how training affects the wellbeing levels of your employees.

Whether you create an employee wellbeing programor add elements of a work-life wellnesspolicy to your training programs, it is always a good idea to prioritize the wellbeing of your workforce. Gympass can help you implement a wellbeing culture in your workforce.  Not only will it improve the ROI for training, but it will also make your team feel valued and cared for, a key ingredient to increase employee dedication and productivity. Talk to aGympass wellbeing specialist today!

References:

• What is Net Promoter Score®? Your introduction to NPS. (February 2, 2022). Hotjar. Retrieved on December 20, 2022 from https://www.hotjar.com/net-promoter-score/. 
• 3 Data-Based Ways To Prove Training ROI (+ Free Training ROI Calculator). 360Learning. Retrieved December 20, 2022 from https://360learning.com/blog/prove-training-roi-calculator/.