Are you finding it challenging to get your boss to invest in employee training? Companies exist to make money, not spend it, making the process difficult. However, showing your boss the ROI (return on investment) of employee training and calculating the return associated with putting money into it will make things will make your case easier to win.
Encouraging professional growth and rewarding employees can be done using training. It all comes down to the benefits employee training gives back to the company. When you think about it, most initiatives in a company are designed to maximize profit, whether buying new equipment, changing offices, or implementing employee training.
Knowing that you should fully understand what ROI means and how you can calculate the impact training would have on the business.
What Is Training ROI?
When we mention ROI, we’re talking about the economic value used to evaluate an investment’s profitability. Some of the things that are important to consider include the following:
- Customer satisfaction levels
- Metrics related to any business activity
- Productivity
- Sales data
- Training costs, such as travel, materials, or trainers
Many people don’t think to consider ROI when it comes to training. It can be challenging to mix people and metrics. However, measuring ROI is essential for any brand, regardless of industry or size. It can be used to ensure only profitable decisions are made to help the company succeed.
It helps make decisions in the future since all the past activities will determine what kind of training is the most profitable. This gives you the potential to do several things that can later be used to show your boss why training is a great investment. Knowing your ROI can help you:
- Compare results from one training method to the next
- Determine whether employees who learn new skills have increased productivity
- Establish a continuous level of training in the company
- Justify the spending associated with training
- Monitor how efficient specific training is in practice
How to Sell Your Boss on the ROI of Employee Training
Even after you have the ROI in hand, you still need to convince your boss about moving forward with additional employee training. Quantifying the return on training investments will help you move forward with initiatives and gain access to the needed resources. Through constant improvement, this can help your performance (and that of the rest of your team).
If you capture the right information and share it with your boss, you’ll have a better chance of moving forward with greater knowledge. Below are a few tips designed to help you win the argument that employee training is useful and highly profitable.
Eliminate Costs When Possible
Cost reduction happens to be the simplest ROI data point to gain access to and share. Great training programs make learning more effective and efficient. Fewer meetings can reduce costs associated with meetings, launches, certifications, and onboarding.
There are several things to consider using your ROI analysis, including the following:
- Lost working time – How much is the time of an employee worth? Saving even one day out of 100 might be worth as much as 1% of the employee’s annual production. This can add up quickly.
- Materials and facilities – Consider the cost of onsite vs. offsite training. Offsite can be more than 100% more expensive. Look into all the options and cut costs when possible.
- Trainer hours – Bringing in outside experts can cost thousands of dollars every day. Internal resources will also have a cost that goes beyond salary. Consider what would be done with their time if the sessions had a larger reach and fewer tasks were left behind.
- Travel – Recording or remote sessions can save thoughts. Consider all aspects of travel, including facilitators and more.
If the training program you choose lowers these costs, you can share that with the boss.
Reduce Risks to Success
It costs money to train employees, but costs are also incurred when people have no or inadequate training. This can be more challenging to measure but has major implications. Think about the following risks before reaching out to your boss.
- Compliance and regulatory risk – If the industry is regulated, violations can create huge fees and settlements. Look at the annual cost for the company by multiplying the issues per year and their average expense. Then determine how much a training program could cut that cost.
- Execution risk – What are the costs to market and launch products or provide services? These investments can be very expensive, so everyone needs to be doing their best job so the brand can hit its targets.
- Planning risk – Business plans can fall off kilter when the wrong products and services are provided. Great training programs ensure that everyone can do their job to the best of their ability.
- Reputation and brand risk – The value of your company also matters. A disaster in the PR world can be devastating. The best way to avoid that is by ensuring everything is done correctly through excellent training.
Increase Revenue Growth
Cost reduction makes up the first two tips, but this one is about growing revenue. Having the right employee training ensures all workers master important knowledge and skills. This can also make them more confident and productive, both of which are great things to have available at any company.
Measuring revenue before and after training is a great way to sell the ROI of employee training to your boss. When top employees are working hard, sustainable revenue growth is just behind. Plus, training can narrow the gap between the highest achievers and the ones at the bottom.
Final Thoughts
When you reach out to your boss to talk about the ROI of employee training, the tips above will help you get the job done. Sharing how training can make money, rather than cause the business to lose it, will go a long way toward getting you the desired results. Talk about how training can increase revenue, reduce risks and costs, and even boost employee well-being when you walk into the office and state your case.
Growth Opportunity:
Emergent Execs offers a FREE training session for qualifying organizations. This gives you the opportunity to show your boss exactly what a single training session can do for your organization. Learn more and apply today!
Sources:
https://hrdqstore.com/blogs/hrdq-blog/how-to-measure-roi-for-training-programs
https://www.aim.com.au/blog/how-to-sell-professional-development-your-boss
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