Leadership And The ROI of Employee Training Programs

Corporate Training is on the Rise!
With corporate employee development programs on the rise, there’s good reason to want the biggest return on your training investment!    According to Forbes,  spending on corporate training has grown to over $70 billion in the United States.  This trend was reinforced in Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends Report 2016.  Research showed that more than eight in ten executives (84 percent)  view employee training as a means of advancing their strategic objectives.

There is so much a company can do to increase or decrease the chances that their employees will use the new skills they are taught.  Training design and delivery are important, but not the only determinants of training program success!  In my experience, the degree to which the training meets corporate objectives is dependent on whether or not the corporate culture and the employee’s supervisor supports and reinforces the training goals!

Two Principles That Will Make Training Stick!

Developing and facilitating training programs can be a lengthy and expensive process.  On average, it can take 34 hours to produce 1 hour of instructor-led training, including design, lesson plans, handouts, PowerPoint Slides, etc. (Chapman, 2007).  For the biggest return on your training investment, adopt the following two principles:

1. Training is an ongoing process that occurs inside AND outside of the “class room”.
2. Embed the training process into the corporate culture from the “executive level to the front line”.

Principle #1:  Ongoing Training Outside the Classroom!

Employee training is a collaborative effort between the corporate trainers, the employee’s supervisor, and of course, the employee. Research by the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA) concluded that “ordinary training typically increased productivity by 22%, while training combined with coaching increased productivity by 88%”. (January 2001)   Teaching doesn’t end when the class ends! Employees are more likely to apply new skills in their work environment when they are encouraged to do so and when their supervisor role models desirable behaviors. Research also shows that when supervisors fail to do so, they actually prevent motivated learners from using the new skills.   (Huczynski & Lewis, 1980; Richey, 1992).

Principle #2:  Embed the Training Process into Your Corporate Culture!

Various research studies support the idea that “training” programs will “stick” only to the extent that the employee’s organization provides a supportive environment.  The following strategies can ensure that your company meets its training goals!

1.    Train the supervisor!

• Ensure that supervisors understand the goals of the training and what behaviors they can expect from their employees.
• Hold supervisors accountable for role-modeling desirable performance for employees.

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2.    Refine the “coaching” skills of the supervisor.

•  Reinforce that supervisors are part of the ongoing training process.
•  As employees practice new skills, feedback from supervisors should be non-punitive  and supportive.
•  Train supervisors to view mistakes as learning opportunities instead of “failures”.

3.  Work-related assignments by the trainer allow employees to practice new    skills while “on the job”.

• Supervisors should be encouraged to help employees with their “on the job” assignments.
• When employees develop action plans for applying the training material in the workplace, they are more likely to use and learn the news skills beyond the life of the training program  (Gist, M. E., Bavetta, A. G., & Stevens, C. K, 1990b).
• Trainers can administer a test at the end of the training. Supervisors can be held accountable for reviewing any information with the employee that they scored incorrectly.

4.  Align performance evaluations with your training objectives.

• Incorporate training objectives into formal and informal performance evaluations of employees.
• Incorporate the need to reinforce, role model, coach and train employees into the manager’s performance evaluation.

Employee development programs can lead to low costs, high productivity, greater profits, better customer service, higher employee satisfaction and increased employee retention.  A company can undermine the best trainer and the best training program if the corporate culture isn’t supportive of the training goals.  The company whose leadership subscribes to the belief that training is an ongoing process that must be embedded in the corporate culture, and who takes steps to do so, will get the biggest return on their training investment!

Chapman, B. (2007)  LCMS Knowledge Base:  A Comparison of 30+ Enterprise Learning Content Management Systems. Published by Brandon Hall research, Sunnyvale, CA.

Gist, M. E., Bavetta, A. G., & Stevens, C. K. (1990b). Transfer training method: Its influence on skill generalization, skill repetition, and performance level. Personnel Psychology, 43(3), 501-523.

Huczynski, A. A., & Lewis, J. W. (1980).  An empirical study into the learning transfer process in management training. The Journal of Management Studies, 17(2), 227-240.

Richey, R. C. (1992).  Designing Instruction for the Adult Learner. London: Kogan Page Ltd.

Original post 2011.  Revised and updated 2016.  

Copyright Denise Scotti-Smith 2016.  All Rights Reserved.