The Impact And Roi Of Investing In Team Training

Yesterday I spoke with a founder of a tech startup. 

This founder has seen incredible success over the last 12 months and when I asked him what he believed got him to this point, he said: 

‘It’ my team. Hiring great people is only the first step. I invest in them. I invest in their learning, education, mindset and skills. I also invest in them by giving them my time and undivided attention.’

He mentioned that when he prioritized this for his team, the impact was huge, like: 

• Teams were working on side-projects because they wanted to and it excited them
• Team members were taking initiative and generating solutions to problems without being told to do so. 

It got me thinking about the ROI of training and developing your team. 

While some of us immediately understand the ROI of this type of work, after all, as a business we need some concrete evidence to often justify our investment. 

Here’s what I found.

To calculate the ROI of training, here’s a simple formula you can use for your team. 

The standard formula for training ROI is this:

Monetary benefits – Training Costs

_____________________________   X 100%

Take for example our Revive Remote Program. One of the outcomes of that training is to reduce poor quality meetings across your organization by implementing asynchronous communication and developing our culture around respecting the time and uninterrupted work. 

A team I worked with earlier this year, told me they saved 10 hours each day’s worth of meetings. 

10 hours X 5= 50 hours per week. That averages at about 2,600 hours per year.

With an average salary per hour of $25 X 2,600 = $65,000 saved.

Monetary benefits $65,000 – Training Costs $5,000 = $60,000 X 100% = that is a 650% ROI

THE TRAINING YOUR TEAM NEEDS NOW

You’ve probably heard me speak a lot about burnout if you’ve read my previous newsletters. 70% of the workforce have experienced burnout at work since the pandemic began and this challenge isn’t going away. 

According to a new study from the Angus Reid Institute, “half of Canadians (50%) report a worsening of their mental health, with one-in-ten (10% overall) saying it has worsened “a lot.” 

Deloitte found that Companies in Canada that had mental health programs for workers for at least a year experienced a median annual return on investment of $1.62 for every dollar they spent. 

Not only that Approximately 30 of every 1,000 Canadian workers miss work due to mental health reasons each week, which adds up to approximately $6.3 billion in lost productivity each year according to a Deloitte report. In addition, it is estimated that the annual cost of poor mental health in the workplace in Canada is at least $50 billion.

So now that we know the cost of not providing training and initiatives for our teams, this leads us to the question- what mental health initiatives and training should we provide to our team so that they can feel sustained and beat burnout in the workplace?

It all comes down to identifying training goals and expectations. 

UNDERSTANDING THE TRAINING NEEDS OF YOUR TEAM

On an organizational level, it’s vital that you can clarify exactly what your training goals and expectations are. For example, it could be to: 

• Reduce the number of sick days by X%
• Reduce the number of meetings across the organization by X%

Some quantifiable measures might be more focused on the employee. To truly understand if you’re measuring the right area, collecting data from your team can be incredibly helpful. 

Pre-training quizzes, one-to-one discussions and employee surveys, are some ways to measure training needs The more data you collect on measurable outcomes, the easier it will be to quantify your company’s return on investment. 

MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAINING

Top talents look for top training. According to research by ManpowerGroup Global Marketing, 65% of employees expect to receive training from their managers or leaders. The impact of training on engagement and retention is also a great factor to consider. Providing impactful training does not only ensure that it meets employees’ expectations, but it also helps retain the right people in a difficult talent market.

The Kirkpatrick Model is one of the most commonly used methods for evaluating the effectiveness of training programs. You can use it to connect numerical indicators of ROI, like sales numbers or retention rates, directly back to the skills learned during training.

The model uses four steps, or levels of analysis, to trace how learning leads to actionable results. Compile data at each of these points:

• Level 1: Reaction —Immediately after training, gauge employee’s reactions. Survey the employees after training to gauge their immediate reactions: How did they feel about training? Did they find the material useful? Was it presented in a clear and helpful way?
• Level 2: Learning — Assess how much employees retained from the training course. Test them on their knowledge, or have them complete demonstrations or assignments that you can evaluate.
• Level 3: Behavior — Learning on its own is nice, but we want to know whether employees are applying that knowledge to their work. Are they using their new skills on the job? Find out using spot inspections, manager evaluations, or even self-assessments.
• Level 4: Results — Finally, on the most macro level, what did this change in behavior result in? How did it help the company? This is where we pinpoint the most tangible effects of the training. Look at factors like increased sales numbers, changes in employee retention, or elevated production levels.

Before you begin training, use the Kirkpatrick Model to map out the result you hope to see from your training program. Start at Level 4, then work backward to identify the steps that would be required to get there.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRAINING THAT HAS A HIGH UPTAKE AND TRAINING THAT BECOMES A CHORE. 

With any training, I’ve done for organizations, one of the top priorities is to always make sure you engage your people. You can come up with the best strategies, but if you don’t test it and ultimately engage your people, your program won’t be successful.

If you’re undertaking team training to support them in better managing their time, preventing burnout and helping them better manage their mental health- a training program that lasts 4 days probably isn’t going to be the most engaging experience. 

Is this training going to feel exciting for our team or are people going to feel like this is yet another chore that they have to do?

How your facilitator engages and connected with your team is so important. They should support you in the internal marketing of the program so that your team feels uplifted from the session. 

Here’s some feedback I got from a recent Revive Remote Training session. This is what you want your team to experience after the session (The reaction step in the Kirkpatrick Model). 

‘’ I found her actionable tips and tricks to overcome some of those hurdles to be really smart, and left many of us energized and leaning into some small but impactful changes that we can adopt.’’

‘’I felt comfortable taking the time offline for my learning and development. Having the permission empowered me in slowing down and really get the most out of training. ‘’

So, how are you going to approach training for your team moving forward?

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. 

Sending you all the best,

Shauna

www.operateremote.com