Human resource professionals and executive level managers are constantly trying to determine how they can justify the costs associated with the personal and professional development of their employees. Numerous studies and countless hours of research have been spent on how to measure Training Return on Investment (ROI). Results of these studies and research indicate:

Training reduces the rate of turnover and absenteeism. As we are all aware, the costs associated with turnover are second only to the costs associated with healthcare benefits for most employers.

Benefits associated with training include:

A 1995 US Census Bureau survey conducted by the University of Pennsylvania of 3,000 businesses with 20 or more employees indicated a 10% increase in an employee's average educational level yielded an 8.6% increase in production output.

A 2003 Manufacturing Performance Institute Survey of 947 manufacturing plans throughout the United States indicated:

The Manufacturing Performance Institute Survey identified six (6) best practices for manufacturing plants.

These practices are:

The measurable benefits associated with plants that encompassed these best practices were:

In 1959, Donald Kirkpatrick, a professor of marketing at the University of Wisconsin created what is still one of the most widely used approached to evaluate the effectiveness of workplace training program.

His four levels of evaluation are:

Here are questions that should be asked at each level:

by Joe Giordano,

Owner of Consulting, Training, and Development Services,

(410) 860-6664.