To Train or Not to Train: The Real ROI

orThe Value of Training for the

Public Good

Utah League of Cities and Towns

September 9, 2009

Training and DevelopmentLearning how to do it

Avoiding lawsuits

Wasting money-not making the same mistakes

Saving money-well trained

Safety in the workplace

Best time to it is when you’re in a budget crunch

Confidence on the job

Do a better job/more professional

Morale benefit/invest in them

New ideas/innovation

Ways Professionals LearnGo to school/formal education

Learn from other people/networkingGoing to a conference

Trial and errorThrough manuals and books

On the job training/co-workersReading and studying

RepetitionMentoring and Coaching

Observing/visuallyOnline

BenefitsIncreased productivity

Less mistakes

Increase morale

Better customer service

Knowledge

Provides for team building and work better as a team

Can save you money/know how to do job so more efficient, can work on other things

Increase retention

Increase loyalty to organization

Multitasking for now and future

Pitfalls of Not TrainingLawsuits

You’re ignorant

You’re inefficient

Preventable accidents

Public has mistrust of you and your organization

Diminish investment in technology, etc.

Rework over and over

Increases stress level of employees

Lower retention/high turnover

Selling the Idea of TrainingSharing in the cost with the org

To keep certificationBenefit to org to invest in individual

Share Training when you get back/Train others

LOCATIONMake a requirement of job

More training/knowledgeable—more marketable

Encourage responsibility of own training and improvement

Training Measurement

• Initial reaction

• Did the training meet your objectives?

• Was the Training transferred back to workplace?

• How did the organization benefit?

– Source: Donald Kirkpatrick

Case Study

ROI

Risk Of Ignoring

Long Term Trends

• Employees want the quality of their jobs to improve with financial status

• Employees want more involvement and empowerment in their jobs

• Organizations rely more on training and development of their people

Source: Handbook of Training and Development for the Public Sector, M. Van Wart et al

Long Term Trends

• Explosion of technology and information meaning IT, general information, and statutory and legal requirements

• Demographic changes and rapid transformation of jobs

• Pressures to do more with less and reorganizations

Source: Handbook of Training and Development for the Public Sector, M. Van Wart et al

“The ultimate impact of training and development interventions is to improve

organizational effectiveness.”

Source: Handbook of Training and Development for the Public Sector, M. Van Wart et al