Evaluating the ROI of Your eLearning Training Program

Implementing a new way of doing things can be a difficult sell. People tend to get stuck in their ways and don’t want to take a risk on a failure that negatively affects the bottom line of the company.

e learning training programs are far from immune to this scrutiny. Before a new system is put into place, the powers that be will likely want to see some proof that it will be a financially beneficial venture. This is the reason that it’s important to do some calculating before development even begins.

Let’s look at how it’s done.

Cost

Beginning with figuring the cost, there are several factors to look at. These expenses are related to designing the eLearning training program, the development of the activity, and the distribution.

It helps to get a little more specific about individual costs.

Hardware and software. Sometimes a new system will require updating or purchasing new equipment.
Time for development. This can be determined by multiplying the developer’s hourly rate by the number of hours it takes to create the course.
Meeting times. Figure up the time spent in meetings related to the eLearning training program development by each member of the team. Multiply their hourly rates by the hours spent working in meetings and outside, on their own, in order to come up with a dollar value.
Productivity time lost. This refers to the amount of time the employees spend taking the course. They are missing hours when they would be carrying on their normal job tasks. To get this dollar amount, multiply the number of employees by the number of hours they spend on the training and multiply that by their hourly rate.

These are the main costs that need to be considered, though there may be other small expenditures that come up along the way.

Let’s see how what we’ve figured so far stacks up against the benefits of an online training program.

Benefits

While it isn’t as easy to identify the cost benefits, it’s extremely important to do so in order to show that online training programs are financially worth it.

There are two main areas to look at when determining the dollar value of the benefits.

Establish the specific concept or concepts that will be covered.
The average dollar advantage of improving upon this concept or the way a task is performed.

Once those numbers are nailed down, the next step is to multiply that dollar benefit by the number of employees who will participate in the training. Next, multiply that number by a time period.

To determine the ROI, divide the benefits of the training by the costs of the training and then multiply by 100.

The ability to prove that the investment in online learning programs is financially beneficial to the company is one of the most effective ways to persuade those in charge to pull the trigger on a new way of doing things.

Contact our team today to discuss your company’s next training program.