Meeting Report from our 2-hour breakfast program on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

“Show Me the Money”:

How to Determine ROI
in People, Projects, and Programs

Presented by:
Tom Broslawsky
Certified Professional ROI Consultant
ROI Institute

Click here for a copy of
Tom’s PowerPoint presentation (1 MB)
(chapter members only)

Our speaker, Tom Broslawsky, a professional consultant for the ROI Institute, presented 5 Levels of Evaluation. These are based on Donald Kirkpatrick’s 4-Level evaluation model as extended by Jack Phillips.

Level 1 evaluations measure the participants’ reactions to and satisfaction with the training program.

Level 2 evaluations measure the participants’ learning, specifically related to increase of skills and knowledge, from the training program.

Level 3 evaluations measure the changes in on-the-job behaviors while the training is applied or implemented.

Level 4 evaluations measure the actual business impact of the training program.

Level 5 evaluations measure the monetary benefits (ROI) of the program compared with the program cost.

As workplace learning and performance professionals, before embarking on the development of a new program, we need to ask ourselves, “What business need am I attempting to impact?” Tom clearly stated though not all learning initiatives need to be measured at a Level 5, the high profile projects requiring the significant investment of time and resources do. Not only do they need a Level 5 evaluation, but in order to successfully complete a Level 5 evaluation, all preceding evaluation levels need to be conducted as well.

Tom shared a data collection plan grid where for each level of evaluation key variables need to be identified:

• objectives (what you want to measure)
• measures (expected ratings/scores)
• data collection measures (how you will capture your data)
• data sources (who you will capture the data from)
• timing (when you will gather the data)
• responsible parties (who is responsible for gathering the data)

Tom shared a quote from the November 2008 issue of Training and Development magazine.

“On a daily basis we need to remind ourselves why our learning organization exists. We’re here for only one reason: to help drive business outcomes. We’re part of the overall business process, not a separate training process. Our business leaders don’t expect us to be CPA’s, but they do expect us to understand the business and align everything we do with the business strategy…I can guarantee, to use a business term, the return on investment is well worth our efforts.”

-- Rita Smith, VP of Enterprise Learning at Ingeroll Rand.

During his two-hour presentation, Tom walked participants through a business coaching case study and presented the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) formula for measuring the return on investment. In simplest terms, he introduced a process for turning training program impact into dollars and ultimately, calculating a return on investment.

For more information on Tom’s presentation and the topic of ROI, contact Tom Broslawsky via email at: tbroslawsky@yahoo.com.

The Phillips ROI Methodology involves various steps within each of the 5 Levels of Evaluation. To learn more about this ROI Methodology, visit the ROI Institute at: www.roiinstitute.net.

About the speaker

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