How important are training and development indicators?

A company that uses training and development indicators to analyze the results of the capabilities it offers has the information needed to improve those capabilities. With the information in hand, it is possible to compare training courses, choose from the available options and decide which ones are most effective for each professional and team, which avoids unnecessary expenses.

Training and development indicators contribute positively to the T&D strategy, improving the company's results. In addition, indicators are an important tool for HR, which is able to assess which training is the best according to available resources.

Check out what HR can do through training and development indicators:

• Attract more visibility to your work: when you have concrete information and good planning, it is easier to prove the importance of training and qualifications, showing how much they can bring benefits to the company;

• Get support to make projects viable: after proving the importance of training, through the information you have gathered, you can get the necessary support to get training off the ground and for a type of training to be approved more quickly.

The training and development indicators also analyze the way in which employees behave in the face of the training offered. To do the analysis correctly, HR needs to know the different areas of the organization so that it can then choose the right indicators to measure the results.

Check out, below, the 14 main indicators of training and development to apply in your company.

14 training and development indicators

1. Membership fee

This is one of the main indicators of training and development. The enrollment rate shows the number of employees who signed up for training and the percentage of those who actually attended.

For example, if 100 people signed up for certain training, but only 40 attended, it means that the enrollment rate was 40%.

This indicator helps to understand whether the training dissemination strategy was really effective and the level of interest and engagement of the target audience, that is, employees.

2. Abandonment Rate

The dropout rate, which can also be called the dropout rate, measures the number of employees who started training but did not complete it. This indicator helps to evaluate the training as a whole: how is the content, the efficiency of the training execution, if there was consistency between what was promised and what was delivered, etc., trying to understand what was the reason for the abandonment.

The dropout rate is indicated to be used in longer training sessions, lasting weeks or months. 

3. Mean of reaction evaluation

This indicator measures how employees evaluated the training, serving to measure the level of satisfaction and understanding they had of the event. It can be done through a satisfaction survey among the participants – which should ideally be anonymous.

It is necessary to pay attention to this indicator, because not always well-evaluated training indicates that the results will really come. For this reason, the average of the reaction evaluation is not the best indicator to evaluate the efficiency of training, but it helps in the next planning since the collected answers can serve to guide the content and the execution.

4. Average of the learning assessment

How did employees do in training? What's your score? Learning can be assessed in several ways. Among the most common review. The resulting data will be used to verify at what level the employees are and how it is possible to improve. Because it is important to measure the evolution of the employee, it is necessary to carry out an evaluation before and after the training.

Another way to assess learning is through a “control group”. This technique consists of comparing a group of people who have participated in the training with another group of people who have not. Also, you can do simulation exercises, with presentations at the end of the training to show the acquired knowledge, oral tests, objective tests, etc.

5. Individual use

The previous indicator takes into account a more general aspect since this one assesses individual learning. It serves to show which employees are having the most difficulty and will need more training and development.

Therefore, an analysis must be carried out with each person who participated in the training, in order to understand if he/she acquired sufficient knowledge and achieved the intended result. This analysis takes into account pre-training performance and current performance.

Employees who make good individual use can become internal multipliers: employees who pass their knowledge on through knowledge management. This helps to train a team faster.

6. Employees reached

Basically, this training and development indicator quantifies the number of employees achieved with the training, that is, how many participated. In addition, it also serves to measure the duration of training. Knowing the number of employees reached helps to assess the effectiveness of the T&D strategy and the ability of the training and development team to handle a number of employees in a given time.

7. Average training per employee

On average, how much training did each employee take in a given period? This data is important to show the scope of the work done by the T&D team. In addition, the more training employees do, the better their skills are.

8. Average of topics per employee

The purpose of this indicator is to know the interests of employees through a survey on the topics of the training each one participated in. In addition, it also serves to show whether the capabilities offered are attractive or not. 

If employees are more interested in training on topic A than training on topic B, the training and development team can look for other ways to approach topic B, so that it becomes more attractive to employees.

9. Behavior

This training and development indicator is focused on behavior, that is, it assesses whether training is impacting the behavior of those who participate. When employees participate in training, the expectation is that they will apply what they have learned and changed their way of behaving.

10. Training rate via internal multipliers 

How much was invested so that employees could become internal multipliers, that is, they could pass their knowledge on to their colleagues? Bearing in mind that training internal multipliers are a good investment to make, as it optimizes resources, increases the training culture within the company, and encourages those who receive training from a multiplier to also want to pass on their knowledge. Thus, the internal multipliers are an important indicator of training and development, in addition to serving to measure the company's internal evolution.  

 11. Average amount invested in each employee

The average value of the investment is used to see if the company is managing to meet the schedule. To make this calculation, the total invested in training must be divided by the number of people who participated. The lower the result, the fewer costs the company had; and if the quality of learning is good, the better the return.

This indicator is very important, as it can help reduce costs, in addition to making it easier to approve future training. 

12. Average training time per person

This indicator is an average of the employee's working time that was invested in training. Therefore, it measures how much of the working hours were invested in training.

13. Evaluation of results 

When a company invests in training and development, it expects employees to work more effectively. To know if there has been an improvement, it is important to observe the company's general performance indicators, such as increased sales, reduced expenses, increased customer satisfaction, improvements in the quality of the product or service, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to define which indicators will benefit from the training during its planning.

Training should bring benefits to the company's results, otherwise, it needs to be rethought.

14. Return on Investment (ROI)

Last but not least data, especially for the company, is the return on investment (ROI - Return Over Investment). This tool shows whether training expenses are bringing results or not, in addition to serving to justify investments in corporate education. 

To calculate ROI, you need to compare the results you get from training (such as a cost reduction or sales increase, for example) with your total cost.