The Business of Training

Return on Investment (ROI) or justification for invested capital, time, etc. is an important concept for training organizations.  Again, this is the language of business and you must know and understand how to demonstrate the value of your training programs to the company. To calculate the Return on Investment for Performance Solutions (Training) can be easy or difficult due to the nature of Learning Events or Training Interventions. The ROI formula is simple: ROI  =   The Net Training Event Benefits                    The Training Costs For example: Cost of Training Program = $195,000 Benefits of Training Program (1st year) = $350,000 then: ROI  =  $350,000 - $195,000   =  $155,000   = 0.80 X 100  =  80% return in one year                ...

What should I report? Reports related to your organizations progress, financials, quality, goals, etc. is key to your success.  You need to know if you are on track with meeting your objectives and if you are achieving the company's objectives.  Both your team and your manager need to know if you are on track.  The single most important thing in operating a training business is - Financial Performance.  Are we contributing and how much?  Training Services needs to be viewed as a source of improved performance and profit.  In that way your organization is on equal ground with other profit centers for resources and investment by the company. First of all you must ensure that your organization has P&L responsibility for its destiny otherwise you are using someone else's money for everything.  You must speak the language of a business manager.  You must align your deliveries with corporate objectives.  Then you need to establish business r...

Areas Affecting Perceived Value of Training Experience There are are six main areas that affect a customer's perceived value of a classroom training event.  Keep in mind that most of these apply to any learning event in any situation.  By the way, it does not matter whether the customer is an internal employee or an external client they perceive your training the same way.  If you focus on these areas you will create delighted customers who will return for additional training.  I use the term 'customer' to refer to either an employee of your company or an external client who is buying your training services.  Remember - Training is a Business. In other posts we will look at these items in more detail - for now here is a short summary: Professional Presentation : Every classroom presentation must be delivered in a professional manner that engages the learners. You or your trainer is there to ensure learning takes place, not to enter...

Objectives are statements that will have specific outcomes. Objectives can be set at all levels of a company and can build upon one another from lower to higher level corporate functions. They are often set at the corporate level and then each lower business unit creates a set of Objectives to help support and meet the corporate objectives. Sometimes they are in financial terms, especially at the corporate level. At lower levels in the company they may take many different forms, but must always have some statement(s) focused on financial results. Objectives are part of the hierarchy of terms which help set and shape the strategy of a business or unit.... Corporate objectives are set by senior management and provide the focus for setting more detailed objectives at each functional level in the business. The corporate objectives relate to the business as a whole. Your objectives will line up with the corporate objective(s) and support it or them, however they will also be spec...

Your mission is the nuts and bolts of your vision. A mission statement concerns what an organization is all about. It answers three questions: What do we do? For whom do we do it? What is the benefit? A mission statement gives the overall purpose of an organization, while a vision statement describes a picture of the desired future. Your mission statement explains what you do, for whom, and what is the benefit. The vision statement describes how the future will look if the you achieve your mission! An example: "We build the finest, castles for the world's billionaires. Our castles are Eco-friendly, made out of all natural materials and meet all local energy conservation standards. We strive to maximize our client's value as much as possible taking into account future threats." An example for a training organization: "Building an organization that is easy to do business with, providing single source solutions for product and personnel training....

Vision statements can be a few words or a paragraph. It is advisable to keep the statement as short as possible so everyone in the organization can internalize it. This is perhaps the most significant statement a management team can make to inspire everyone to stay true to the company's identity. This can also apply to a division, a team, a department, etc. Vision statements apply equally to companies, government entities and non-profits, as well as, individuals. "Blue skying it" is important. Your vision is an idealized state for your training organization. It is the view of what you want for the future and encompasses your mission, values, goals, and objectives. It is what the organization wants to become. If possible, try to summarize your vision using a powerful phrase in the first paragraph of your vision statement. This will enhance the effectiveness of your vision statement. Vision statements also define the organizations purpose in terms of the organ...

Training is a flighty business.  Technical and educational training groups from one person to corporate universities are often pressed to justify their existence by management teams.  These same management teams are often demanding more training for sales, technical, executives, IT personnel, etc.  This blog will attempt to address this issue and many others over time.  Stay tuned for relevant and practical information on subjects from how to run The Business of Training  to how to justify training programs and all the tools needed.  There will be quality links to information sources and must have support groups.  Whether you are a one person group or a corporate university you will find information to help you run your training business.