What Is Training Efficiency?

Training efficiency is a measure of the success of your company’s learning and development programs. By assessing your training efficiency, you can determine if your training is helping your business achieve its goals. Likewise, you can calculate if you are making the best use of your learning and development budget.

How to Measure Training Efficiency

Most HR professionals would probably agree that measuring the outcomes of training is important. However, deciding on the best way to measure training may be less straightforward. Here are some simple ways to find the strengths and weaknesses of your training programs.

Decide on a performance metric

Before you can measure your training’s effectiveness, you need to decide what success looks like for your business. For instance, you might assess whether your training delivers an improvement in customer satisfaction ratings. Alternatively, you could measure whether your training allows you to speed up your core processes. The type of metric you choose will of course depend on your business. Be aware, many business leaders and CEOs like to see tangible data when assessing a program’s effectiveness. Therefore, it might be useful if your metric involves hard data such as the number of dollars earned or hours saved.

Consider both short- and long-term benefits

Determining how quickly your training delivers on its goals is another important consideration. In many scenarios, you will want to see the benefits of your training as quickly as possible. However, you should also consider your training’s long-term effectiveness. For instance, you may want to check whether your participants are still applying the lessons in a year’s time. 

Record attendee numbers

If you have any voluntary training programs, it is a good idea to monitor the number of participants. This way, you can assess the level of employee interest and engagement with the topic. If a module captures your workers’ interest, it is far more likely to have long-term benefits.

Seek feedback from participants

As well as assessing your training’s benefits for your business, it’s also useful to consider its benefits for employees. Consider seeking feedback from any workers who have attended a particular module. For instance, you could ask if they now feel more confident in performing their job as a result of the training. In the spirit of improvement, you may also want to ask if your employees felt there was anything missing from the course.

Pass/fail scores

If your training involves a test, it’s a good idea to monitor the participants’ performance. The goal isn’t to scrutinize individuals, but to determine how easy or difficult your workers found the training.  If a significant number of your employees fail or need to retake a module, you may need to reconsider some elements of the training.

Why Measuring Training Efficiency Matters

Implementing a program to monitor training efficiency may seem like yet another piece of work for your HR department. However, you will likely find that the benefits of doing so are more than worthwhile.

Avoids waste

Measuring efficiency can help you avoid devoting valuable time and money to training that brings little value. Should you identify a module that does not benefit your company, you can discontinue this course. You can then prioritize your spending elsewhere, if appropriate.

Proves the business case for training

During tough economic times, budgets are likely to be tight for many organizations. As such, many CEOs like to know the return on investment (ROI) of any money they do spend.  By measuring your business’ training efficiency, you can demonstrate that funds are being well spent. For instance, you can state that businesses spent “$XXX” on training employees and as a result, customer satisfaction increased by XX%.

Helps creates a more skilled workforce

Monitoring your training efficiency can help you provide your employees with the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to succeed in their roles. As a result, they can deliver the maximum possible benefit for your business and advance on their own career paths.

Improves employee engagement

Providing effective learning programs is a great way to build a strong relationship with your employees. If your workers feel they can grow their careers within your business, they are far more likely to feel engaged and satisfied. This could improve employee retention and mean that workers are more likely to remain within your business in the long term.

Improves company culture

While most training improves your employees’ skills, other modules can also help to make your company a better place to work. For example, offering DEI or disability training is likely to create a happy and safer environment for all your workers. 

Creates a timeline for new hires

Assessing the effectiveness of your training can also help you better support new employees. Imagine your assessment reveals that it typically takes an employee three months to master a particular skill. In this case, it would be unfair to expect new employees to work at the same rate as their co-workers until this time has passed.

How to Make Your Training More Efficient

Like most things in business, delivering efficient training requires hard work. Luckily, the steps below should help you design a more efficient training program.

Identify your training needs

To get the maximum possible value from your training, it’s helpful to first identify any skills gaps and subsequent training needs. Knowing the areas in which your employees need to broaden their skills can then help you decide to prioritize your training goals. One of the most effective ways to do this is through a training needs assessment.

Consider training management software

Training management software (TMS) can help you to operate your training programs efficiently. Although all software is different, many of the best packages offer features such as:

• Recording completion rates
• Creating customizable course material
• Monitoring participants’ performance
• Creating reports on the outcome of training.

If your business does not operate from an office, some TMS solutions offer a mobile-first approach. This will allow your employees to complete their training at a time that is convenient for them.

Remember that we all learn at different speeds

The advantages of measuring training efficiency are clear. However, you will need to account for the human element in this process. Some employees will inevitably pick up certain skills more quickly than others. It’s therefore a good idea not to be too rigid when assessing your training efficiency.

Involve senior leadership

Employee engagement is essential for creating efficient training programs. If your CEO openly supports your training program, you’re far more likely to receive cooperation from your employees. 

Conclusion

Training efficiency is a means of assessing whether your training modules help your company achieve its goals.  Monitoring the efficiency of your training relies heavily on identifying the right metrics. Once you have done so, you can check that your business is receiving a decent return on its training spending. Furthermore, you can also ensure your workers are learning skills that will help your business achieve its goals.