With the ongoing evolution of the business landscape, learning and development (L&D) stand as a primary conduit for aligning employee capabilities with organizational goals. Millions of employees globally engage annually in L&D programs, encompassing topics such as compliance (70%), soft skills (51%), and upskilling (50%), among others. In the post-COVID era, corporate investment in these learning initiatives has notably increased.
Investment trends in 2022 revealed that companies, irrespective of size, significantly prioritized employee learning. Small companies (100-999 employees) invested $1,400 per learner, while large companies (10,000+ employees) allocated $1,700 per learner. Amid this growing commitment, assessing the return on investment (ROI) of learning and development programs remains essential for tracking their impact, particularly concerning revenues and profits.
Measuring Corporate Learning
Unfortunately, only 8% of learning and development teams currently calculate their return on investment. This lack of metrics underscores the need for a nuanced understanding of ROI, incorporating factors such as time, effort, and financial expenditures. For instance, the creation of a 20-minute learning session can require between 55 and 177 work hours, often substituting for productive work time.
The financial obligations of learning and development are vast, including direct costs and additional expenses like transportation, venue hire, and equipment. Even digital alternatives, like online learning platforms, can be surprisingly expensive. Sadly, these investments often underdeliver, with traditional L&D expenditure producing tangible results in only 10% of cases. However, there is a brighter prospect: research indicates that each dollar spent on L&D can increase revenue by $4.70, given the right tools.
Conclusion
One such tool is Arist, a science-backed microlearning platform used by 15% of Fortune 500 companies. Arist not only reduces time, cost, and effort in learning and development but also helps to track ROI through modern key performance indicators (KPIs) like confidence lift, frequency of application, and employee retention. With benefits like increasing learning adoption by 90% and accelerating content creation speed by 95%, Arist offers a promising prospect for optimizing the economics of corporate learning.
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Source: Arist
