Let's face it: Training programs cost money. In a time of belt-tightening and budget-axing, costs need to be justified and ROIs are being scrutinized for size and accuracy.

In this down economy, CFOs are understandably looking to cut budgets as close to the bone as possible. But there needs to be care taken so they don't make decisions that are penny wise and pound foolish. Just as slashing PR and Marketing dollars can hurt a company in the long term, so too can cutting training budgets.

Instead, companies should make sure that the training programs in place are the right ones to accomplish their goals, whatever they may be for their particular business. And the only way to guarantee that training and development programs are on track is to measure them and report on the results.

After all, a training program is not worth much if it's merely delivered and then basically left alone. Programs need to be marketed, activity needs to be tracked, assessments need to be administered, and the information needs to be gleaned and then parsed in such a way that the facts and data are meaningfully presented for review by administrators and stakeholders.

This effort is the immediate ROI of measurement and reporting--where the rubber of training administration hits the road of accountability. Managers need, and want, to know if their employees are performing better as a result of participating in training, and training administrators need, and want, to know if those same students are falling short of expectations. If they don't know the outcomes, they can't fix what's potentially broken.

The same measurement data gives managers the tools to understand how and where to reallocate company resources. After all, part of measuring is taking action on the results.

Measurement Leads to Accountability

A 2011 report from Human Capital Media Advisory Group includes a graph that shows nine different activities involved in training, and their importance to the Chief Learning Officers. These activities include:

• Program oversight
• Strategy development
• Vendor management
• Enrollment management
• Logistics
• Reporting and measurement
• Learning technology management
• Training delivery
• Custom content design/development

While the data was prepared and charted to compare each designated activity's importance to the CLO in relation to whether the enterprise outsourced the training activity or kept it in-house, we find the graph especially telling in the rank that the CLOs assigned to the "reporting and measurement" piece of the entire training picture. Only about 27% of interviewed enterprises felt that "reporting and measurement" was an important part of training. CLOs assigned more value to Program Oversight, Strategy Development, Training Delivery, and Custom Content Design/Development.

Of course, the list itself is equally telling. Every single activity on it, save "reporting and measurement", occurs before or during the training taking place. The measurement response - the answer to the question: All of these pieces of the training program are absolutely important, and the program couldn't and shouldn't exist without any of them. Yet there's only one activity that leads to accountability: accountability from resources that touch any one of those nine activities. That accountability derives from measurement and reporting.

Facts are difficult to avoid, and the data gathered through measurement and reporting will show just how well the programs in place are working. Vague assumptions lead to wasted time and wasted money. One benefit of measurement reporting is that, when confronted with the data, a company can tell pretty quickly where to focus, or re-focus, its time and money.

Measurement for Justification?

Many people believe that the measurement of training should not be wholly about justification and even vindication of specific program courses and directions. But in reality, today's current economic climate forces it to be. While we would like training and its measurement to be about the students, staff, or employees who are undergoing the training, learning the skills, and participating in the testing, long gone are the days when these programs received funding without every line item expense having to be justified and explained.

As we know, the purpose of training is to increase knowledge and competency, support employee and company growth, and even nurture a capable pool of potential managers and other leaders from within the company. Training helps employees become more qualified to do their jobs and possibly other jobs higher up the corporate ladder. Whether a blue-collar or white-collar industry, all employees benefit from increased understanding and ever-expanding skill sets.

Furthermore, training and development programs help employees stay updated, and even ahead of the curve, on new technologies and ways of doing their business. They keep skills fresh and honed and, more importantly, ensure that trainees understand the expectations and requirements of their job. In a perfect world, the measurement of these programs demonstrates whether the students have this understanding.

However, the world as it is today means that every dollar spent undergoes scrutiny and if you don't want your learning and development budget cut entirely, or even partially, from the new, streamlined company budget, you'll need to provide the cold, hard facts that prove your training is crucial to the company's growth and survival. Measurement data is the answer.

Measuring is both the starting and ending point of the training function. By this we mean that, in the usual flow of learning and training processes, the measurement only comes at the end, showing what needs improvement, what needs renewed focus, and what works well the way it is. However, in this new world, measurement criteria need to be defined at the beginning too, identifying expectations so that when the results come at the end they can be used to more wisely justify the value of keeping and/or investing more in the program or, in some cases, eliminating known waste.

Does Your Company Have a Training Measurement Strategy?

It's a time not to just reduce training budgets willy-nilly, but to be streamlined and efficient. And the immediate return on training measurement is that it helps a company focus on its strategy, target its resources appropriately, improve employee performance, and expand (or at least maintain) its bottom line.

By actually following through on the learning and development process and crunching the numbers, you ensure that there is real purpose behind the training. Measurement of your training activities helps you meet objectives, and determine which ones need improvement and which ones are better off reduced or cut entirely. A learning program without clear insight to its value will undermine your entire department's place at the executive table.

But if you go to the table with a measurement-driven list of where training investments should be added, maintained, or reduced, your executive counterparts will recognize you as a good steward of the budget and be more apt to reward you based on your findings. The moral of the story: A few dollars invested today on training measurement can save your training budget tomorrow.