Don’t just throw money at employee training without tracking the usefulness of that training. More of your peers are finding they need to promote and prove the worth of learning programs they run. They’re getting the C-suite on board by developing annual reports on their training initiatives.
A training annual report can help demonstrate HR’s worth when it comes to employee training and development. It can help break the pattern of slicing training budgets, which are often the first to suffer when companies tighten their belts.
Such reports also let you hold your company’s training efforts to the same standard as other key business segments.
The Association for Talent Development calculates that the average employer spent $1,280 per employee on workplace learning in 2021, the most recent year for which it has data. That’s about one percentage point more than in 2020, although lower than 10 years ago, when annual spending averaged $1,600 per employee.
Smart HR pros have learned they can demand bigger training budgets if they do a better job of accounting for their organizations’ training investments.
5 steps toward creating a training annual report
Here’s how to form a basic outline for your organization’s training-reporting efforts:
1. Focus on major issues and goals facing the company that have benefited from training initiatives. For instance, a retailer might point to stepped-up loss prevention or lower turnover. A construction business could pinpoint fewer workplace accidents through safety training.
Rule of thumb: Don’t get overwhelmed by including every single program; think more about what’s important to your CEO. Highlight those areas with results.
2. Provide a rundown of the training budget and objectives for the previous year and how each succeeded or failed. Give your training initiatives and outcomes a “score” based on those benchmarks.
3. Show your results. Making the case for a bigger training budget is easier if you can provide concrete metrics of your current activities. Fortunately, training activities are often straightforward to quantify.
Consider taking your cue from semiconductor manufacture, which includes these measures in its annual “learning and development report”:
- Total training expenditures as a percentage of payroll
- Total training dollars per employee
- Percentage of employees trained, and employee participation
- Top training program enrollments
- Percentage of all training programs completed
- Courses completed by job function
- Enrollments by management employees
- Business results linked to learning and development programs.
4. Offer a couple of new ways to keep learning cost-effective. Example: If a group of employees opted for an e-learning class, mention the savings over an off-site, instructor-led course. Then suggest expansions of that resource.
5. Last, include a conclusion of your past year’s training performance and give recommendations for next year. Your goal: Lay the groundwork for the continued support and success of your training programs.
Tip: Consider seeking out testimonials from employees or department managers who have witnessed training results firsthand. Then include their statements in your report. Having people communicate such benefits will grab management’s attention.
