Measuring return on investment (ROI) of your people development initiatives is crucial and possible, according to 60% of HR directors and business leaders. However, only a few look at the ROI of their people development.

A study, spanning seven geographical regions and 15 business sectors by Lane4, a global performance development consultancy, has revealed that the majority (60%) of human resources development (HRD) departments within global companies believe that it is possible to measure the ROI of their employee development initiatives.

However, only 18% look at the full ROI of their people development.

Lane4’s research suggests ways in which this imbalance might be addressed.

The report shows that although respondents acknowledged the importance of measuring ROI from people development initiatives, they stated that there were many barriers to helping them achieve this.

A total of 68% said that it was difficult to calculate ‘true’ financial ROI; insufficient resources were available to 67% to allow them to evaluate the success of the training programme.

Tom Smith, head of organisational development at Lane4, commented: “ROI is something that businesses want and expect from their training programmes. Measurement of ROI has invaluable benefits beyond the bottom line including more bespoke people development for your organisation, goal-focussed interventions as well as the ability to predict effective investment.”