Why do organizations struggle with measuring the impact of their soft skills training? We know that improved communications skills make our colleagues better sales professionals, HR professionals, customer service professionals, etc. But getting to actual proof of this “knowledge” isn’t always easy. In this session, we will explore a range of soft skills training and development challenges, and we will provide a framework for building a measurement and metrics methodology to capture the business benefits and impact of improved performance in soft skills. www.bizlibrary.com

2. ?
How do you currently
measure your training
program and efforts?

3. WHAT WE HOPE YOU’LL BE
ABLE TO DO
Identify key performance indicators for
important soft skills in your
organization.
Build a process for capturing the business
benefits of soft skills improvement.

4. It's not the that's right
that makes something
work; it's the that's
wrong that messes
everything up.
Measuring, Managing and Maximizing Performance
Will Kaydos
5%
95%

5. BIZLIBRARY.COM
Overall spending on
employee training in U.S.
organizations is $70+ billion.
COMPANY SIZE (# of Employees)
$838 (10,000+)
$838 (500-9,999)
$1,888 (<500)
COST PER EMPLOYEE PER YEAR
$1,208
Smaller organizations typically
spend more per employee
than larger organizations.

6. Executives Want to See More Impact and Value
RANKED
IMPORTANCE
TO EXEC’S
MEASURE
LEARNING
EVALUATION
LEVEL
EXAMPLE
CURRENTLY
MEASURED
1 Impact 4 “The Accel project contributed 20% to our
reduction in error rates this fiscal.”
8%
2 Value 5 “Within one year, the East program will
achieve a 2:1 benefit-cost ratio.”
4%
3 Awards 0 “Our learning program won an award
from Chief Learning Officer magazine.”
40%
4 Application 3 “78% are applying their new skills to their
jobs”
11%
5 Learning 2 “92% of participants increased their skills” 32%
6 Activity 0 “Last year 7,800 employees participated in
our learning programs”
94%
7 Efficiency 0 “Formal learning costs $2.15 per hour” 78%
8 Reaction 1 “Employees rated our training very high
with an average of 4.5 on a 5 point scale”
53%
Source: How Executives View Learning Metrics by Patti and
Jack Phillips, CLO Magazine, Dec 2010

7. KPI’S AND BENCHMARKS
How do you currently
measure success
Use existing data to set
benchmarks
Key performance indicators
for employees and the
organization

9. Methods, processes
or disciplines
Occupational skills
Knowledge

10. WORK ETHIC
ATTITUDE
COMMUNICATION
SKILLS
EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE

11. KIRKPATRICK™ – PHILLIPS
MODEL
LEVEL 2
LEARNING
knowledge, skills
and attitudes
LEVEL 3
BEHAVIOR
Application
and on-the-
job learning
LEVEL 4
RESULTS
business impact
LEVEL 5
RETURN ON
INVESTMENT
KIRKPATRICK PARTNERS LLC
LEVEL 1
REACTION
participant
satisfaction

12. ISOLATION of TRAINING
IMPACT
SYSTEM/PROCEDURE
CHANGES
INCENTIVE/MOTIVATION
MANAGER
SUPPORT/ATTENTION
EXTERNAL FACTORS
EFFECT OF
LEARNING ON
IMPROVEMENT
TOTAL
IMPROVEMENT
AFTER
PROGRAM

13. ISOLATION METHODS
TRENDLINE ANALYSIS
sound method to set
benchmarks, but still not
effective at isolating
ESTIMATION METHODS:
PARTICIPANTS & MANAGERS
bias and simple human error
SUCCESS CASE METHOD
What did this person learn that was new? How did
this person use the learning on the job? Did the
usage help produce a worthwhile outcome?

14. SUCCESS CASE METHOD
What, if anything, did
this person learn that
was new?
How, if at all, did this
person use the new
learning in some sort of
job-specific behavior?
Did the usage of the learning help to
produce any sort of worthwhile outcome?
1 2
3
SOURCE: Telling Training’s Story by Robert O. Brinkerhoff

15. Focus on what you’re evaluating1
Create an impact model that defines
potential results and benefits.
Survey to gauge overall success
versus non-success rates.
2
3
Select success and non-success
instances.
Formulate conclusions and
recommendations, value, and return-
on-investment.
4
5
5 STEPS TO CREATE A MEASUREMENT PLAN

16. FOCUS AND PLAN THE
EVALUATION
Identify performance areas
Engage all of the key
stakeholders
Clarify and define success
Establish the data points

17. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PLAN
SKILL/
CAPABILITY
DEVELOPMENT
OPTIONS
MY
DEVELOPMENT
ACTION
TIMING
Leading meetings Video: Leading Meetings -
Create meeting behavior
expectations with your team
Gather with your team
to discuss meeting
management and to
create meeting
expectations that
should be applied to all
team and project
meetings.
Review
monthly

18. CREATE A MODEL FOR
SUCCESS
Organizational Goals
Business Unit Goals
Employee Behaviors or Actions
Employee Skills or Knowledge

19. GAUGE OVERALL SUCCESS
VS. NON-SUCCESS RATES
WHICH STATEMENT BELOW BEST DESCRIBES YOUR EXPERIENCE SINCE
PARTICIPATING IN THE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT TRAINING?
• I learned something new, I have used it, and it has led to some very
worthwhile results.
• I learned and tried some new things but can’t point to any very worthwhile
results yet.
• While I may have learned something new, I have not been able to use it
yet.
• I already knew about and was doing the things this training taught.
• I don’t think I can really use what I learned in the training.
SOURCE: Telling Training’s Story by Robert O. Brinkerhoff

20. SELECT SUCCESS AND
NON-SUCCESS INSTANCES
MANAGER SUPPORTOPPORTUNITY TO
APPLY LEARNING
PEER SUPPORT
ON-DEMAND ACCESS TO
RESOURCES
SENIOR LEADER
INVOLVEMENT

21. RECOMMENDATIONS,
VALUE, AND ROI
Areas of increased
performance
The value of this increase
The costs to deliver value
Recommended
improvements to increase
value

22. REPORT: VALUE OF TRAINING ON WRITING SKILLS FOR
ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES AND
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS
Goal: Reduce turn around time on bug fixes from
an average of 21 days to 10 days.
x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x
x x x

23. $1,155,000
80% OF THE BUGS REQUIRED A RETURN OF
THE WRITTEN REPORT TO THE REP FOR
CLARIFICATION.
$50 / DAY – OVER 6 MONTHS – 1,100 BUGS
VALUE:
The expected value to be gained is measured by using the average
revenue lost for each day the service is down for customers due to
sloppy or unclear written explanations of bugs to the programmers.

24. TRAINING COSTS:
Human Resources: $90,000
Reps: $300.000
Total = $390,000
VALUE ADDED FROM IMPROVED PERFORMANCE:
500 reps X $600/day/rep
Access to online writing courses including time to take and complete 5 courses
each and successfully complete writing evaluations to prove increased skills. 2 HR
reps needed to administer program and build writing evaluations.
IMPACT:
• Less than 10% of written reports of bugs
were returned for rewrites in 6 months
after program.
• Average bug fix reduced from 21 days to
12 days.
• Total bugs affected 1,210.
TOTAL VALUE GAINED:
$544,500 ON A $390,000 PROGRAM

25. TRAINING COSTS:
Human Resources: $180,000
Stakeholders: $480,000
Total = $660,000
VALUE ADDED FROM IMPROVED PERFORMANCE:
$1,200,000 in new sales with 90-day product release target, plus payroll
gains and cost savings of $144,000 which can be applied to next release,
further amplifying the benefits gained. Initial gain is $1,344,000 less the
costs of $660,000 for a net gain of $684,000 in the first 90-days after the
program finishes.
IMPACT:
• Release cycle of new products is at 180 days
& we need it to be 90 days.
• For every 30 days behind, we lose 8 new sales
- $50,000 each.
• 6-Team members lose 30 days each with
monthly salary of $8,000 each ($48,000 per
team).
TOTAL VALUE GAINED:
$1,344,000 ON A $660,000 PROGRAM
Collaboration Skills

26. TRAINING COSTS:
Human Resources: $1,000
Managers: $720
Total = $1,720
VALUE ADDED FROM IMPROVED PERFORMANCE:
Costs per manager are $60.00 each by using online delivery of content. Managers
reached full productivity by learning to effectively delegate tasks and assume
manager’s role in 8 weeks. Gain in value of salary was $72,000. Additionally, each
team saw a .25% gain in per employee production of $18,000 total across the six
impacted teams.
IMPACT:
• Newly promoted managers take an average of 16
weeks to gain full productivity
• Goal is to reach 100% productivity in 8 weeks at a
value of $72,000 for 12 managers.
• Teams are less productive per employee as managers
gain skills, and secondary goal is to increase
productivity per employee.
TOTAL VALUE GAINED:
$100,000 ON A $1,720 PROGRAM
Delegation Skills

27. TRAINING COSTS:
Human Resources: $90,000
Managers & Reps: $250,000
Total = $340,000
VALUE ADDED FROM IMPROVED PERFORMANCE:
Complex training program lasted a full year. In the 12 months after the training
program really began to show modifications in behaviors as proven by reaching
4.5 customer satisfaction scores 85% of the time, 24 additional deals were won
on the same number of total trials.
IMPACT:
• Customer service satisfaction ratings of 3 or
below during trials result in zero sales
• Ratings of 4.5 or better result in won business
85% of the time
• Goal is to reach 4.5 ratings or better in 85% of
the surveys returned.
• Average sale = $50,000
TOTAL VALUE GAINED:
$1,200,000 ON A $340,000 PROGRAM
Problem Solving Skills

28. KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Soft Skills form the foundation of most professional and
business success.
Measuring the impact of soft skills training requires a
focus on the behaviors we are trying to modify and the
KPI the behaviors support.
The Success Case Method is an effective 5-step
methodology that can provide clarity to help us see the
impact of our soft skills training efforts.

29. Creating a Framework for
Execution

30. Using Surveys and Feedback
Successfully

31. WWW.BIZLIBRARY.COM/FREE-TRIAL
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32. Jessica Petry
Sr. Marketing Specialist
jpetry@bizlibrary.com
@JessLPetry
@BizLibrary
Chris Osborn
Vice President of Marketing
cosborn@bizlibrary.com
@chrisosbornstl
#BIZWEBINAR