Is it time you measure the effectiveness of your training programs? If you’re not sure where to start, these top ten training metrics can help.

Measuring the effectiveness of training is a very difficult task for stakeholders, training departments and end users. If you are a training manager or company stakeholder looking for ways to measure the effectiveness of your programs, these ten metrics are a great place to start.

One: higher retention. Most HR departments measure the retention rate on all or multiple jobs. Often times, high-turnover front-line jobs get the most attention. If newly trained employees feel ill-equipped for the job, they are more likely to leave within the first 90 days. When you measure training success in this way, higher retention points to a successful training program.

Two: increased sales. Many organizations can track efficiency based on sales. If the training is strongly geared towards a sales force or customer service, an effective program will eventually increase sales figures. You can also measure product awareness training as part of a sales number; sellers with little education generally don’t make the sale. Dollar figures and unit sales are good metrics, but be sure to balance any metrics with other factors that may influence the sales figures.

Three: greater operational efficiency. In highly regulated or production-oriented businesses, managers seek more efficiency, which elevates bottom line results. If your training programs teach skills, look at management efficiency metrics, as a baseline, before and after the training intervention. If you are creating a new program or product, look at the efficiency figures for guidance on the content of the training course.

Four: Customer Service Results. Any organization can link training with customer service, which can be both internal and external. Customer service is also one of the easiest places to start – a well-written survey can identify a number of customer-related issues that can be addressed through training programs. Remember that training may not be the only solution to these problems. If your organization already has a customer survey, use those metrics to verify your programs. When your programs affect survey items, you can associate an increase in customer satisfaction with the training.

Five: company-defined scorecards. Training subcontractors tend to use customer-defined criteria to determine the effectiveness of training. If your organization has a wide variety of possible measures, sit down with management and stakeholders to create a personalized scorecard based on expectations and the training programs that need to be implemented.

Six: Cost of training. This is an internal measurement of the training department. In high-turnover organizations, the reduction in cost per student can be used as a measure of effectiveness. The cost of training could also be directly related to retention – if you spend less on training new hires, your retention may be higher. Work with your stakeholders and HR department to determine training costs and where you want those numbers to be.

Seven: Return on investment. ROI has long been a “catch all” metric. In some cases, it is easy to define ROI, but in more cases it is increasingly difficult. If you do soft skills training, it’s hard to put a dollar figure on the return. There are numerous ROI calculations available, so if you are thinking of using an ROI metric, look up the formulas and plug in what you can. If you are part of a numbers-based organization, you can befriend your stakeholders by defining and measuring concrete ROI.

Eight: income generation. This metric seems more likely as a combination of sales figures, operational efficiency, and customer service. If an organization shows higher income, a strong training program can be part of that increase. If your organization is implementing a new revenue generator, such as a product or service, that is generally the best time to use revenue generation as a training metric.

Nine: Acting instructor. Instructor evaluation is an important internal measure. Results can come from student and manager evaluations and should take into account the instructor’s presentation skills, subject knowledge, projection of organizational values, and adherence to instructional guidelines. The great thing about instructor performance as a metric is that it can also be used as an external measure. When training is discussed, training managers should be the first to praise their instructors for providing quality instruction in each course, and instructor evaluations provide the supporting evidence.

Ten: End User Satisfaction. Your audience can measure effectiveness faster than anyone else, both immediately after training and after a set period of time, such as 30 or 60 days. The immediate results, sometimes called “smile sheets,” can give you an idea of ​​what happened in the classroom. Delayed results can tell you if the material is useful or not. Additionally, end-user surveys are excellent tools for demonstrating management effectiveness.

Remember that training metrics can take time to implement and show results. It’s also important to gain buy-in from your stakeholders as you determine how to measure results. Use these metrics to get started, and use them whenever you are developing or renewing training programs. Once you can demonstrate the ultimate effectiveness, your credibility will go a long way.