Measurement, ROI & Business Impact

Learning Metrics

Professional definition:
Quantitative measures used to track participation, completion, performance, and engagement in learning activities.

Client-friendly explanation:
The numbers that show what’s happening with training.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Professional definition:
Critical metrics used to evaluate progress toward specific business objectives.

Client-friendly explanation:
The most important numbers leadership cares about.

Learning Analytics

Professional definition:
The collection and analysis of learning data to understand patterns, effectiveness, and opportunities for improvement.

Client-friendly explanation:
Using training data to see what’s working and what isn’t.

Completion Rate

Professional definition:
The percentage of assigned learners who complete a given training.

Client-friendly explanation:
How many people actually finished the training.

Time to Completion

Professional definition:
The average amount of time learners take to complete assigned training.

Client-friendly explanation:
How long training realistically takes employees to finish.

Time-to-Competency

Professional definition:
The time required for an employee to reach acceptable performance levels after training.

Client-friendly explanation:
How quickly someone becomes effective in their role.

Kirkpatrick Model

Professional definition:
A four-level framework for evaluating training effectiveness: reaction, learning, behavior, and results.

Client-friendly explanation:
A way to measure training from “did they like it?” to “did it improve results?”

Level 1 – Reaction

Professional definition:
Measures learner satisfaction and perceived relevance of training.

Client-friendly explanation:
Whether people felt the training was useful.

Level 2 – Learning

Professional definition:
Measures increases in knowledge or skills following training.

Client-friendly explanation:
What people actually learned.

Level 3 – Behavior

Professional definition:
Measures changes in on-the-job behavior after training.

Client-friendly explanation:
Whether people are doing things differently at work.

Level 4 – Results

Professional definition:
Measures business outcomes influenced by training, such as productivity, quality, or safety.

Client-friendly explanation:
Whether training helped the business perform better.

Cost of Inaction

Professional definition:
The financial or operational impact of not addressing performance or skill gaps.

Client-friendly explanation:
What it costs to not fix the problem.

Leading Indicators

Professional definition:
Early signals that predict future performance outcomes.

Client-friendly explanation:
Early signs that things are improving—or not.

Lagging Indicators

Professional definition:
Metrics that reflect outcomes after changes have already occurred.

Client-friendly explanation:
Results you can only see after the fact.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Professional definition:
A financial calculation comparing the benefits of training to its costs.

Client-friendly explanation:
Whether training was worth the money spent.