Training Evaluation Metrics

Nowadays too many business owners forget that the supreme value of their companies is the people who work there.  But the recent financial crisis has vividly demonstrated that well educated and efficient personnel is the key to success.  Those companies who had the best human resources managed to survive the crisis and even increase their profits and in large customer base.  This all became possible because these companies had a comprehensive strategy.  It is strategic planning that can lead a company to success.  In the modern markets short term goal policies sometimes prove to be ineffective.

This is how training works

That is why it is very important to train and educate personnel.  Moreover, this training should be economical if effective.  It is evident that an employer should spend a certain amount of money to educate one employee.  And naturally, an employer expects employee to work better and bring more profits for the company.

An efficient HR department needs to conduct training sessions for employees in such a way so that the entire company benefits from it.  Every training session should have its goals.  At the same time, employees should understand why the need such a training.

Use of balanced scorecard in evaluation of training will help both managers, HR specialists and ordinary employees better understand the importance of training sessions, their efficiency and expected financial gains.

Balanced scorecard uses the principle of key performance indicators evaluation.  Every business or any business aspect has its own set of KPIs.  Training also has specific key performance indicators which help managers find out whether or not a training session was effective.

Training KPIs to be measured

So, what are these key performance indicators?

First and foremost, this is cost per employee.  As said above, the company spends a certain amount of money to train one employee.  One needs to keep balance here, as saving too much and training may result in low education level of the personnel.  This leads us to the next KPI which is expected revenue per employee.  Obviously, the company wants to have profits resulted in education of personnel.  So if the company gets profits as a result of training sessions it means that the training was in general effective.

Training budget is in another indicator one should pay a special attention.  If the company manages to gradually increase this budget and at the same time increase profits this signals that the training campaign proves to be effective.

Implementation and maintenance of Balanced Scorecard is quite a difficult and for some companies a painful process.  This performance evaluation tool works only when a number of conditions are observed.  One of the most common myths about Balanced Scorecard is that BSC is a magic tool that is capable of turning any company into a successful international corporation.  Well, there is no magic in the business world.

Balanced Scorecard yields positive results only when it is properly implemented.  As said above, the system itself will not do all the work.  If the company management is not ready to implement BSC, this system will turn into a useless pile of datasheets, charts, tables and other information.  It should be noted that implementation of Balanced Scorecard requires sufficient investment.  Thus, unsuccessful implementation of BSC is simply a waste of money.

It is very important for the company to know 2 basic things: how a company learns that it needs Balanced Scorecard and how a company knows that it is ready to use Balanced Scorecard.  To answer the first question one should keep in mind the following:

• If the company midlevel and top management is not involved in strategic planning than such a company certainly needs Balanced Scorecard
• If the company personnel does not understand strategic goals such company needs Balanced Scorecard
• If there is poor communication between companies belonging to one holding, such companies need Balanced Scorecard
• If there is no operational control in the company such company needs Balanced Scorecard

To answer the second question (are you ready to use Balanced Scorecard) you can download free questionnaire on Balanced Scorecard from AKS-LABS.  This survey is offered in pdf extension which one can print out and check the answers.

BSC questionnaire will be helpful for the entire company

This questionnaire would be helpful both for those who plan to use Balanced Scorecard men those already using BSC.  Having answered the question and check the results one will be able to evaluate knowledge on Balanced Scorecard.

The questions mostly concern implementation stages of Balanced Scorecard, peculiar features of this system, key performance indicators, their number and impact on co performance, strategy maps, strategic goals etc.

This survey is designed both for company management and ordinary employees.  It is very important that every employee understands strategic goals of the company and the way Balanced Scorecard works.  Having analyzed questionnaire results it will be possible to determine total readiness of the company and its management to use Balanced Scorecard in the everyday work.

Check your BSC knowledge

Read on BSC questionnaire here.

Implementation and maintenance of balanced scorecard is quite a complex and lengthy process.  The company management needs to realize that balanced scorecard will not work unless a number of important conditions are fulfilled.  Balanced Scorecard it appears to be useless if numerous mistakes are made when the system is being implemented.

That’s why it is very important to be 100% ready to use the system.  For this a reason special training on Balanced Scorecard and use of additional materials is highly recommended.  Balanced Scorecard is not as easy as it might seem, and it will be quite a challenge to successfully implement it without professional assistance.

Developers of BSC Designer from AKS-LABS offer users practical courses and theoretical materials.  We have already written about audio training course on Balanced Scorecard.  Now it is the time for a free product – a collection of templates for Balanced Scorecard.

Templates on balanced scorecard are offered in archive containing several power find and pdf files.  What can you find in those files?  Well, first and foremost the templates present the four perspectives of balanced scorecard: financial, customer, internal processes, learning and growth.  Each perspective has its objectives measures, targets and initiatives.

Enjoy free BSC templates from AKS-LABS

AKS-LABS offers free templates with charts and tables which you can use to design a strategy maps and Balanced Scorecard for your company.  This will help visualize company strategy through indication of company goals, measures and response actions.

The templates contain screenshots from BSC Designer for users to understand how real values and indicators will be represented in the program.  You also see how the information will be shown in excel format.  Templates for KPIs in different perspectives will help better understand concept of balanced scorecard and save your time.

Templates are available for download from this page.

Download free BSC templates

Buy a new training course on Balanced Scorecard

Automated business management tools are becoming increasingly popular in the recent years, especially in the large companies.  But the revolution in the concept of communicating company strategic vision with operation level broke out with the development of balanced scorecard system.  Of course business has always been measured.  But prior to the early 1990s only financial indicators were evaluated.  Balanced scorecard system started evaluation of non-financial indicators.  Indeed, how a company can become financially prosperous?  Of course through improvements in operational management.

Balanced scorecard system was the first to communicate strategic vision of the company goals with operational or lower management.  Through evaluation of four perspectives balance scorecard helps company management to work out key performance indicators, response measures and set realistic strategic goals.

This system has received a lot of criticism mostly from those companies and top managers which failed to make an effective use of balanced scorecard.  It should be noted that implementation of balanced scorecard is not an easy process.  It is very important to get basic knowledge and acquire key skills when implementing balanced scorecard.

From now on top managers and everyone who wants to use balanced scorecard in their company can purchase a training course on BSC which covers a lot of important issues and gives answers to a number of controversial and acute questions.

The training course is structured in a very convenient way.  The course sections are synchronized with stages of balanced scorecard implementation.  Thus, you will learn new things from simple tool more complex issues.

Experts in balance scorecard will share their vision on initial steps of balanced scorecard implementation and design, selection of winning KPIs and determining the optimal number of them, creation of strategy maps and cascading balanced scorecard.  Of course this is not the complete list of issues covered in the training course which consists of mp3 files (total length is 5 hrs).

It should be noted that the speaker uses at very clear and simple language, so even if you are not balanced scorecard expert you’re likely to understand everything or almost everything.

To support the idea of balanced scorecard learning will give you this statistics: only about 30% of managers are satisfied with the results obtained with balanced scorecard when the system was implemented without expert help, additional training or professional assistance.

Why not educate yourself and learn secrets of balanced scorecard system?  Purchase balanced scorecard training audio course from this page.

Education is all important to successfully implement BSC

It is impossible to wane in the Morton business without proper management.  No matter how much money you can invest in your company, it doesn’t matter how many office buildings and production facilities you have, without proper human resource management your business will fail.  Nowadays, many businessmen forget about people who work for them.  These people think that their business is their money, real estate, offices, computers etc.  But the reality is that your business is people who work for you.

Thus, it is very important to train your personnel and raise professional level of your employees.  It doesn’t matter what position such an employee in the occupied.  Even if your secretary will work faster the entire company may benefit from it, say apart of top managers, project managers and other people with much responsibility.

Measure major training kpi

Different trainings, seminars and workshops are very popular in all businesses fields.  You invest money in your personnel.  It needs saying that such investments are very long lasting and they yield positive results.  However are we can talk about positive results only in case these trainings are professionally organized and efficiently conducted.  An ineffective training session will turn into a waste of your money and your employees’ time.  Ineffective training will spoil company’s image.  If people do not benefit from such training they will not certainly work better.

Taking into account the above said, training sessions must be evaluated.  Evaluation process may take much time, the cause the training session is a complex structure with many elements.  But using balanced scorecard system you will be able to measure all those elements, commonly known as key performance indicators or KPIs.

Balanced scorecard system helps in measurement of KPIs so that you are able to measure overall performance of your human resource department that is in charge of organizing and conducting training sessions for the personnel.

Balanced scorecard system is a great business tool to evaluate everything that can be measured in figures and percents.  If you regularly perform training evaluation, you will be able to track changes (positive or negative).

Results obtained by balanced scorecard system can be used in strategic planning.  It is very unwise to invest money in business expansion if your employees are not ready to operate on a higher level.  Thus, with the help of balanced scorecard system you will measure training efficiency and introduce changes into it to solve current problems.

Use Balanced Scorecard system to measure training kpi

National and world economies are just a recovering from the most severe economic crisis since the great depression.  Tough competition and read used buying power of customers resulted in failure of many businesses all over the world.  Competition is something that keeps businesses alert.  At the same time the aim of every competitor is to wipe out your business& attract your customers.  Thus, it is very important for in a business to do everything possible to stay competitive.  It is impossible to be competitive with incompetent personnel.  This is a very serious problem for most businesses, as companies have money and resources to succeed in business but the people who work for the company are not ready to work professionally.

For this reason company management all from all denies is special trainings for their personnel.  If you warned to improve something about your company you should definitely start with the people who work there.  At the same time training should be effective, and drain definite results.  The ultimate goal of any business is making profits, and effective training is a compulsory element in earning more money.

Use the best training measure system

Training evaluation must be performed from time to time to measure efficiency of seminars, training sessions and training masses.  Training is a complex process with many stages and if you make mistake on the initial stage you won’t get expected results.  That is why you need to evaluate training and use obtained results in your father work and strategic planning.  It is not easy to properly measure training performance.  However, if you choose to use balanced scorecard system this process will become much easier for you and the people who work for the company.

Balanced scorecard system measures individual indicators which are known as key performance indicators.  KPIs are values expressed in figures and per cents that show how well your business or its aspect is doing.

Cost per employee is one of the most important indicators in training metrics.  This figure shows how much you spend two train one employee.  At the same time you need to compare this figure2 revenue per employee which is the second most important indicator.

You also need to pay attention2 cost savings which is the amount of money you manage to save as a result of a well organized training session.  For example you may save on electricity bills, time required for the project etc.

Training measure system will help in performance evaluation

There is a universal rule in the world of business. You need to the constantly developing your company, of course if you want to succeed.  Of what do we mean by development?  Of course, this is investment in different business spheres.  If you want to earn more you need to invest.  As a rule, businessmen invest in production facilities, new offices etc.  However, many people forget about investment in human resources, or in other words investment in personnel.  What kind of investment is that?

You have probably noticed that different training and seminars for employees have become extremely popular in all businesses fields.  Indeed, you should invest money in people who will then use update knowledge to make more profits for your company.  Even if you possess huge Financial Resources you still need people who will make an effective use of them.

Measure training ratios with BSC system

A regular training of personnel is very important for companies and businesses, irrespectively of their size.  A well organized the training session will raise competence of your employees. There they will learn new things, techniques and methods and put this in practice.

At the same time one needs to make sure that such training sessions have a positive impact on employees’ efficiency.  In other words, efficiency of training sessions needs to be measured.  Balanced scorecard system is one of the best tools for performance measurements.  This software will test key performance indicator (KPIs) which represents different aspects of the company performance.

In human resource management and training there is the special set of KPIs.  It is very important to choose major KPIs and focus on key issues.  Balanced scorecard system will give you a unique opportunity to measure effectiveness of training.  If you locate problems early you will not suffer big losses as ineffective training is just a waste of time and what is more important waste of money.

Use Balanced Scorecard system to measure training ratios

Balanced scorecard system will make it possible to organize effective training seminars and sessions.  By tracking the ratio of cost per employee and revenue per employee you will be able to see what was wrong in training receive.  As known, goal of any training session is to increase professional level of the employees so that they can bring ma profits for the company.

Balanced scorecard system is very easy to use.  If you want to evaluate training ratio of this is the best tool to be used in human resource management.

Running business is not an easy thing.  You need to take into account so many factors, and at the same time fide the games competitors which have only one goal – wiping you out.  Customers are of very picky these days, so you need to do much work to attract them.  You need to be always alert as markets changes very quickly.  Thus, you need to be ready for such changes.  You means business owner of the company management, as well as ordinary employees.  You need to know that you have the most competent professional personnel as compared to competitors.

Investing in personnel is a very smart decision.  By all denies in an effective special training session for your employees you lay down the foundation of your company success in future the cause of it is that people who work in your company of making profits for you.  Even if you buy the most expensive equipment, computers, office buildings and production facilities has all but make no sense if your employees are not competent enough to use such resources.

Training ROI as important element in training evaluation

That is why it is imperative to train personnel.  As a rule that, human resource department is responsible for such tasks.  Personnel needs to be regularly trained.  The more your employees know the more they can use in real business.  At the same time, a training seminar may be a waste of time and money if eventually you fail to reach financial goals.  It is not a secret that training sessions are conducted with one goal – to earn more money in future.  If you failed to reach this goal your training was ineffective.

However, using balanced scorecard system you will be able to measure efficiency of training sessions, and different elements of training process.  Balanced scorecard system helps in locating problems at their early stages.  This tool also helps in finding solutions.  For example, regular use of balanced scorecard system makes it possible to track changes in training efficiency.  Return on investment (which is a goal of any training) is a key issue here. Training ROI means that a trained employee uses his/her knowledge to make more profits for the company.

The use of balanced scorecard system is highly recommended for human resource managers and top managers who are responsible for training and coaching of personnel.  At the same time balanced scorecard system contributes to employees’ self confidence, motivation and loyalty.

Balanced Scorecard system helps in evaluation of training roi

The last decade so a sharp increase in the number of different practical courses, seminars and training sessions for professionals of all kinds.  And no wonder!  There is quite as simple explanation – business owners understood that the best way to earn money or invest in the company is to invest in personnel.

Imagine that you own a business.  Your company has been doing OK for a long time but now it faces serious challengers and problems.  But you can not understand what has gone wrong.  You invested money, purchased new equipment introduced new techniques and methods.  But you never invested in personnel.  Thus your employees remain on the same professional level while your competitors regularly train their personnel. Even if you possess huge Financial Resources your company will still fail if your personnel will be unable to smartly use the money.  That is why training is so much important for any business.

Balanced Scorecard system is a great tool for training evaluation

At the same time you need to make sure that your training campaign is effective.  Organizing training is not enough to succeed.  You should know that you efficiently spend every dollar you invest in your employees.  People who work for you need to opting me you knowledge and the new use it in the work.  If it is not so the training will be just wasting money and time.

But how can you measure training efficiency?  Just use balanced scorecard system and you will have all the problems solved.  Balanced scorecard system is the tool which is widely used in business performance evaluation.  Training is a very important aspect of running business.  Thus training evaluation or measurement is a must for your company.

What are main advantages and of using balanced scorecard system?  One of the greatest advantages is that this tool will evaluate individual KPIs which are indicators that show different aspects of training efficiency and company performance.  KPIs are different in different businesses.  That if we are talking about training we need to pay a special attention to the following KPIs:

• Cost per employee.  This is perhaps the most important KPI in training metrics.  And if you manage to spend a little money for training one employee and get profits you’re an efficient manager.  Of the however are be careful since saving too much may result in big problems for your company.
• Revenue per employee.  Balanced scorecard system will help you calculate how much profit you have or don’t have as a result of training.

Most important training evaluation KPIs

Post crisis economy set very serious tasks for business.  Financial meltdown and credit crunch resultant in the worst economic crisis since the great depression.  As a result, many people do not have considerable purchasing power.  No sales means death for business.  Under such circumstances, business owners need to undertake urgent actions to save their companies.  It is very risky to invest money without knowing own problems.

BSC system is a perfect tool for hr training evaluation

However, if you still decided to invest you need to think about primary and secondary investments.  Many businessmen often forget about investment in personnel.  They think that spending money for training employees is just a waste of time and money.  It is better to buy more computers offices or production facilities.  But who runs your business?  These are people.  If they are incompetent it doesn’t matter how much you invested – that people will be just unable to use that money properly.

For this reason training is very important in every company.  This is the best way to become better and make your employees better.  At the same time, training can be a really a waste of time and money if it is ineffective and addresses irrelevant problems and issues.  But how can you measure effectiveness of training sessions and efficiency of investment in personnel?

Balanced scorecard system is the answer.  This is a great tool for business performance evaluation used in all businesses fields.  Balanced scorecard system has a very simple principle.  The software evaluates KPIs which are known as key performance indicators.  Training is a complex process and if you made a mistake and the early stage you won’t be satisfied with the final results.

Balanced scorecard system makes it possible to measure every stage of the training process, from setting tasks and goals to conducting training sessions and what is more important applying obtained knowledge in real business.

As a rule, human resource department is in charge of training and coaching personnel.  If personnel is managed smartly that overall performance of the company will be improved.  Balanced scorecard system is an efficient tool for HR managers and other specialists who are in charge of training.

What KPIs are relevant for training metrics?  These are cost per employee, size of training budget, expected revenue rate per employee, cost savings, employees satisfaction and organization climate.  By the way, organization climate is very important in any company as satisfied employees with a positive attitude will always work better.

HR training improves personnel efficiency