How to measure ROI in learning and development 

With the changing demands of the workforce, organisations are constantly seeking ways to maximise their investments and drive tangible results. When it comes to learning and development (L&D) initiatives, measuring return on investment (ROI) has become crucial for forward-thinking companies. If you're struggling with how to measure ROI in learning and development, you've come to the right place. . 

Read on to unlock the true value of your training and learning initiatives. 

Regardless of the size of your business or its stage of learning maturity, measuring the ROI of learning and development is of paramount importance.  In 2025, this need is even more crucial, with the latest LinkedIn Workplace Learning report finding that providing learning opportunities is the number 1 retention strategy. This underscores a fundamental shift: learning is not simply a peripheral benefit, but a core driver of employee engagement and loyalty.
To boost impact, L&D must strategically implement learning across the entire employee lifecycle. Measuring ROI validates that these learning initiatives are directly contributing to retention and business success. 
Successful businesses invest in their people, understanding that engaging learning experiences are a strategic necessity. ROI measurement serves as a critical tool for assessing the effectiveness and impact of both the learning experiences your organisation offers and the overall L&D initiatives, enabling you to make data-driven decisions and communicate the value of your programme to stakeholders. 

When businesses talk about return on investment, they tend to think primarily about financial gain. Executive teams want to know how much money they will get back from their initial spend, and how long that return will take.  

Sounds easy enough, right? We can even use a standardised formula to calculate return on investment in the context of an L&D programme: 

ROI = (Total Benefits - Total Costs) / Total Costs x 100 

So, let’s say your investment in employee learning is £20,000 and the value of your total benefits is £50,000: 

ROI = (£50,000 - £20,000) / £20,000 x 100 

In this scenario, your ROI would be 150%.   

The problem for HR and L&D leaders is that developing skills across their workforce leads to all kinds of benefits that are tough to quantify. It’s fairly simple to estimate the total cost of an investment; but far more challenging to put a figure on the total benefits that come as a result.  

The idea of measuring ROI in learning and development is enough to strike fear into the heart of even the bravest of L&D leaders. That’s why so few teams actually do it – in fact, only 1 in 10 learning functions say they have a reliable way of measuring ROI.

So, if it’s not return on investment, how do most organisations evaluate the success of their learning programmes? 

The latest study from CIPD shows that the types of metrics L&D teams tend to use are limited: 

The 2023 Learning at Work report reveals a landscape marked by broader measurement challenges. Key findings include:

Budget Uncertainty: Nearly half (46%) of L&D professionals lack clear insight into per-employee learning expenditures.

• Impact Measurement Gap: Only half (50%) have established processes to assess the effectiveness of learning initiatives.
• Cost as a Major Barrier: Budget constraints and difficulty demonstrating ROI are significant obstacles to achieving organiszational and employee development goals.

These statistics show L&D faces significant hurdles in demonstrating value, both in terms of ROI and broader impact. To improve, clearer budget tracking and better ways to prove learning's are required, focusing on how learning directly contributes to business goals.

The perspective of measuring ROI in learning and development has been limited for too long, it’s important that organisations now start to see and communicate the bigger picture of learning and development impact. 

Methods to measure the effectiveness of employee training like ‘participant satisfaction’ and ‘number of completions’ are relatively shallow compared to key performance indicators that are integral to long-term business growth, such as:   

1. Organisational performance  
   
   
2. Staff retention
     
3. Employee engagement  
   
   
4. Regulatory compliance  
   
   
5. Health and safety efficacy  
   
   
6. Wellbeing  
   
   
7. Customer satisfaction 
    

If HR and L&D leaders are going to demonstrate the tangible differences that employee learning makes, they first need to take a step back and see the bigger picture. This includes recognising that engaging, relevant learning is the catalyst for driving broader organisational outcomes.

Every organisation is different, but the first step in determining the ROI of learning is always the same:  
define your objectives. 

All too often businesses roll out new learning programmes without first detailing a set of clear goals and methods for measuring the effectiveness of employee training. This is the reason so many learning programmes don’t produce tangible gains and fall into the trap of becoming a tick-box exercise. 

The key is to determine what really matters to your organisation. Whether it’s boosting retention, freeing up time spent on admin or reducing external costs, aligning your learning strategy with organisational goals is crucial because this is how L&D can start mapping out benefits and proving its real value. 

A Learning Management System plays a vital role in this process by providing a centralised platform that streamlines content delivery, facilitates interactive learning experiences, and generates detailed analytics. This allows you to directly correlate learning activities with your key business goals, demonstrating the tangible impact of your L&D initiatives.

Here are some simple bullet point steps on how to measure ROI in Learning and Development:

1. Determine the costs of the L&D programme, including for example the cost of content development, trainer fees, materials, systems, facilities, travel expenses, time away from work.  

2. List the benefits of your L&D programme in relation to your objectives, such as for example:

• increased staff engagement
• reduced L&D administration time
• reduced staff turnover
• increased regulation compliance
• increased health and safety training completion rates
• increased staff wellbeing
• improved customer satisfaction rates  
• enjoyment of learning programs

3. Allocate monetary values to each of the benefits. This can be done by estimating the financial impact of each of the benefits on the organisation's bottom line.  

4. Calculate the ROI by dividing the benefits by the costs and multiplying by 100 to get a percentage.  

5. Analyse the data and adjust the L&D programme as needed to improve ROI in future iterations, consider how you can make your L&D initiatives more cost efficient – both in outlay and in learning effectiveness.  

6. Continuously track and measure ROI over time to assess the programme's ongoing impact and make informed decisions about its future. 

Let’s take staff turnover as an example: According to the CIPD, the total cost of replacing an employee is around £3,000 – and that’s a conservative estimate. 

You can work this out for your own organisation by drilling down into your time-to-hire, time-to-productivity, recruitment costs and induction costs. 

View that cost alongside recent surveys from McKinsey which revealed 40% of employees are considering quitting their job, with the top reason being due to a lack of career development opportunities, it becomes easier to join the dots between L&D and a key business outcome. 

Measuring and reporting on ROI in learning and development is undeniably crucial. The Six Steps may seem straightforward and common sense, but the reality is a bit more complex. It's like assembling a puzzle, ensuring that all the pieces fit seamlessly together. 

To achieve accurate measurement and reporting, it's essential to establish systems that work together, sharing data effortlessly. For example, integrating HR and L&D systems, leveraging employee feedback surveys, and utilising learning systems that can connect and span all of your L&D initiatives

This setup and monitoring process may require some time and effort, but it is the key to the success of measuring ROI in learning and development.  

Fortunately, we live in a digital era brimming with digital learning solutions and tools that can transform your ROI measurement journey. These technologies both connect and streamline the measurement process and elevate your learning to new heights. Consider the help an AI-powered LMS can offer: with a Learning Assistant, automated data collection, analysis, and reporting, and actionable insights can be provided in seconds.

Armed with the right systems, processes, and tools, you'll be empowered to make data-driven decisions, unlock the full potential of your L&D initiatives, and pave the way for lasting success.  

Measuring ROI in learning and development provides invaluable insights, empowers decision-making, supports buy-in and ensures alignment with overall business goals.  

Are you ready to unlock the true potential of your L&D initiatives? Take the next step and get in touch with us today to find out how our suite of digital learning solutions can make an impact in your organisation.