Every business’s main goal is profitability. So, when you hear professionaldevelopment program benefits like “team morale” and “employee loyalty,” you might write them off as “nice-to-haves” that aren’t really essential to your company’s bottom line.

But, you’d be wrong.

The right professional development program returns much more than an intangible ideal: It reaps real monetary advantages for your organization.

Remember that the next time you find yourself asking, “Is professional development really worth the cost?” Here, we’ll break down the answer for you, and show you how to gauge the impact of management training on your company.

The Payoff Of Professional Development

Retention

Replacing an employee is a costly enterprise. The average expense of replacing an entry-level worker is 30-50% of their annual salary. For mid-level employees or managers, it’s about 150% of their annual salary. And for high-level individuals, you’re talking 400% in replacement costs.

These numbers stem from a few issues:

  • New employees are often brought on board at a higher salary.

  • Every new employee requires training.

  • Your leaders lose work time searching for, interviewing and training candidates.

  • Your company loses productivity as a new employee learns the ropes.

  • Companies often lose business opportunities in the interim of a key leader being replaced.

As a business, when you fail to retain employees, it hurts your profitability. An investment in professional development, however, helps you protect that bottom line.

If employees feel more engaged in their work as a result of management training courses, they’re less likely to get bored with the position and leave. An investment in training also shows your people that you’re invested in them as individuals – which makes them more inclined to stay.

Succession Planning

It usually takes about 90 days for companies to replace CEOs, according to the 2014 Report On Senior Executive Succession Planning And Talent Development. And, nearly 40% of companies don’t have a candidate already prepped to take on high-level positions in the event that a leadership member leaves for any reason. That’s valuable productivity time gone to waste.

With a strong professional development program in place, and a commitment to cultivating essential leadership skills, you’re in a much better position to make a transition like this smooth and seamless. Succession planning translates to stability within your company and helps you preserve your profitability in times of leadership change.

Efficiency

When your employees are properly trained to do their jobs, they work much more efficiently. Through professional development courses, your leaders learn to train and coach employees to elevate their job performance.

Think of an issue that slows your team down, like poor communication. Your workers might have problems understanding expectations or getting their messages across. If you invest in communication training to hone this essential leadership skill, you equip them with the tools they need to improve communication and streamline workflow.

Measuring Management Training ROI

Now that you know the areas in which professional development pays off, use the following methods to gauge your return on investment.

Look At The Numbers

The most straightforward way to monitor success is by tracking specific metrics at your company. Pay attention to numbers like retention rate and internal promotion.

Talk To The Team

Employee feedback is hugely beneficial in evaluating the success of a professional development program. Talk to employees about what they want out of a training program, and when it’s over, ask them if they felt the material was applicable. In the months following, find out how they’ve applied any management training lessons to their daily work.

Communicate Success

When you begin to see how your organization’s investment in professional development is helping employees rise to success, communicate those wins to the company at large. Give personal examples from your team about the real-world benefits of their management training, using them to inspire and encourage even greater success.

Maximize your return on a professional development investment by harnessing the power of succession planning.