Beyond ROI™ Leads the Next Generation of Training Measurement
(July 3, 2006) After a dozen years of successful work with Fortune 500 companies, on July 1, 2006, Scott Watson launched Beyond ROI, Inc., a different kind of measurement company.
As the head of consulting at a leading training firm, Watson designed and implemented more than 400 assessment and measurement projects with clients such as ExxonMobil, IBM, Dell Computer, Xerox, AT&T, Verizon, Hewlett-Packard, and Accenture. "Every time we implemented training with these big firms, they asked for clear evidence of results-not excuses," says Watson. "Year after year, clients pushed me to find new ways to measure both the execution and the business impact of training."
The result? Watson has moved beyond traditional measurements like Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Evaluation and Return on Investment (ROI) calculations. When clients wanted to know what happened after people left the workshops, he created SmartTrac SurveysT, a web-based form of accountability for participants and their managers. When clients asked if the training really caused the results, he pioneered the Definite DifferenceT to isolate business results from external factors such as employee tenure, location, competition, and changes in the economy. To measure the effect of manager coaching, he developed the Hi/Lo ComparisonT to show the relationship between leading and lagging indicators of performance.
"Measurement is no longer a mystery," says Watson. "Today we can clearly show the connections between how people behave after training and how they perform. It's like seeing inside the black box."
Estimates of training expenditures for U.S. corporations range from $51.3 billion to $300 billion annually. The latest benchmarking study from ASTD showed that only 7% of companies conducted a measurement of business results from training in the previous year. Nevertheless, among most HR professionals, ROI is seen as the "gold standard" of training results that will command the respect of senior executives and open the floodgates to additional funding.
From Watson's perspective, the gold standard of ROI is severely tarnished. "If you want to show the impact of a training initiative, ROI may be the least relevant measure you can use," declares Watson. "Senior managers are focused on managing their people and growing their business. Period. Our measurement should focus on those exact same goals."
Watson's view of traditional training measurement has raised some eyebrows. "I can think of at least ten reasons why training organizations must get beyond ROI if they want to be well respected-and well funded," says Watson. "ROI is too small to show the full impact of training, it's often too big to be believed, and it's too complex to have credibility. An ROI statistic creates questions about its source and puts you in a defensive posture. Worst of all, ROI is not linked to a single, functional business goal."
Watson believes he's found a better way by linking actions to outcomes. According to Watson, his training results shine the brightest under the intense glare of C-level executives, Six-Sigma® Black Belts, and PhDs. That's why quality-minded companies such as General Electric, Motorola, Johnson Controls, and Shell Oil Company have hired Watson to teach them how to implement his unique philosophy and approach to tracking results.
In order to serve global companies, Beyond ROI will provide tracking in 13 languages for a wide array of training programs, including: sales, service, leadership, coaching, financial acumen, writing skills, project management, and others. For those wanting to learn to how to use Watson's methods in their own organization, there's even a Beyond ROI Certification.
