What’s the Cost of NOT Training Employees?

There’s a bumper sticker that reads “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!” Every time I’m asked how to measure the ROI of training, I think of that bumper sticker. I’ve seen many complicated formulae which claim to answer the question. In fact, I have a book on my desk that has a section of over 50 pages called “How to Measure Training and Development Values.” But none of it really gets to the key point.

Yes, good training costs money. And employees have to be away from their work to participate in training, which is inconvenient. It’s also true that maintaining vehicles, equipment and buildings is costly and inconvenient. In the short run, you could save money by not doing it. But what would the long term consequences be? How long would it take until the cost of repair and replacement would exceed the savings? Do you need to measure the ROI of preventive maintenance to be convinced you need to do it?

Those are really the types of questions that should be asked when thinking about the true cost of training vs. not training employees. Here are a few more:

What is the cost of time and money wasted because employees don’t work together effectively as a team or supervisors don’t have good people skills?

How many business opportunities are lost or missed due to poor customer service or product quality?

Would you promote your organization to prospective customers and clients by saying, “We spend less on training than any other organization in our field and we pass the savings on to you!”

Or how about an employee recruitment campaign that leads off with, “Come work for us. We won’t waste your time with training?”

Regardless of the field your organization is in, there’s lot’s of competition. In a tough marketplace, your people are the best competitive weapon you have. The better they are, the better your organization is, its that simple. Good training is the best investment you can make. You can’t afford not to do it.