Making 353% more on your training

Singapore – Employees who have undergone training can bring about a 353% return on investment, says Jill Smart, chief HR officer for Accenture.

Because Accenture’s training policy goes by the motto of “leaders teaching leaders”, all 4,000 senior executives are expected to spend an estimated three to five days of work days a year teaching or leading employee training programmes.

One of the training programmes the company engages in is a cultural programme that teaches new recruits how to function in a global and diversified company. New recruits travel to one of the classrooms in Kuala Lumpur or United States for two weeks, where they develop individual skills and are taught on how to work in teams.

Executives who are at promotion points are also expected to attend classroom training, where not only are they taught by executives, but they are also grouped into teams to formulate and pitch business strategies in simulated business scenarios.

Despite spending US$800 million (S$1.08b) each year on training cost, Smart says HR has never been under any pressure to reduce employee training. Even when the company was facing the economic downturn in 2001, employee training was never seen as a function that had to be cut. Smart says the company managed to cut costs by reducing internal meetings, travel costs and celebrations.

“Our product that we sell is the knowledge capital that our people have. If we cut training, that would be like cutting product development,” Smart says.

To justify the training investment, Smart partnered with university professors to examine statistics of trained employees. Smart found trained employees had better mobility, were promoted faster and stayed longer with companies – or a 353% ROI on the investment.

On the other hand, Smart says, an employee whose training has been postponed would not be able to perform in their job and would become eventually dissatisfied with the company.

“[Employee] development is such a part of our culture, and always has been, and always will be. It is one of our values and we have to deliver on that promise,” she adds.