Why the ROI of Corporate Learning is Hard to Measure—And What To Do About It | Tom Whelan

The Skill Shift

This week we talked with Tom Whelan, director of corporate research at Training Industry. Tom is an organizational scientist and research professional with over 15 years of experience working with companies to improve enterprise and employee outcomes.

In this episode, we dig into some of Tom’s recent research, Redefining the ROI of Corporate Learning. Tom discusses more modern approaches and models to measure the effectiveness of corporate learning and provides advice on how to overcome common challenges—including mining for the right data for different stakeholders and how L&D leaders can boost learner engagement.
Resources we talked about in this episode:
1:23 - "Redefining the ROI of Corporate Learning" - https://www.d2l.com/resources/assets/redefining-the-roi-of-corporate-learning/
1:53 - "A Practitioner Friendly and Scientifically Robust Training Evaluation Approach," Richard Griffin - https://doi.org/10.1108/13665621211250298
3:43 - Kirkpatrick model - https://www.kirkpatrickpartners.com/the-kirkpatrick-model/
4:45 - Raymond Katzell - https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/in-appreciation-raymond-a-katzell
8:16 – Kraiger, Ford and Salas - https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0021-9010.78.2.311
8:25 - LTEM model - Will Thalheimer - https://www.worklearning.com/ltem/
8:52 - ISO/TS 30437:2023, Human resource management, Learning and development metrics - https://www.iso.org/standard/68714.html
22:47 – What Learners Want: New Strategies for Training Delivery - https://trainingindustry.com/research/content-development/research-what-learners-want-new-strategies-for-training-delivery/