Proving the ROI of Learning and Development: 58 Stats to Back Up Your Business Case

Proving the ROI of Learning and Development: 58 Stats to Back Up Your Business Case

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Read our rundown of the factors shaping learning and development, and the metrics leaders care about, plus get the data you need to give your learning programs a competitive edge.

How employees prefer to learn

The State of Employee Learning and Development

1) 74% of employees say they need to learn new skills to stay ahead (University of Phoenix).

2) In 2024, employees favored informal learning methods, including on-the-job training, online learning, and peer learning (CIPD).

3) Over 90% of employees consider any form of workplace learning they receive to be useful (CIPD).

4) Career development is the top factor driving learning and development for 62% of organizations, followed by the need for employees to develop new skills (49%) (Bridge).

5) 61% prefer to learn new skills through workplace learning programs (Lloyds Bank).

6) 74% of employees are keen to learn new skills to keep up with advances in their industry, but only 54% feel they have sufficient opportunities to grow (Ipsos).

7) 66% of employees find on-the-job training most beneficial when learning new skills (Ipsos).

The top factors driving employee learning and development (according to HR and L&D professionals)

UNCOVER MORE L&D TRENDS | ā€˜The Future of Upskilling and Employee Learning 2024ā€™

The Factors Driving Employee Development and Upskilling

8) 44% of employeesā€™ core skills are predicted to be disrupted between 2023 and 2027 (World Economic Forum).

9) Despite most business leaders expecting generative AI to drive changes to talent strategies between 2024 and 2026, only 22% feel prepared to address talent concerns related to AI adoption (Deloitte).

10) 95% of HR professionals and business leaders agree that jobs will be disrupted by market forces or tech trends between 2024 and 2026 (Bridge).

11) Amid rapid technological advancement like AI, 80% of professionals say that building soft skills such as communication is more important than ever (Wiley).

12) 56% of HR professionals cite a lack of qualified candidates as a top challenge in 2024. In response, 33% are overcoming gaps through formal training and development (Breezy HR).

13) 73% of leaders believe itā€™s important for human capabilities such as creative thinking, social intelligence, and collaboration to keep pace with technological advances within their organizations (Deloitte).

14) Less than half (47%) of employees feel that their employer invests in the skills they need to advance their careers (ADP).

15) Between 2023 and 2024, 45% of employees say theyā€™ve had to learn to use new tools and technologies to do their job (PwC).

16) Only around 50% of L&D professionals and business leaders believe newly promoted leaders are ready to lead in their respective departments (Harvard Business).

17) 68% of executives report a moderate-to-extreme digital skills gap. Closing this gap will require training about using new technologies, and their safe and ethical use (World Economic Forum).

18) Creative thinking and analytical thinking rank among the most important core skills for organizations. However, only 9% of the workforce currently possesses analytical thinking and 7% possess creative thinking skills (World Economic Forum).

GET MORE LEARNING-BASED FACTS AND FIGURES | ā€˜261 Learning Management System (LMS) Statistics and Tech Trends for 2023 and Beyondā€™

Why Organizations Need a Skills Strategy

19) When asked about the barriers to delivering organizational value that are directly within their influence, 52% of CEOs globally cite a lack of skills within their workforce (PwC).

20) Although 77% of business leaders recognize the importance of upskilling and reskilling their employees, 72% of HR professionals say that the biggest factor preventing upskilling is a lack of time or prioritization (Bridge).

21) Validating skills is crucial for future success and those with high-performing learning programs are more likely to say they assess employee skills and knowledge gaps (56% versus 40%) and match learning to future talent needs (53% versus 44%) (Bridge).

22) One in three Gen Z and Millennial employees decided not to pursue higher education in 2024, seeking career paths that allow them to gain skills outside university (Deloitte).

23) Only 54% of employees feel their formal qualifications are relevant to their current job (World Economic Forum).

24) 58% of employees also believe they possess skills that arenā€™t clear from their qualifications or job history (World Economic Forum).

How L&D pros show the value of employee training and development

RELATED SKILLS READING | ā€˜2024 Skills Data: What You Need to Knowā€™

The Links Between Learning and Business Performance

25) When measuring the business impact of learning, some metrics hold more weight than others for execs. Organizations that see L&D teams as key players in creating value are twice as likely to use performance improvements to measure the success of learning programs (Watershed).

26) 59% of business leaders expect non-financial performance measures to be increasingly important for their organization within the next three years. Specifically, the most valuable non-financial metric for 35% of business leaders is customer satisfaction, followed by employee retention (31%) (CIPD).

27) High-performing L&D professionals are over three times as likely to measure the ROI of learning and upskilling programs (Bridge).

28) When making a tech purchase, 57% of buyers expect to see a return on investment within three months. The most common measure of ROI for leaders is employee productivity (G2).

29) Looking at financial metrics alone doesnā€™t tell the whole story, as 20% of execs attributed greater success to their organizationā€™s digital transformation when they looked at a wider range of metrics (Deloitte).

30) Between 2022 and 2024, the number of L&D professionals who said they have a seat at the executive table increased by five percentage points. Those with the strongest learning cultures see higher rates of retention, more internal mobility, and increased manager promotions (LinkedIn).

31) When reviewing HR metrics within their organization, the most commonly cited issue among 30% of business leaders is that the figures don’t give them the full picture and 22% say itā€™s not clear how data connects to organizational priorities (CIPD).

32) 87% of L&D professionals say they show business value by helping employees gain skills to move into different roles (LinkedIn).

3 ways learning and development can improve employee retention

RECOMMENDED READING | ā€˜5 Ways to Get Your Training Program Ready for 2025ā€™

The Business Impact of Learning and Development

33) 68% of organizations report tangible benefits as a result of upskilling and employee talent development initiatives, including improved company productivity and career advancement (Udemy).

34) Organizations with a strong learning culture experience 57% higher employee retention (LinkedIn).

35) PayPal estimated that reducing employee turnover by 1% would improve employee productivity and reduce training costs, resulting in $500,000 a year saving (Deloitte). 

36) When employees have the ability to influence what they learn, theyā€™re nearly eight times more likely to advance within the organization and over five times more likely to be high performers (Gartner).

37) 74% of HR professionals agree or strongly agree that upskilling improves job performance in their organizations (Bridge).

38) Organizations that provide career advancement and skills development opportunities can save an estimated $6,521 through increased productivity, $916 through decreased churn, and $616 through lower healthcare costs, totalling $8,053 per employee each year (University of Phoenix).

The Risks Associated With Neglecting Employee Learning and Development

39) In 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reported fines totaling over $600 million as a result of noncompliance (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).

40) Beyond the cost of noncompliance, the cost to replace a manager or a leader is around 200% of their salary. It costs about 80% of their salary for employees in technical roles. That figure is 40% for frontline employees (Gallup).

41) Low employee engagement costs the global economy US$8.9 trillion, or 9% of global GDP (Gallup).

42) 67% of employees considering switching jobs say that the opportunity to learn new skills would affect their decision to a large or very large extent (PwC).

The Role a Learning Platform Plays in Facilitating Business Success

43) Using AI assistance to build a skills taxonomy, one company increased user adoption by 20% (MIT Sloan).

44) The average number of applications employees use increased from six to 11 between 2019 and 2023. As a result, 47% say they struggle to find information to perform their roles (Gartner).

45) When tech is poorly integrated and employees have too many solutions, they waste an average of six hours a week toggling between different solutions (Asana).

46) When your organizationā€™s collective knowledge and information is easy for employees to find, it results in a 36% increase in productivity, decision-making, and collaboration (Slack).

47) The top consideration for decision-makers when buying an HR platform is the level of security, closely followed by its ability to integrate with your existing tools and platforms (G2).

48) High-performing learning and development professionals are 1.3 times more likely to say that theyā€™ve reduced training costs as a result of using learning technologies (Bridge).

49) HR professionals proactively measuring employee performance and using workplace tools to act on data are 1.7 times more likely to achieve desired business results (Deloitte).

50) Using Bridgeā€™s LMS to streamline and automate its HR processes resulted in one customer reducing administrative costs by 50% (Bridge).

51) Similarly, Adult & Teen Challenge achieved a 40% reduction in the cost of training programs using Bridgeā€™s LMS (Bridge).

Top coaching skills people managers need

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The Importance of Manager Enablement

52) Over 60% of organizations say coaching and mentoring are strategic priorities within their organization, most commonly citing people managers as enablers (Bridge).

53) Despite 67% of HR professionals agreeing that they strongly encourage managers to develop coaching and mentoring skills, only 45% provide adequate training (Bridge).

54) Organizations increasingly recognize that formal learning alone isnā€™t enough to develop leadership capabilities. As a result, the most widely used training method for 45% of learning and development professionals in 2024 was on-the-job training (Harvard Business).

55) 82% of managers are promoted without any formal training or development experience, but high-quality manager and leadership training programs lead to higher job satisfaction and motivation among employees (Chartered Management Institute).

56) Helping managers embed necessary behaviors and values into the day-to-day interactions and conversations with direct reports increases employee performance by 35%. (Gartner).

57) The average people manager has 51% more tasks than they can effectively manage. Investing in habit-building through intentional cues and routines is more effective than skills development alone and improves job manageability by 71% (Gartner).

58) Managers are 18% more likely to excel when they have access to peer-based learning experiences, with time to build connections and embed relationship-building into their roles. (Gartner).

Prove the Impact of Your Training Efforts With Bridgeā€™s LMS

Bridgeā€™s learning platform is an all-in-one solution for upskilling and employee development. Within the platform, youā€™ll find the tools to enable managers, prioritize and target skills gaps, and translate tangible training outcomes to your stakeholders with powerful analytics.

Picture of Peter Brussard

Peter Brussard

Peter Brussard is a software executive with a long, demonstrable track record of more than 20 years of experience building software, leading teams and scaling revenue, he is currently the President and Managing Director of Bridge. His prior experience includes SVP Technology & Product Management at Instructure, SVP Product & Engineering at Rosetta Stone, and leadership roles at Microsoft and a variety of startups.

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