“To prove the full ROI of eLearning, you need to measure its value.” ~ Tom Kelly (VP of Internet Learning Solutions Group at Cisco Systems, Inc.)

When times get tough and companies begin issuing budget cuts, learning and development teams are often tasked with having to substantiate the need to invest in custom eLearning solutions. 

While American companies may verbally commit to increasing eLearning and staff training initiatives, the numbers tell a different story. The 2024 Training Industry Report stated that training expenditures in the U.S. have decreased by 3.7% to $98 billion in 2024 from the previous year. 

Even though top companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple have recently announced big training budgets in 2025, mid-sized or small companies may not be following in their footsteps. 

Despite several case studies existing from global industry leaders like McDonald’s, Siemens, IBM, and CISCO that pin cost savings to the deployment of custom eLearning solutions, justifying eLearning investments to C-suite execs can be very challenging unless L&D teams have been setting up and tracking the right L&D ROI metrics from the outset. 

Once an L&D team is able to tie its eLearning efforts to quantitative or qualitative value, they can satisfy their case for further investment. 

It’s not lost on companies, however, that eLearning is tied to employee retention, an engaged and productive workforce, and bridging the widening skills gap in an AI-led market. We believe what companies actually seek in the present environment is accountability from L&D initiatives and justification of investment in custom eLearning solutions. The onus is on L&D teams to provide them with concrete insights by setting up and tracking essential ROI metrics. 

Challenges Associated with Setting Up ROI Metrics for Custom eLearning Solutions 

“You must be able to answer at least one of these three questions: How will this initiative help you to make money, save money, or mitigate risk for the company?” ~ Amanda Nolen (Founder, NilesNolen)

Measuring eLearning ROI is very difficult because most of its impact is not tangible in nature. To determine quantitatively just how much an eLearning program has boosted productivity or driven revenue is near impossible with today’s techniques, given that the very nature of learning is qualitative. 

Other challenges in measuring eLearning ROI include: 

• Lack of a consistent framework to measure custom eLearning ROI
• Lack of data tracking 
• Lack of a direct measurable link between training and performance outcomes

Essential ROI Metrics for Custom eLearning Solutions 

Here’s a basic mathematical idea of how to determine the percentage ROI for custom eLearning solutions: 

ROI (%) = [(Financial benefits – Training Costs)]/Training Costs * 100

However, putting an accurate value on the financial benefits is where the trouble lies with calculating eLearning ROI since it’s hard to assign a monetary/definite value to how custom eLearning solutions drove financial benefits. 

Quantitative ROI Metrics of Custom eLearning Solutions 

• Employee Engagement: Quantify employee engagement by looking at KPIs such as training course completion rates, pre- and post-assessment quiz scores, time spent on course modules, course interaction rates, increased certification rates, and positive feedback from employee surveys. 
• Training Cost Per Employee: Determine how much it costs to train per employee by dividing the investment on course creation by the number of employees taking the course.
• Costs Associated with Course Creation: Find out the direct and indirect costs associated with custom eLearning development, deployment, and maintenance. 
• Increased Revenue: If revenue has increased post the implementation of eLearning solutions, there could be a link between the increase in revenue and the efficacy of the training program.
• Reduced Turnover: Measuring the employee retention rates pre- and post-implementation of eLearning solutions is useful as high attrition rates are usually associated with revenue loss. 
• Cost Savings: Switching to custom eLearning solutions from traditional ILTs helps in cost savings as there is a substantial reduction in traveling costs and training delivery costs. 
• Bigger Average Deal Size: If, after upskilling salespeople, they bring in bigger deal sizes, it’s an indication of the efficacy of the learning program. 
• Employee Productivity: Measuring output per hour or quality improvements such as reduced training time, decreased error rates, number of tasks completed per week, total number of assignments completed on or ahead of time, and time required to complete projects are some ways to quantify employee productivity.  

Qualitative ROI Metrics of Custom eLearning Solutions

• Learner Satisfaction: Surveys, polls, positive feedback, and reviews help determine employees’ satisfaction with the eLearning program. 
• Impact Stories: Employee testimonials are another way to gain insight into the satisfaction of an employee with the training courses. 
• Changes in Work Performance: When training has positively impacted an employee, L&D teams can rely on manager observations & feedback, 360-degree feedback, and application of the newly acquired skills by employees to understand the impact of the custom eLearning solution. 
• Customer Satisfaction Scores: When the end customer is satisfied with the company’s after-sales processes, it may be an indicator of the efficacy of the sales training program. 
• How quickly new hires get up to speed: The usefulness of custom eLearning solutions for onboarding can be determined by noting how quickly new hires are able to grasp what’s required of them. 

Wrapping Up: How Custom Elearning Solutions Companies Like Katama Can Help With Tracking ROI Metrics 

Reach out to a custom eLearning solutions company like Katama to incorporate a built-in KPI tracking setup into the custom eLearning solutions itself for faster ROI determination. 

To define the appropriate success metrics for your eLearning solution, speak to Katama’s eLearning consultation services. 

We will help you define and align ROI metrics for custom eLearning solutions with business objectives so that you get the insights you need for the future improvement of training courses. 

Pull the right reports and data from the custom eLearning solution with the help of Katama to show how your learning &development offering can impact ROI.

Once you are in a position to substantiate how the custom eLearning solution is either making money, saving money or mitigating risk for the company, through the use of appropriate ROI metrics, you are ready to justify future investments in learning & development.