ROI on HR and Training for PSUs

Dear Friends

We get a lot of calls from HR and training departments of PSUs (Public Sector Undertaking) for ROI consulting and training. On demand from PSUs, a public workshop was held in the month of September 2016 exclusively for PSUs. Professionals from Indian Oil, ONGC, NHPCL and NEEPCO attended the training.

It is great to see that PSUs are coming out of the shell and want to implement the ROI process.

The participants were told to identify a training on which they would want to implement the ROI process. They selected programs such as
1. Crucial conversations among teams
2. Gender diversity workshops
3. Employee engagement surveys

The participants were excited for the training. Phillips ROI Methodology was covered as the part of the ROI training. Many were unsure if this works on the job. They had doubts that such theories work in Indian PSUs.

The workshop began with Business Alignment. This session itself was a success. Post the session, participants realized the following gaps in their training programs
1. Business alignment of the training - Their training objectives were not in alignment with the business needs.
2  Training needs identification (TNI) - TNI is not done correctly and hence there exists a gap in the target and the training.
3. Content - The content didnot cover hardcore case studies, examples, simulations that would help people on the job. The content mainly covered concepts and theory. So people were not aware how to apply what they learnt.

I realized that not only PSUs but even Private ltd. companies face above challenges and gaps. Post the business alignment session, the Phillips Methodology was explained and case studies and exercises were solved. The program was hands-on and so participants got a chance to work on the program they selected to implement the ROI process.

The participants were open to discussion and learning. They wanted to implement the ROI process and wanted to make the changes once they returned to their workplace.

It is good to see that PSUs are open to changing the way their department works. There was a request from participants to conduct more of such workshops.

Next blog topic - Importance of Content in a training program.

Do write to me.... wagle.sonali@gmail.com

With Gratitude
Sonali
www.exponentialadvisory.co.in
www.roiinstitute.net

ROI and Business Alignment - Part 2

Dear Friends

This blog is in continuation with my earlier blog titled 'ROI and Business Alignment - Part 1'.

FINDINGS

Out of the 50 companies studied, no company does business alignment. Table 3 depicts the percentage of companies reaching the ROI levels. Hence the training does not contribute to the bottom line.  Essentially, the requirement of business alignment for a project makes little difference for some, because previously these types of projects may not have been connected to the business. In the PSUs studied, the mandate is to fill in the compulsory training man days. Without question, the HR and training function, which includes a variety of activities, does contribute to organization success; difficulty lies in selecting the right combination of measures and the best approach to develop an adequate impact analysis.

Table 3: Companies and ROI levels Reached

Companies	Business Alignment	Reaction Level	Learning Level	Application	Impact
Pvt. Companies, MNCs	NIL	90%	70%	2%	NIL
Public Sector Undertaking	NIL	70%	20%	NIL	NIL

ENABLERS TO ROI IMPLEMENTATION

• To justify training.
• Need to make HR and training a profit center.
• HR is convinced that ROI can bring dramatic results.
• To capture correct data.
• To make employees accountable.
• Evaluate training program as a part of key result area and performance evaluation.
• Failure to see long-term payoff of evaluation.

BARRIERS TO ROI IMPLEMENTATION

• Lack of business alignment to training.
• Lack of ROI  skills.
• Lack of dedicated staff.
• Lack of management conviction in the ROI process.
• Lack of trust of management in HR and training professionals.
• Lack of flexibility once the training calendar is freezed.
• ROI is not mandated by the management.
• Lack of HR involvement.
• Budget constraints to implement ROI.
• Lack of standards.
• Training evaluation, not a part of corporate culture

LIMITATIONS & FURTHER SCOPE

The companies under study belong to Mumbai region only. The study is undertaken by interviewing HR and training people. Further research is possible for ROI implementation for other departments. Study can be undertaken for process and software implementation. Case studies can be published with reference to Indian companies on training and business alignment and implementation of ROI process.

Do write to me on wagle.sonali@gmail.com

With Gratitude

Dr. Sonali Wagle

www.exponentialadvisory.co.in

ROI and Business Alignment - Part 1

Dear Friends

Recently completed a study and presented a paper on "ROI and Business Alignment". Below are some insights.

Sample size –In all 50 large size companies were surveyed across industries (Table 1). These included multinational companies (MNC), public sector undertaking (PSU) and private companies. For the purpose of this study, HR and training is used interchangeably.

                  Table 1: Company and Industry Profile

Industry	Companies Surveyed
Pharmaceutical	5
Chemical and paint	3
Business process outsourcing (BPO)	4
Chemical	2
Power	4
Energy	2
Banking and Finance	5
Automobile	6
Insurance	5
Oil	5
Packaging	2
Retail	3
IT	4
Total	50

THE GAP

Major gaps were identified in the companies under study. Table 2 depicts the difference in the CEO’s and HR’s thinking

Table 2: CEO Thinking vs. HR Thinking

CEO’s Thinking	HR’s Thinking
Entrepreneurial thinking (Growth, profit, revenue, market share)	Knowledge thinking (content design, training delivery)
Strategic thinking (Business alignment, predictive analysis, ROI)	Operational thinking (co-ordination, module, vendor management)
Impact data (Productivity, efficiency, customer satisfaction)	Input data (no. of hrs of training, venue, food, cost, no. of people hired, training calendar)
Balance sheet	Perception, activity

Apart from the above, gaps that exist in the companies studied are as follows: 
1. Training needs identification and business alignment: It was observed that, training is launched as per the mandate given by any department. For example, in one of the company under study, a department requested for a Critical thinking training, targeting middle management.  The training was launched and data points such as number of managers completing the training, number of hours spent, cost of the training per manager were reported. In addition, satisfaction and the acceptance of the training were recorded. The problem came when the training department was asked to report the business impact and the ROI. A guessing game took place in the absence of business alignment and needs assessment. Disappointment among participants was obvious. Employees undergoing training were seldom taken into confidence for their definite training needs.  
2 . Training and quantified objectives: Quantified objectives form a vital part of business alignment. As business alignment was absent, training objectives were not set as per the business need. In most cases, the objectives set were learning objectives. For example for a leadership training, the objectives set were- gain and develop knowledge of leadership, models of leadership, leadership pros and cons. Since the objectives set were learning objectives, it was impossible that an impact be achieved. 
3. Module & content: As business alignment was missing, the module designed was not aligned with business. Module and content was designed from learning perspective and not from application and impact perspective. So a learning level is established without any quantified measure at the application and impact level. 
4. Training and business impact: Post training a feedback form is filled by the participants. Trainer and the training team are happy that participants have given a good feedback. How the training department is going to capture the application of the training is overlooked. Neither the participants nor the training team is accountable to what happens next. For example, in one of the IT company, when participants attend an email writing training, they are not communicated how this training will impact customer satisfaction score.

So when CEOs ask for HR score card, HR professionals have input data – number of people attending the training, number of hours, cost of the training and feedback analysis. There is no data available to show the application of the concepts covered in the training and the impact achieved.

Reasons Cited for the Absence of Business Alignment and ROI

Business alignment and evaluation is missing because of the following reasons:

v  No stakeholders’ pressure - There is no pressure from the stakeholders to make HR processes transparent and HR professionals accountable.

v  Management’s mental model of HR – Management does not demand any evaluation or justification from HR, due to their mental models of HR such as

§  HR is a support department and not a core department.

§  HR can only handle recruitment, appraisal and training.

§  HR cannot contribute to the bottom-line.

§  HR cannot be a strategic partner.

§  HR is a cost center.

v  Lack of strategic thinking in HR – HR does operational role. HR does not present case studies that show profit. HR themselves feel that they are a support center.

v  Mismatch in CEO thinking and HR thinking – HR lack the perspective as to how their department can contribute to the vision of the company.

The remaining part of the paper to be continued in Part 2

What Do you feel? Do write to me on wagle.sonali@gmail.com.

With Gratitude

Dr. Sonali Wagle

www.exponentialadvisory.co.in

Myths of the Reaction Questionnaire

Dear Colleagues

Today I want to share my experience of the reaction questionnaire. Reaction questionnaire, very popular with the HR and L&D function. Most of us are in love with the reaction questionnaire, aren't we? I am sure most will agree.

So what are reaction questionnaires? They are the first hand feedback we get from participants post attending the training. Post training a feedback form is filled by the participants. Trainer and the training team are happy that participants have given a good feedback. 

How the training department is going to capture the application of the training is overlooked. Neither the participants nor the training team is accountable to what happens next. For example, in one of the IT company, when participants attend an email writing training, they are not communicated how this training will impact customer satisfaction score. 

So we cover questions related to the venue, the food, the logistics, facilitator, material. We are very happy when we are graded 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 being very satisfied and 1 being not satisfied. Most of our reports are based on faith, work done rather than results achieved.

So we are thrilled. All our hard work to find the right vendor, right trainer, the venue all is a success. So what next? Who cares? We will be judged on the basis of the reaction questionnaire. Who cares if the participants go back and apply what they learnt. Who cares if we get the impact and ROI. After all that is not in our KRA you see. And our company is not asking to calculate the ROI either. So what do we collect in a reaction questionnaire? We collect input data. This data, the CEO hardly wants.

Yes, training is a success we announce just on the basis of reaction questionnaire...where as the reality is very different. We declare training a success based on perceptive justification.

Myths & Reality of the reaction questionnaire

Myth 1: If participants are satisfied it implies that the training is successful
Reality: If the participants are satisfied of the training, does not guarantee that they will apply the skills learnt, or reach an impact and hence give an ROI

Myth 2: It is enough to administer the same reaction questionnaire to all the programs
Reality: Grow up, when the training is different, how can the reaction questionnaires be the same?

Myth 3: People always rate fairly in a reaction questionnaire as nobody wants to be a bad guy
Reality: The training is most of the times going to get a good feedback. After all L&D team puts lot of efforts to find a training vendor or the trainer. Then obviously the training has to be good. Have you ever set a quantified impact objective and then administered the reaction questionnaire. Try it and see, I challenge.

Myth 4: Reaction questionnaires need to be administered at the end of the training
Reality: Ever tried administering the reaction questionnaire one hour before the training. Have you ever given the participants enough time to fill the questionnaire. After all who does not want to hurry home.

Myth 5: Reaction questionnaire is the only way to evaluate the training
Reality: Try taking a correlation between the reaction, learning, application and impact levels. Every checked if there is a correlation between the reaction and the application.

Take up the challenge to work on how the reaction questionnaire could be different and how some predictive analysis can be done from the reaction questionnaire.

Best Wishes
Sonali Wagle

Register for ROI Certification (19th to 23rd September, 2016)
Venue: Orchid Hotel, Mumbai, INDIA
http://www.exponentialadvisory.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ROI-Certification-Brochure.pdf

www.roiinstitute.net
www.exponentialadvisory.co.in

ROI and Academics

Dear Friends

Recently presented a paper on 'Training & Development and Business Alignment' with a focus on ROI at one of the conferences held at Jamnalal Bajaj. It was shocking when the judge commented that no one does ROI in companies.

The fact that I was presenting a paper followed by a Case study on ROI implementation especially a PSU, itself is a proof that few companies have started implementing the ROI methodology.

The judge belonged to Finance area. Though he was from finance, he judging a HR paper presentation. It is likely that he may not have heard of Kirkpatrick or Phillips ROI model. I wanted to ask the judge to share any data or any research he might have done in the ROI area in HR.

In the Mumbai University Management Syllabus, Kirkpatrick's model is covered in short. However, the application and case studies with respect to Indian scenario is not available. This itself shows the gaps that may exist in the academic research and ROI.

However, researchers belonging to the HR fraternity appreciated my presenting a ROI related paper and wanted to know more. Infact few even requested to take lectures to their students in the ROI area.

Do we calculate ROI on such conferences or is it just a another networking event is what the readers can answer?

Few industry stalwarts claim that such models are just a fad and donot work practically. I tell them the same thing was felt when Balanced Score Card or PCMM model entered the market. It took India ages to accept and make such models work.

It is high time that HR professionals come out of their closet and accept challenge to implement the ROI Process in their companies.

With Gratitude
Sonali
www.exponentialadvisory.co.in

ROI On SCOPE Conference

Dear Friends

Recently attended a Conference by SCOPE (Standing conference of public enterprises) on the 3rd, 4th February, 2016 - Delhi.
The conference was titled 'International HR Summit - 2016'.

The conference had good speakers from not only PSUs (Public sector undertaking) but also from Private companies and Multinationals. Topics ranged from Strategy to reality, performance management, skill development, building capability, etc.

The most value added and amazing session was 'HR Analytics-enormous data to effective decisions'.
The panel consisted of professionals from MTNL, NIIT, SAP and Deloitte. This session talked about ROI, HR analytics, scope, current trends, data dynamics, predictive analysis, and how HR can cope with data.

Along with ROI, as I also do specialise in Sexual Harassment (Prevention, Prohibition Redressal) Act -2013, it was good to hear a talk on Gender Audit. It is amazing that PSUs are now getting into gender audit.

So did I get an ROI going all the way to Delhi. Yes...Following objectives were achieved

Impact objectives

• Met industry people from all industries
• Able to understand ROI in PSUs

Application objectives

• Build up case studies for my book
• Able to interview professionals at the Chairperson and VP level from across industries

Learning objectives

• Understand PSU culture in terms of ROI and HR analytics aspects. 
• Learnt aspects of Gender Audit
• Learnt what PSUs and other companies are doing in terms of HR

Reaction objectives

• Will recommend the conference to others
• Value added to my job
• Relevance of the conference
• Conference kit 

Will definitely go next year too...and if I get a chance probably will present a paper on ROI in PSUs.

With Gratitude

Sonali Wagle

+91 9892673400

http://www.exponentialadvisory.co.in/