How to measure ROI for comms training: A data-driven playbook for budget season

Budget season is here, and as planning continues, communicators leading learning and development (L&D) programs often find them under the microscope.

Leaders want proof that training dollars deliver value, especially when economic uncertainty sharpens the focus on cutting costs. If you can’t show measurable value, your L&D program could be on the chopping block.

Here’s how to frame the conversation this budget season – not in theoretical terms, but practical frameworks you can apply today to make the budget case for training .

Build your baseline to offer post-training comparisons

It’s an old cliché for a reason: you can’t improve what you can’t measure. That means building a baseline by starting simple and measuring key business metrics before and after training.

Say your organization rolled out training for comms managers on writing clearer, more concise employee updates. Pre-training, your average open rate for the all-hands newsletter was at 52% and your average time-on-page for intranet articles was 45 seconds.

After three months of training, you see the open rate rise to 63% and time on page jump to a minute and 15 seconds.

You’ve just proven that with higher engagement, employees were more informed on safety and compliance requirements. And if you tether that to a 20% drop in preventable errors reported by HR, you’ve shown a clear link to comms, upskilling and downstream business outcomes.

An effective learning platform already holds valuable data on training participation. Linking training participation to performance, promotions or retention uncovers trends at scale.

Follow Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels Framework

Data approaches are most powerful when aligned with evaluation frameworks. Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels framework is often treated as the classic means for evaluating training as it’s been around since the ‘50s but is still widely used for its clear way to track both immediate and long-term impact.

The four levels are:

1. Reaction. This measures learner satisfaction, engagement and perceived relevance. Post-training surveys and pulse checks are a great way to track this. Remember that positive reactions don’t necessarily equate to the effectiveness of the learning or its impact.
2. Learning. This level measures an increase in knowledge and skill acquisition. The pre- and post-training assessments alluded to earlier are a great measure here, as are quizzes and simulations. Remember that this step only tests knowledge, not necessarily the application of the knowledge.
3. Behavior. This measures how the training changes real workplace behaviors, and is best measured through manager or peer observation, performance reviews and follow-up surveys. Keep in mind that other factors like culture, leadership support and workload influence behavioral change, too.
4. Results. This is your measure of tangible business outcomes linked to training. Hard metrics like productivity, retention, cost savings, error reduction and revenue growth all contribute to the narrative of how training impacted the organization.

Fold in monetary ROI

Kirkpatrick’s framework works because it’s adaptable for comms training, technical upskilling, leadership programs, you name it. It creates accountability because stakeholders know what’s measured at each stage. It’s also progressive, with each level building on the last to show the tether between employee satisfaction and business change.

But there’s a fifth level that’s unaddressed here: monetary ROI. Jack and Patti Phillips developed The Phillips ROI Methodology in the ‘90s to extend Kirkpatrick’s model for when leaders want to see hard numbers.

Their fifth level compares the monetary benefits of training to its costs. In this framework, ROI is the percentage you get when you take the financial benefits of the training (after subtracting costs), divide that number by the total costs of the program, and then multiply by 100.

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) recently published a case study that demonstrates how it practically applied this methodology. By combining learner feedback, manager interviews and business impact data, the INL isolated the portion of organizational benefits directly attributable to the training. After adjusting for external factors, the analysis showed that the program delivered a 16.8% ROI and a positive benefit–cost ratio. Beyond the numbers, INL also documented intangible gains such as stronger employee confidence, better use of compliance systems, and reduced organizational risk.

The strategic advantage

Budget season is a high-stakes moment for L&D and communications teams. Leaders who can show not just participation, but performance impact, are far better positioned to protect and grow training investments.

By combining baseline metrics, control groups, feedback loops, analytics, and forecasting, then embedding those approaches into the frameworks discussed, you’ll have the data that proves comms training gives your business a strategic advantage.

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