Training ROI Calculator
Whether training pays back — course cost, the time it takes people off the job, and the productivity gain it has to deliver.
Training cost is the fee plus the wages of everyone in the room, and the second is usually the larger.
How the training roi calculator works
Training cost is the fee plus the wages of everyone in the room, and the second is usually the larger. A day off the job for twelve people at 400 a day is 4,800 before the trainer is paid.
The return is the productivity gain times the salary base times how long the gain persists. This computes the break-even gain — the improvement the training must deliver merely to pay for itself — which is often smaller than people expect and occasionally impossible.
Formula: ROI = (gain × salary × persistence − cost) / cost
Worked examples
| Inputs | Return on investment | Note |
|---|---|---|
| A two-day course for twelve | 360.61% | strongly positive |
| A shorter-lived gain | 15.15% | barely breaks even |
| An expensive course | 58.33% | still pays back |
FAQFrequently asked questions
How do I measure training ROI?
Benefit less cost, over cost. The hard part is the benefit — the cost side is straightforward and usually larger than people assume.
Why include time off the job?
Because it is real money. Two days for twelve people often exceeds the course fee, and it is the cost most often left out of the business case.
How long does a productivity gain last?
Without reinforcement, months rather than years. Skills that go unused decay quickly, which is why the persistence figure dominates the answer.
What gain is realistic?
Two to five per cent for general skills training. Specific technical training on a task someone does daily can be much higher.
Is the break-even gain the useful number?
Often more useful than the ROI. It converts an argument about value into a concrete question: can this training plausibly deliver that improvement?
Where these figures come from
- CIPD — Employee turnover and retention factsheet — the turnover and stability index definitions used here
- Acas — the UK workplace advice service
Last checked: September 2026. These are standard management definitions; where practice varies, the page says which convention it uses.