In today's economic environment every business is looking to maximize the return on investment. One of the hardest things to figure out can be the return on investment for leadership development training. It's easy to recognize the need for a leadership training course, but how to calculate the return on investment is another matter. Some would say it is easier get a consensus definition of leadership than it is to calculate the return on investment in leadership training.

The best way to calculate the return on investment of a leadership training course is to have a shift in how leadership training is viewed. In most cases, leadership training is viewed as a way to improve the competencies of someone in a leadership position. For example, if you have a leader that does a poor job in their leadership communication, you get leadership development training to improve that competency.

In order to calculate a return on investment for a leadership training course you have to go one step further than just looking at the competency. You have to look at the results of having the competency in place. In other words, if this leader had the competency of effective leadership communication, what would having that competency allow the organization to achieve. Once you begin to focus on the results, then you can more easily calculate the return on investment for the training.

Using our previous example, let's say that after the leader completes a leadership course on communication the turnover in the leader's department declines by 5%. That 5% reduction represents a part of the return on investment. There may be other areas that are positively impacted also.

When making a decision on leadership training, you want to calculate the potential return on investment before the training begins. It is much better to know going in what you want to get out of the training and the impact the training will have.

To maximize the return on investment, there has to be a way to reinforce the training after the training event. Most leadership courses are one, two, or three day workshop events. What happens in the training is participants learn leadership concepts and ways to apply the concepts. What usually is missing is practicing the leadership concepts and getting feedback or coaching from the instructor.

What that means is when the participant gets back to the workplace they need to practice the leadership concepts learned in the training. Not only do they need to practice, they also need to get feedback on how well they are developing the skills they learned. Without having a process set up in advance, there is a very strong chance that your investment in leadership development training will be wasted. The old saying is so true: "if you don't use it, you will lose it."

Having a coaching and mentoring program is an excellent way to reinforce the leadership concepts learned in the training. The mentor or coach can observe and give feedback as well as recommend additional things that would enhance the development of the person.

Calculating and maximizing return on investment in leadership development training does not have to be a vague concept. Implement the suggestions here and you will want to invest in the leaders of your organization.