The 0% ROI Dilemma

“Companies must resist the temptation to roll out too many programs and models, or to add new ones to the mix before earlier ones are fully baked in and having an impact. Patience and persistence are key.”
- Lisa Mitchell

In today's short solo episode, I’m talking about a very real challenge that I call the 0% ROI dilemma. Companies are spending more on learning and programming for employees now after months working virtually and the threat of the “great resignation.”

This investment is a welcome thing - as long as it’s truly an investment and not just unfocused spending of development dollars.

In this episode of Talent Management Truths, you’ll discover:

🍏  The reason it’s essential to cultivate patience and persistence in any program rollout 

🍏  5 practical ways to avoid the 0% ROI dilemma
 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Lisa: Thank you for joining me here for episode 10 today, I want to talk to you about something. I call the 0% ROI dilemma. Over the past week, I've had at least six new emails in my inbox, announcing new training programs or webinars. And. Conferences and so on. They all sound great to a learning junkie like me, for sure.

[00:02:07] I've even gone so far as to peek at the program website in a couple of cases, just to see what the investment of time and money would look like. But then reality kicks in. I look at my calendar of coaching calls and facilitations and the programs I'm building and ruling out. And I remind myself that less is really more.

[00:02:25] I made a commitment to myself, but a year ago that I would only indulge, over the next 18 months in learning activities that I was actually committed to putting into action. The truth is that early on in my entrepreneurial career, I was so thirsty for learning and development. After leaving corporate that I literally said yes to way too many programs.

[00:02:47] it was kind of funny how the, how the pendulum swings for me. It was from one extreme to the other, and there's nothing wrong. We're taking on all that learning. I was truly operating from a place of deep joy. I was in my happy place. you know, shiny things everywhere. And in the way of learning objects, it was, it was amazing.

[00:03:08] It's just that I know now that I would have retained more. If I had not had so many diverse experiences so close together, or in some cases overlapping, I also spent a fair bit of money. I have to tell you, and wasn't able to truly implement everything. You know, you've got to pick one and, and run with it.

[00:03:27] Anyways. I got to thinking about how sometimes in organizations it can be easy to fall into the same trap, you know, for instance, have you ever taken a course at work or read a book and thought, wow. And then proceeded to do exactly nothing. or have you ever participated in a training program at work that got you really excited and yet, you know, you wanted to implement, but it turned out to be flavor of the month and kind of fizzled and died on the vine.

[00:03:54] Of course you have, we've all experienced this me and. Hence the 0% ROI dilemma is a very real thing. 0% on your learning investment, 0% on your investment of energy and time that could have been spent on so many other important things that are competing for your attention. you know, sadly what I've observed is that this throw something at the wall approach, take on too much is alive and kicking.

[00:04:20] Many companies are really, you know, coming from a good place and are trying to re-engage with employees after this drawn out pandemic in the face of the great resignation. And there's a temptation to simply get something out quickly in the way of development opportunities while it's great that companies understand that now is the time to re-engage in employee engagement and learning.

[00:04:43] There is a cabinet. And for me, that caveat is that they must resist the temptation to roll out too many programs and models or to add new ones to the mix before earlier ones are fully baked in and having an impact. I think that patience and persistence arc. You know, at one organization, I discovered early on that they were regularly rolling out new lingo, new concepts models, programs, all based on the latest business book the COO had read.

[00:05:16] So people, people were confused to say the least and frankly, a bit overwhelmed by this barrage of messaging. So. how do you overcome the 0% ROI dilemma and actually start getting some value back on that initial investment. Here's my take, you do it by first, constructing a well-informed well-designed needs analysis and program strategy with properly designed and agreed measurable outcomes.

[00:05:47] Now, some of you, since it's talent management, HR, O D folks listening, some of you are probably thinking, um, thanks, Lisa. I know all of that and that's great. but I know, and I've observed that even for people that know this and a lot of cases, this part is. Quite often shortchanged and that's due to variety of reasons.

[00:06:09] You know, it could be pressure from stakeholders to deliver or simply a desire to be perceived as adding value in getting things done or because yeah, I have to spend that money before, you know, it goes away. I remember being in seniors, living and there's envelope funding from the government. And you were only able to spend it up to the end of, you know, a particular month.

[00:06:30] Now another way you can overcome 0% ROI is reverse engineering, your program design and rollout to support those locked down outcomes you wrote in the strategy. Another way is by getting really clear, upfront and getting on the same page with all stakeholders, helping them facilitating that same page place around, how the learning behaviors and skills will be sustained.

[00:06:58] Over time, you can also overcome the 0% dilemma by creating, what I think of as a multifaceted approach to embedding the program, the language, the models, principles into your organization's day-to-day system. And finally, you can finally recognize era turn and investment by helping your peers and senior leadership team resist that urge to throw money and time at the next new cutting edge program before the last one was already even integrate.

[00:07:31] Intentional thinking and a well thought out talent management strategy are essential ingredients for learning and engagement initiatives that actually stick. And that actually deliver a return on investment. Thank you so much for listening today. I love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this topic of ROI.

[00:07:49] Please feel free to send me an email@lisaatgreenappleconsulting.ca to your success.