Beyond completion rates: Engagement, impact, and ROI in L&D

"One of the many reasons I love my job is that, on any given week, I get to talk with a dozen or so smart, thoughtful L&D leaders to hear how they are thinking about the role learning plays in driving real business outcomes. Some of these leaders are running very sophisticated, deeply resourced L&D programs. Others are getting their company's very first leadership program off the ground."

"Engagement: Did people show up, and did the experience resonate? Participation Completion Time spent learning Learner feedback These are the first signs of whether something is accessible and relevant. Impact: Are people working differently because of what they learned? Behavior change Skill application Feedback from managers and peers This is where leaders start to notice that learning is influencing how people show up day to day."

"I find it helps to think of these not as isolated categories, but as a simple progression: Engagement creates momentum > Momentum supports behavior change > Behavior change contributes to better business outcomes. When L&D leaders tell the story this way, it becomes much easier for the organization to understand the connection between learning and performance. A Real Example: How Stryker Connected These Dots Stryker is a global medical technology company with more than 50,000 employees."

Learning value manifests in three distinct ways: engagement, impact, and ROI. Engagement measures access and relevance through participation, completion, time spent, and learner feedback. Impact assesses behavior change, skill application, and manager and peer feedback to determine whether people work differently. ROI captures business-level effects such as retention, productivity, adaptability, and faster time to proficiency, while acknowledging many influencing factors beyond learning. Engagement generates momentum, momentum supports behavior change, and behavior change contributes to improved business outcomes. Framing learning as a progression from engagement to business results clarifies the connection between development efforts and organizational performance.

Read at Big Think