Money Spending Or Money Making: What's Your Learning Strategy Doing?

"The sad truth about training programs stats in 2025: 75% of leaders who find their programs ineffective are simply spending money. The moneymakers are the 8% who have moved beyond satisfaction surveys to ROI governance, turning a cost center into a performance system (ATD). This means that company leadership (maybe your company leadership!) is ready to spend money, but not invest it? How does that make sense for anyone, really?"

"In the times when we're struggling to justify human effectiveness as opposed to AI, reading statistics that say that your L&D leadership cannot account for the vast pools of money spent is dangerous. Because, if that's the case, what is their purpose? This is also dangerous for the profession. We have to talk about effectiveness and L&D leadership accountability. If your organization is part of the global $400B spend on the L&D spending landscape, who owns the outcome? Is it the vendor delivering "engaging" videos, or is it a leadership-governed system that guarantees predictability?"

"Money-making strategies treat learning as a performance lever where the ROI is visible, measurable, and, most importantly, expected before the first dollar is allocated. In this respect, accountable leadership is the one ready to show the effects of their actions, and own them. Intelligence Vs. Assumptions As we step into the second half of the decade, it's encouraging to find that the many global economic crises have shown that people are the most valuable asset. This means that businesses are not afraid to invest in L&D departments. Furthermore, the allocation of capital has increased from 2024 (Freifeld). The assumption is that true leadership sets on the postulate that developing human capital is the only way to advance their business and achieve growth. That's amazing! But in the green pool of money being put to L&D, how come we're reading only the poor 8% being the ones seeing th"

Most organizations spend heavily on learning and development without measurable returns, with 75% of leaders reporting ineffective programs and only 8% achieving ROI governance. Leadership frequently treats training budgets as spending rather than investment, endangering organizational outcomes and the profession. Accountability requires leaders to own outcomes, set governance that guarantees predictability, and demand visible, measurable ROI before allocating funds. Growing capital allocation to L&D increases urgency for leaders to prioritize human capital, clarify who owns results, and ensure vendors and programs deliver demonstrable performance impact.

Read at eLearning Industry