5-Day ROI Certification Workshop Helps Participants Measure Success In Organizations

The changing fiscal realities of many private and public sector organizations are creating a need for increased accountability. Understanding the impact and the Return on Investment (ROI) acquired from any workplace initiative is paramount in these challenging times.

This spring, the University of New Brunswick, College of Extended Learning (UNB CEL) will partner with the ROI Institute of Canada to bring the ROI Methodology Certification program to Fredericton. The five-day program is beneficial to anyone who needs the skills to measure and demonstrate the value, business impact and ROI of all types of initiatives, including new technology, new policies or procedures, training and development, marketing, quality improvement, human resources activities, and more. It is relevant to any industry or sector.

“The ability to show value is essential to gaining ongoing support for any program. Individuals asked to invest in major projects and programs are asking the question ‘show me the money’ and the better equipped you are to answer improves the viability of the project,” says Suzanne Schell, CEO of the ROI Institute of Canada.

“When organizations spend money on improvement initiatives for efficiencies they need to be able to show the value of that spend; that it is producing what it was intended to do.”

ROI Methodology provides participants with a comprehensive evaluation system that collects six types of measures to illustrate value. It also includes a technique to isolate the effects of the project from other influences, giving the methodology credibility.

“ROI is one measure; it’s the ultimate financial measure. But other measures are critical in the process, to be able to tell the full story of success” says Schell.

5 Levels of Data build a value chain; reaction and satisfaction to the program; learning new knowledge and skills as a result of the program; application and implementation of new skills and knowledge; and overall impact on the organization, i.e., time saved, improved quality, employee satisfaction etc.

Of these, the most important step is application and implementation, which considers the progress of the program, the use of the knowledge and skills acquired.

“In many organizations, this is where it breaks down most of the time,” explains Schell. “If we don’t have data to show that people are doing things differently, as we expected them to, we can’t prove that there was any impact as a result of the new program. If we can show the impact, we can isolate the benefits and convert improvements to money and calculate ROI.”

The ROI Methodology Certification program will be co-facilitated by Dr. Jack Phillips and Suzanne Schell of ROI Institute Canada. Dr. Phillips developed the methodology over 30 years ago and has implemented it globally. Organizations throughout the globe have adopted the methodology and Dr. Phillips continues developing and improving it through use. “The methodology continues to evolve,” says Schell.

Organizations that have applied ROI Methodology have reported various benefits, including improved programs, more support, better departmental image, secured funding, and strengthened working relationships.

“When it comes to showing value, hope is not a strategy, luck is not a factor and doing nothing is not an option. We typically say we hope it is working. Data collection early on shows us where it is working and where it is not working. The ROI Certification program builds your capability to show value.”

For more information contact Anthony Klefas at the UNB College of Extended Learning at (506)451-6835, anthony.klefas@unb.ca or visit www.unb.ca/cel/roi.

UNB ROI Certification workshop will teach participants how to measure and evaluate the impact of workplace initiatives and how to calculate ROI (Return on Investment).