Insights from Ben Rand and what leaders are missing
Companies invest millions in employee training every year, yet many leaders still struggle to justify the spend. The results often look mixed, the ROI feels hard to pin down, and training is quietly scrutinised as a “nice to have” rather than a strategic lever.
According to Ben Rand’s article, Why Training Employees Pays Off Twice, the issue isn’t that training doesn’t work. It’s that organisations are measuring the wrong outcomes.
The Study That Changed the Equation
Rand highlights research tracking a 16-week upskilling program at a Colombian government agency. At first glance, the results looked solid but unsurprising:
- Frontline productivity increased by 10%
- Employee capability and efficiency improved
But the real value emerged elsewhere. As employees became more skilled and self-sufficient, something unexpected happened:
- Help-seeking emails to managers dropped significantly
- Managers spent less time answering routine questions and firefighting
- Time was redirected toward strategic, high-value leadership work
These effects, known as spillover benefits, accounted for nearly half of the program’s total value. In other words, training didn’t just pay off once. It paid off twice.
The ROI Most Organisations Never Measure
Traditional ROI models focus almost entirely on individual performance:
- Output
- Skill acquisition
- Efficiency gains
What they miss is the systemic impact:
- Reduced dependency on managers
- Fewer interruptions and escalations
- Greater autonomy and decision confidence
- Stronger leadership bandwidth
When employees are capable, managers are freed to lead…not just respond. That reclaimed capacity doesn’t show up neatly in spreadsheets, but it shows up everywhere else:
- Better decisions
- Faster execution
- Healthier cultures
- More resilient organisations
Why This Matters More Than Ever
As AI reshapes roles and accelerates change, organisations face rising complexity. And complexity doesn’t disappear; it concentrates. It lands on managers.
If training reduces friction, uncertainty, and constant escalation, it doesn’t just improve performance; it protects leadership capacity, one of the most constrained resources in modern organisations. In this context, training isn’t about keeping skills current. It’s about organisational agility.
A Better Question for Leaders
Rather than asking:
“Did this training improve individual performance?”
Leaders should ask:
- Did this reduce dependency?
- Did it free up managerial time?
- Did it improve decision quality?
- Did it increase speed, clarity, or confidence across teams?
Because when managers have space to think, organisations don’t just perform better—they adapt faster.
Training Is Not a Cost. It’s a Multiplier.
As Rand’s article makes clear, training creates value far beyond the individual. It reshapes how work flows, how leaders lead, and how organisations respond to change.
The organisations that win in the AI era won’t be the ones that train the most. They’ll be the ones who understand where the value really shows up and start measuring it.
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