COST-BENEFIT EVALUATION IN TRAINING AND TALENT MANAGEMENT: (Recent international research on ROI and real case studies)

At least two hypotheses that have been proven by studies and research in many countries are due to the fact that: a) learning initiatives and many development programs are not aligned with the institutional priorities of Mission, Vision, Values and Strategy. In the worst case, they are not even trained based on needs that are not priority, but at least real; and b) consultants, academics, executives or middle managers do not know, cannot or worse, do not want to evaluate before and after the training actions. In other words, there is no culture of measurement (E. Deming) with a scientific approach and there is ignorance about the process and techniques / methods and tools to do it. One of the challenges in modern adult education in organizations has always been and will continue to be systematically evaluating the impact achieved on the results of the company or institution. With its clients and users, within its operations and in the effectiveness with which the processes and departments work with each other in their internal client-supplier relationships, under a horizontal management approach. I refer to its economic repercussion, stated in monetary terms that allow with unquestionable clarity, to specify the gain that was obtained by investing in teaching-learning actions. In evidencing the great business of learning! That personally I have documented since 1989 in various corporations. This book is both theoretical and research, it presents studies carried out in Mexico and some countries of the world, on the current state of training in this subject; the concepts and theoretical foundation of the cost-benefit analysis, the general process and the procedures in each step, the points of discussion in which there is still no general agreement between authors and researchers. Nothing like the quantifiable data that is finally presented, on the one hand from a large-scale, case-wide study conducted at a large metal-mechanic plant in Mexico that is part of a world-leading international corporation, which is probably the strongest research ever done in our country (1988 – 1989); on the other hand, the executive report of another large-scale study in another transnational corporation, as well as partial applications that have been made in other Mexican organizations in the telecommunications, cell phone, mining, employer services sectors and in a highly specialized hospital and research institute as well (2003 and 2010). Formats that were used by companies and agencies to face this challenge are included. In Mexico, some of us were already doing psychosocial research with a top management approach before Phillips (1999) popularized level 5 Cost-Benefit Evaluation. Formats that were used by companies and agencies to face this challenge are included. In Mexico, some of us were already doing psychosocial research with a top management approach before Phillips (1999) popularized level 5 Cost-Benefit Evaluation. With edifying purposes, the experience accumulated in 34 years of applying ROI, both at the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and in my firm Asesoría Internacional en Competitividad Organizacional (AICO), is put through this humble contribution to the professionalization of human talent management in organizations, from the perspective of Psychology Organizational and Administration.