The Value of Communication Skills: Validation by Metrics

K AT H L E E N R E D D | VP, Global Training, Mandel Communications

J O H N R . M AT T OX , I I P H . D . | Director of Research, KnowledgeAdvisors

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One of the best trainings I ever

attended.“

”I really enjoyed all of the video activities and being able to see necessary areas

for improvement.

“”

The trainer was FANTASTIC!!“

”Wonderful course - I

look forward to taking more from Mandel!“

”

One word: Perfect!“

”What do customers say about

Mandel Communications?

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Survey Comments

Soft skills can be measured…and they do add value

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Let us show you how!

Who are we?

What did we do?

What did we learn?

How might this add value to your organization?

Our plan for today

Who are we?

Ideas you need to pitch

Updates you need to explain

Opportunities you need to promote

Analysis you need to bring alive

Speeches you need to deliver

Executives you need to influence

Concerns you need to raise

Recommendations you need to make

Stories you need to tell

Proposals you need to present

Solutions you need to sell

Deals you need to close

Meetings you need to lead

People you need to motivate

Strategies you need to driveCustomers you need to brief

Be Heard

You Listener

Be Heard

Make Every Communication Count

You Listener

Moment of Truth

Understand See the Value Trust You

Be Heard

You Listener

Make Every Communication Count

SkillsTools

Moment of Truth

Understand See the Value Trust You

We are a Learning & Talent Analytics company

Utilize learning and development to drive business outcomes

Improve the effectiveness and business impact of talent development

Consulting expertise and Science-based methodology for Predictive Analytics

Cloud-based automation plus benchmarks

KnowledgeAdvisors Value

500+ Clients

9 of 10 TrainingHall of Fame

4 of 5 Best Places to Work

14 Brandon Hall Talent Management

2012 winners

Optimize Talent Development

Set Goals Monitor & Report

AnalyzeImprove

Efficiency Effectiveness Outcomes

Volume

Utilization

Investment

Content

Delivery

Learners

Financial

Operational

Workforce

What did we do?

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Do the products build critical communication skills and business skills?

Do those skills get applied effectively on the job?

Does application lead to individual performance and business performance improvement?

Do the products contribute to the bottom line for the learner’s organization?

We Asked Questions

A Follow-up Training Evaluation was distributed

Results were compared with benchmarks

Interviews were conducted with individuals that had both positive and negative experiences

Buyers were also interviewed

Measurement Methodology

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Data collected between November 12, 2013 through November 26, 2013

Response Data

Surveys Sent: 2981

Survey Responses

416

Response RateOverall: 14%

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Three quarters (75%) of respondents are based in North America

The next largest group is from EMEA (16%)

Asia / Pacific and Latin America account for less than 6% of responses each

Demographics: Geography

74.70%

15.90%5.78% 3.61%

0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%90.00%

100.00%

North America Europe, MiddleEast, and Africa

Asia/Pacific Latin America

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Demographics: Industry

Oil & Gas 19%

Financial Services 6%

Food & Beverage 5%

Insurance 4%

83% of all respondents are from these five

groups

All other industries < 5% of responses each

Technology 49%

These are the top three courses across all customers:

Demographics: Courses Completed

Effective Presentation Skills

High-Value Business Conversations

Think and Speak for Results

All other courses comprised 10% or less of responses

for all three groups

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Demographics: Roles

3.1%0.5%0.5%0.5%0.7%1.0%1.2%1.2%1.4%1.7%1.7%2.2%

2.9%2.9%3.4%3.4%

5.5%7.2%

8.2%8.7%

9.9%12.0%

20.2%

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0%

OtherAdministrative/Clerical

Banking/Real Estate/Mortgage ProfessionalLegalRetail

Investment/InsuranceGovernment

Purchasing/ProcurementEducation/Training

Executive LeadershipManufacturing/Production/Operations

Customer Support/Client CareAccounting/Finance

R&D/ScienceBusiness Professional

Human ResourcesMarketing

Project/Program ManagementConsulting

EngineeringManagement

IT ProfessionalSales

Top 5 Roles of Respondents

SalesIT ProfessionalsManagementEngineeringConsulting

What did we learn?

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Learners are very positive about their Mandel Communications experience

A Positive Experience

Learners indicate that Mandel Communications training is “Somewhat Better” or “Much Better” compared to other corporate training they have attended

91%

Results:

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High quality instructors

Practice opportunities and feedback

Tools and Templates (e.g., SCIPAB)

What differentiates Mandel Communications?

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Learners are very positive about their Mandel Communications experience

A Positive Experience

Learners resoundingly indicate that they would recommend Mandel Communications training to their friends and family.

83.4%

Net Promoter ScoreVery few detractors (4.15%)NPS Leaders 2012: USAA—Banking 86% Amazon Online Shopping 76%

79.3%

Results:

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Confidence Increased

61%

Before Training

81%

After Training

32.7%

Gain

Rate your confidence in your communication skills

Results:

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Learners Applied the Skills on the Job

Learners indicate they have been able to apply what they learned from Mandel Communications training87%

Mandel: 4.26

Benchmark: 4.17

Scores: Average score on a 5-point scale(1 – strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree)

Results:

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Minimal Scrap Learning

Scrap: Learning that is not applied within 6 weeks of training4%

Mandel: 4%

Benchmark: 13.6%

Lower scrap rates are better; equals more learning applied on the job

Results:

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Job Performance Improved

Learners indicate that Mandel Communications has improved their job performance79%

Mandel: 3.99

Benchmark: 4.02

Scores: Average score on a 5-point scale(1 – strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree)

Results:

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Significant Return on Expectations

Learners indicate training was a worthwhile investment in their career development92%

Mandel: 4.43

Benchmark: 4.19

Scores: Average score on a 5-point scale(1 – strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree)

Results:

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Useful Tools and Materials

Learners indicate the participant materials have been useful on the job78%

Mandel: 4.00

Benchmark: 4.01

Scores: Average score on a 5-point scale(1 – strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree)

Results:

How might this information be valuable to you?

Percentage of respondents indicating that these behaviors have improved because of Mandel Communications training

Results: Behaviors Improved

2%

8%

9%

10%

13%

32%

46%

65%

73%

88%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Decreasing costs

Decreasing risk

Increasing likelihood of obtaining a meeting

Decreasing cycle time

Increasing sales

Increasing productivity

Increasing buy-in around ideas

Increasing effectiveness in job role

Increasing quality of conversations

Increase quality of presentations

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Training’s Impact on Behaviors

0.01%

0.09%

0.16%

0.16%

0.21%

1.65%

3.36%

6.14%

9.01%

14.15%

0.00% 2.50% 5.00% 7.50% 10.00% 12.50% 15.00%

Decreasing Costs

Decreasing Risk

Decreasing Cycle Time

Increasing Likelihood of Obtaining a Meeting

Increasing Sales

Increasing Productivity

Increasing Buy-in Around Ideas

Increasing Effectiveness in Job Role

Increasing Quality of Converstations

Increasing Quality of Presentations

How is impact calculated?

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Computing Performance Impact

Factor Item AmountEstimate Estimate how much you expect your job performance related to the

course subject matter to improve in the next 12 months. Include in your estimate any performance improvements due to this training, as well as all other factors like on-the-job experience, incentives, and process improvements.

51.7%

Isolate Based on your response to the prior question, how much of the improvement will be a direct result of this training, as opposed to other factors?

42.1%

Adjust An adjustment for response bias, confidence, and conservatism. 65%

Multiplying these values provides insight into how much training impacts performance. However, we need to adjust for response bias—learners tend to over estimate performance improvement by 35%, so we multiply by 65% to produce the estimated, isolated and adjusted value for performance improvement.

Estimate Isolate Adjust

51.7% 42.1% 65% 14.1%

Increasing the Quality of Presentations. Learners were asked to Estimate how much their performance in this area would improve in the 12 months following training. Then they were asked to Isolate how much of that improvement they could attribute to training.

Learner Comments – Application of Training

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Examples $700K (the cost of performing a complete survey, which will be wasted if the

results are of poor quality)

Currently handling a project of 4M+

Saved about $2,500 of internal workforce effort.

Agreement will bring $700K per year

The partnership may eventually lead to some productivity gains that could save $100-$200K per year

Approximately $10,000 to $15,000 per day to use the lab for a 14 day period

Monetary Value of Improvement—All Others

$79,555 / Person11.0%

All OthersImpact Due to

Training

723K

Average Monetary Value Value

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Examples Having the confidence to sell Professional Services to clients resulting in

approx. $500,000.00 in additional revenue for Client B Professional Services

$300K in Services revenue

$1M added to pipeline

$3.2M overall deal closed

The S deal where we did the echo back I believe will be in the region of $500k for Client B’s FY15

Monetary Value of Improvement—Client B

$111,200 / Person14.4%

Client BImpact Due to

Training

772K

Average Monetary Value Value

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• Continue your investment in soft skills/communications training

• Measure your own results

• Benefits within your own organization: improved efficiencies of communications, better conversations and presentations, increased confidence, tens of thousands of dollars in improved productivity per person trained

Soft skills can be measured…and they do add value

With the right partner, it is not that difficult to measure!

Thanks to KnowledgeAdvisors

Thank you for joining us!

K AT H L E E N R E D D | VP, Global Training, Mandel Communications

J O H N R . M AT T OX , I I P H . D . | Director of Research, KnowledgeAdvisors