Much research has been done over the years concerning the impact of training on organizational performance. An excellent article that summarizes as well as any the current thinking on this important topic is from The Forum Corporation, a highly respected business/learning research firm. The Forum said...

Many of us attend training programs, conferences, and seminars without a clearly understood sense of how our learning will specifically impact our performance. This website presents a simple, yet practical way to estimate both the potential total costs and return on investment (ROI) of any "off the job" training program you may be considering. 

There are three separate, but related parts to the exercise. You can use any of them alone, but the best analysis will use all three. The first is a brief presentation entitled   "Your Investment in Training", which establishes the premise that training must necessarily be treated as an investment which demands a return.

The second part is a Training Performance Planner Form which poses challenging questions intended to assess your readiness to take time off the job for the training and to plan for successful transfer of learning.

Finally, a Training ROI Worksheet calculates the potential value you can add by applying what you learn in the training, as well as computing the cost and ROI of the training.

Taken together, the components of this exercise can be a valuable aid to (a) deciding if training is worthwhile, (b) planning to ensure success in applying what is learned, and (c) following up to evaluate results downstream from the actual training event.