Training isn’t time away from your agency — it’s time growing it

Opinion

CPD brings real business results. Here’s how to measure CPD’s value to show that it’s more than a perk or luxury.

After four decades in advertising, I’m often asked: what’s the most important thing you’ve learned?

Hands down, it’s that you must prove, and be able to prove, the business value of any Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to those in charge of running the agency.

And here’s how…

CPD is undeniably valuable for the individuals you invest in and the culture it fosters within your business. However, those responsible for CPD budgets must tie CPD back to the bottom line; they must show how it contributes to making or saving money for the agency.

This applies to every type of CPD, whether it’s online qualifications, mentoring, group discussions, appraisals, podcast clubs, lunch-and-learns or apprenticeships.

And it’s not just about big-ticket courses like negotiating skills or the IPA Excellence Diploma. This could be teaching resilience tips to a colleague or applying new presentation techniques.

Some CPD serves multiple goals, but knowing which ones allows you to collect the right data.

To measure the value of CPD, I advocate evaluation at four levels:

• Reaction: Did participants enjoy it?
• Learning: Did they gain knowledge, skills or behaviours?
• Behaviour: Did they apply what they learned?
• Results: What business outcomes did it drive?

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Analysing CPD’s contribution

Let’s look at how this might work in practice.

Imagine you send people on the IPA People Management Essentials course:

• Reaction: Everyone says the tutor knew their subject. But that’s just feedback; no value yet.
• Learning: If an attendee can now teach you something about active listening, you start to see payback potential.
• Behaviour: Later, you notice a participant delegating more effectively and this translates to better performance and business impact.
• Results: You get testimonials showing that the account director’s new skills have improved employee retention. Simple maths could calculate return on investment — for example, 20% of the cost of hiring an account manager externally could be attributed to the training compared with the cost of the course. Voilà, you’ve got a financial return on investment.

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Here are other CPD examples and the data you could track to measure their contribution:

• Welcome programmes: Track probation pass rates and retention of new hires year on year. This could save money on recruitment.
• Diversity employee community events: Survey results show improved views of agency culture and the new business director credits these events with helping them navigate a pitch stage.
• Paternity returner coaching: If you have a better return rate for new parents and their positive testimonials, the improvement in productivity and retention can partly be attributed to coaching.
• Client engagement: Invitations to clients to events such as NudgeStock may improve client retention, as evidenced by positive client feedback.
• Timesheet training: If the financial director notes an improvement in timesheet return rates, and no other factors influenced this, you have clear evidence of training’s financial impact.

Measurable impact

In an industry where every idea, pitch and pound must prove its value, CPD should be no different. It’s not a perk or luxury; it’s a business tool.

When planned and evaluated properly, CPD drives measurable impact across retention, performance, culture, efficiency and, ultimately, the bottom line.

So next time you’re asked to justify the time or cost of CPD, don’t just talk about “growth” in vague terms. Talk about results. Talk about value.

And if you’re not sure how to measure it, ask us. Because when CPD is done right, it doesn’t take time away from your agency — it grows it.

For a one-stop shop of great CPD options, visit the Advertising Association’s Advertising and Marketing Training Hub. This free-to-use centre holds over 500 curated training courses and qualifications from Advertising Association members and industry stakeholders, including IPA options, and covers skills including creativity, strategy and data for all levels.

Gwyn March is CPD adviser at the IPA