Every business leader knows that training employees is “good” for business. In the US, companies spend roughly $1,200 per employee a year expecting a return on that investment. But what if we told you that the person who benefits most from training front-line employees isn't only the employee — it's their manager?
New research is shifting how we view the value of skill-building. It turns out effective training not only improves the skills of the person in the classroom, but also creates a large ripple effect that frees managers to focus on high-value, strategic work.
According to new research examining a 16-week training program at a public institution, the results of skill-building run in two directions and are remarkably strong: trained employees completed 10% more work in the following weeks compared with the previous year. Here is the game-changer — the supervisors of trained employees saw roughly an 8% increase in their own productivity and completed 3% more of their strategic objectives.
This phenomenon creates a “double payoff.” When your team grows, you grow too.
The research revealed that untrained employees constantly turn to their managers for help. When they lack the confidence or the specific skills to solve problems independently, the needle swings back to the manager. After targeted training, however, the data showed employees emailing their managers for help far less often.
When you equip employees with the right skills, you're not just teaching them something — you're giving them autonomy. That autonomy saves managers an enormous amount of time. The study found that the extra time managers regained accounted for nearly half of the program's total benefit.
The benefits of a strong executive education and advisory strategy aren't limited to day-to-day productivity. The study highlights that trained employees were more likely to stay with the organization over the next three years and roughly twice as likely to be promoted as their untrained peers.
As generative AI reshapes roles and forces employees to acquire new skills, understanding the true value of investing in development is critical. Traditional ROI calculations usually underestimate the value of training because they ignore the time-savings delivered to leadership.
The question isn't only “What does this training cost?” — the real question should be: “How valuable is your leadership team's time?” If you're ready to realize the potential of your workforce and free your leaders to truly lead, it's time to rethink your training strategy.
