Measuring Business ImpactNational Fund for Workforce Solutions

June 11, 2013

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Starter Questions

What kind of evaluations are you doing?

What does business value mean in your work?

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Starting Place

What sort of business value are you trying to achieve?

What are the mechanisms (programs and services) that target those outcomes for your business partners?

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Evaluation Process

Map logic model

Derive research questions

Create data plan and timeline

Frame implementation plan and timeline

Develop the mechanics – collection tools, databases, data portals, websites, data user agreements

Coach the organizations involved

Implement

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Business Value – Three Ways to Do It

Benchmarking

Employer self report

Econometric case study

Benchmarking

Example: Massachusetts Building Essential Skills through Training (BEST) Met Employer Expectations

Was Valuable to the Companies

Employers Valued Participation with Other Companies

Was Valuable to Employees

Value of Career Ladder Efforts

Return on Investment

Improved Profitability

Cost Reductions

Participation in Future Rounds of BEST

Future Participation in Workforce Development

• Pros: Easy to complete and provides basic feedback about value• Cons: No detail; hard to do continuous improvement with this data

alone

Employer Self-Report

Example: Workforce Strategies Initiative, Business Value Assessment Tool Sets up comparisons on key factors, Program Participants vs. Non-Participants

Attempts to monetize many factors, but not all

Employers Report

Remember that these are just examples

Example: MAGNET (Manufacturing Growth Network), Impact Survey Series of yes/ no questions on key factors

Each question is followed by a blank that asks employers to estimate a dollar value for the factor

• Pros: Can be used for continuous improvements such as curriculum improvements, recruiting/ screening improvements, employer services improvements

• Cons: Harder to fill out, requires employers time and data

Econometric Case Study

Example: Health Careers Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati, ROI 2011 Estimates costs/ benefits for key factors

Comparison analysis of program participants vs. similar non-participants

Attempts to mitigate threats to validity

Small number of employers provide deep data on several hundred program participants and a comparison

• Pros: Produces hard numbers estimating business value. Can be used for sales, fundraising, and policy advocacy.

• Cons: Takes time to get to scale. Someone has to provide the data.

Recommendations

Decide on a few (3-5) key metrics that the employer value work can be built around

Develop a benchmarking tool immediately and roll it out

Develop an employer-self report tool immediately and set expectations for completing it with new employers. Roll out in the 12-18 month timeframe

Econometric case study only makes sense if there are a smaller number of employers who hire a larger number of people. Need at least 100 people, prefer more.

Benefits Discussion

What are the benefits of being in a partnership as opposed to doing this on your own?

What workforce problem(s) will this (or could this) solve for you?

What business value does this (or could this) provide to you?

Return-On-Investment

Value

Employers

Individuals

Institutions

Public

• Can be viewed from several perspectives

• Implies items that can be monetized

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Good Resources

Aspen Institute’s Workforce Strategies Initiative http://www.aspenwsi.org/resource/bva-toolkit/Moving

towards solutions

Commonwealth Corporation’s Measuring Business Impact: A Workforce Development Practitioner’s Guide http://www.commcorp.org/resources/detail.cfm?ID=899

New Growth Group’s Greater Cincinnati Health Careers Collaborative: Return-On-Investment Report http://www.healthcareerscollaborative.com/resources/

articles-publications/