An article published January 2026 in Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge reveals that approximately half of the benefits gained from training employees come not just from improvements to employee performance; rather, they come from "spin off" benefits not normally considered when calculating the ROI from training.

The article, "Why Training Employees Pays Off Twice", written by Ben Rand, describes the results of a research study, run by Dr. Christopher Stanton, measuring the impacts of 16-week skills training program at a government agency. The results are surprising, as they show the commonly-used return on investment (ROI) model for training is severely lacking.

Rand states that the problem with traditional ROI models is that they overlook the impact of employee training on the managers of those employees. In the study, Rand notes, "frontline output rose 10%, while help-seeking emails dropped—freeing managers to focus on strategic work." These types of unexpected benefits add up quickly, the study reveals, matching the direct benefits from higher employee skill levels.

With the rapid pace of change in society caused by how artificial intelligence is changing what jobs people are doing and how they do them, training is becoming more of a necessity. Rand concludes with a strong recommendation that "leaders should view training as a catalyst for organizational agility—not just individual performance."