KPIHuman Resources

Training Spend per Employee

Average investment in learning and development per employee

What is Training Spend per Employee?

Training spend per employee is the average amount an organisation spends on learning and development for each person. It shows the level of financial investment in developing staff.

It is a common benchmark, but the value comes from what the money achieves rather than the amount alone.

How this KPI is measured

Function
Human Resources
Sub-function
Learning & Development
Industry
All Industries
Type
Lagging
Impact
Financial control
Unit
$
Measurement frequency
Quarterly / Annual
Formula
Total L&D spend / Average headcount

How to calculate it

Divide total learning and development (L&D) spend by average headcount.

For example, if L&D spend was 500,000 and average headcount was 1,000, the figure is 500 per employee.

Include course fees, materials, platforms and external trainers, and decide consistently whether to include staff time. Compare with your own history and similar organisations.

Where it is used

  • Budgeting learning

    Plan investment.

  • Benchmarking

    Compare with peers.

  • Checking equity of access

    See who receives investment.

How to improve it

Tips and common mistakes

  • Higher spend does not guarantee better learning.
  • Use free and internal resources wisely.
  • Look at results, not only cost.

More Human Resources kpi library

← All kpi library

Build better plans, faster

Join the waitlist for early access to curated insights, flexible templates, and rapid iteration across strategy, planning, and project management.