Every year, VPS works with clients to design and deliver training programmes that make a real difference. Naturally, when a programme is particularly strong, we also look at whether it has the potential to win awards.

But awards are not just about trophies, logos or recognition. Used well, award thinking can become a powerful way to improve how we design learning, define success and measure return on investment.

That matters because proving the business impact of learning remains one of the biggest challenges facing L&D teams. ATD (Association for Talend Development) Research reported in 2025 that only 40% of talent development professionals who completed its Capability Model self-assessment ranked themselves as proficient at evaluating impact. ATD also found that only 30% of organisations are good at using learning programme data to make business decisions*. The message is clear: L&D teams are under pressure to prove value, but many are still developing the skills, processes and data needed to measure impact consistently.

This is where awards thinking can help.

A good award entry asks many of the same questions as a good ROI conversation. What was the problem? Why did the organisation invest in the programme? What changed as a result? How do we know? What evidence supports the story?

These questions should not be answered at the end of a programme. They should be asked at the beginning.

Start with the outcome

When designing a training programme, the first question should not be “what content do we need?” It should be “what are we trying to achieve?”

Sometimes the desired result is a change in behaviour. For example, leaders having better coaching conversations, sales teams asking better questions, or frontline employees handling customers with more confidence.

Sometimes the goal is to move a business metric. This might include increased sales, fewer complaints, improved safety performance, better compliance, faster onboarding, reduced support requests, improved system adoption, or stronger customer satisfaction.

Sometimes the result is cultural. A programme might be designed to bring people together, create a shared language, improve collaboration, support change, or build confidence during a period of transformation. These outcomes can feel less tangible, but they can still be defined and measured if they are considered early enough.

The Kirkpatrick Model, one of the most widely used frameworks for evaluating learning, encourages organisations to look beyond learner satisfaction and consider reaction, learning, behaviour and results. In practice, this means moving from “did people like the training?” to “did the training help people perform differently, and did that performance make a difference to the organisation?”

That is also how award-winning programmes are built.

Decide how success will be measured

Once the outcome is clear, the next question is measurement.

For some programmes, standard evaluation tools may be enough. Learner feedback, confidence ratings, relevance scores and satisfaction data can all provide useful evidence. These are often associated with Level 1 evaluation and can show whether learners valued the experience.

But stronger award entries, and stronger ROI cases, usually go further.

They might include evidence such as:

• improvements in knowledge or skills
• manager feedback after training
• observed behaviour change
• changes in general employee satisfaction survey scores
• improved retention or engagement
• reduced errors, complaints or support tickets
• higher system adoption
• increased sales or productivity
• improved customer satisfaction
• faster time to competence
• better compliance or audit outcomes

The important point is not that every programme needs every metric. The important point is that the right metrics are selected before the programme begins.

If measurement is only considered at the end, L&D teams often find themselves trying to prove impact with incomplete data. If measurement is built into the design from the beginning, the story becomes much clearer.

Awards create useful discipline

Awards force teams to explain the value of their work in a structured way. They encourage L&D professionals and business stakeholders to move from “we delivered training” to “we solved a problem.”

That shift is critical.

An award-winning story is rarely about a beautiful learning asset alone. It is about the business challenge, the people challenge, the design choices, the implementation, the learner experience and the impact.

In that sense, thinking about awards can help improve the programme itself. It encourages teams to ask:

What is distinctive about this programme?
What business need does it address?
What evidence will show that it worked?
What data do we need to collect?
Who needs to be involved in validating the result?
What would make this a story worth sharing?

These are not just award questions. They are strategic L&D questions.

ROI is not always positive, and that is useful too

There is sometimes a fear that ROI measurement will expose weak results. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.

A negative or limited ROI can be extremely useful. It can show where investment should be reduced, where a programme needs to be redesigned, or where training is not the right solution to the problem.

For example, if a system training programme does not reduce support requests, the issue may not be the training. It could be the system design, the process, the communications, or the level of manager reinforcement. Good measurement helps identify this.

The purpose of ROI is not simply to prove that L&D is valuable. It is to help organisations make better decisions about where learning can create value.

The real prize is influence

Awards are valuable. They build credibility, celebrate teams and create external recognition for great work. But the greater benefit is often internal.

When L&D can clearly show the impact of training, it earns more influence. It becomes easier to secure funding, shape strategy, challenge assumptions and position learning as a driver of business performance rather than a support function.

This is especially important in today’s environment. L&D teams are being asked to do more, respond faster and demonstrate clearer value. The ability to measure impact is no longer a “nice to have”. It is becoming central to the credibility of the function.

To meet that challenge, L&D needs more than good content. It needs evidence.

Design for impact from day one

The best time to think about ROI is not after the programme has ended. The best time is at the point of design.

The same is true for awards.

If you want a programme to be award-worthy, start by making it impact-worthy. Define the business problem. Agree the outcomes. Choose the measures. Gather the evidence. Build the story as the programme develops.

Because in the end, the strongest award entries are not just stories about training.

They are stories about change.

Contact us  learn more about how VPS can help your organisation to develop award wining training

*https://www.td.org/content/atd-blog/atd-research-explores-effective-ways-to-report-on-learning-evaluations