Section Fivetotal cycle time (truck tons per hour) was examined to
determine the impact of training for mine crews. While no
control group was employed, the data were exponentially
smoothed to lessen the impact of temporal and weather
influences. Examination of these productivity data before and
after the training revealed that the there was a substantial
impact on productivity. The costs of the training were
determined in considerable detail to include the wages of
employees while they were being trained, the costs for the
trainer, idle time for equipment, and overtime premiums. As a
result of the training, the company realized an annual savings
of $1.9 million.^88
Another recent study provides additional evidence on the
financial impact of training. The study surveyed 40 companies
from a number of industries. When the respondents were
categorized by their average training expenditures per
employee, there was a substantial difference in their annual
gross profit. Those companies in the top half had an average
gross profit of $168,000 per employee, while those in the
bottom half had an average of $121,000. The companies were
also compared on the level of their training expenditures and
their MTB ratios, which provide a rough indication of the
company’s intellectual capital as well as other intangibles.
Those companies in the upper half of training expenditures had
an average MTB ratio of 2.40 as compared with 2.00 for the