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Evaluation

Phillips ROI Methodology

The Phillips ROI Methodology is an evaluation process that extends the Kirkpatrick levels with a fifth level, return on investment, and a set of steps for isolating a programme's effects and converting them to money. It measures reaction, learning, application, impact, ROI and intangibles.

6 phasesEvaluation
When to Use This Framework

When you can't tell if your sessions are actually working

You need to measure impact beyond satisfaction surveys and understand if learning is actually being applied.

When sponsors need evidence of business value for a significant learning or change programme, and there are measurable business outcomes to link it to.

The 6 Steps
Follow this sequence to apply Phillips ROI Methodology
1

Plan the evaluation

Before the programme, set objectives at each level (reaction to ROI) and decide which measures and data sources will be used.

2

Collect data

Gather reaction, learning, application and business impact data through surveys, tests, observation, interviews and records.

3

Isolate the effects

Separate the programme's contribution from other influences, for example with control groups, trend analysis or participant estimates.

4

Convert to monetary value

Translate impact measures into money using standard values, records or expert input, and tabulate fully loaded programme costs.

5

Calculate ROI and identify intangibles

Compare net benefits with costs; report benefits that cannot credibly be monetised as intangibles.

6

Report

Communicate results to each stakeholder group in a form they can act on.

What You'll Achieve

Shows real ROI and helps you continuously improve your sessions.

Use it at the design stage: write objectives for application and business impact, not only for learning, and build follow-up data collection into the programme. Reserve full ROI studies for a few high-cost or strategic programmes.

Practical Tips
How to get the most out of this framework
  • 1
    Define success metrics before the session
  • 2
    Build in micro-assessments throughout
  • 3
    Follow up after to measure behavior change
  • 4
    Use data to iterate on your design
Best For
  • Large or costly corporate programmes
  • Leadership and sales training with business metrics
  • Business cases for L&D investment
  • Pilots before scaling
Key Principles
  • Set objectives at every level, including impact
  • Isolate the programme's effect from other factors
  • Use conservative estimates
  • Report intangibles alongside ROI
Watch Out For
  • Isolating effects and monetising outcomes depend on estimates and assumptions; results can look more precise than they are.
  • Resource-intensive; not worth a full study for small or low-stakes sessions.
  • Shares the level structure of the Kirkpatrick Model already in the library; its added value is the ROI calculation and isolation steps.
Related Frameworks
Other Evaluation frameworks you might find useful
Brinkerhoff's Success CaseThe Success Case Method evaluates a training or change initiative by finding the participants who got the most and least value from it and studying why. It produces credible, story-based evidence of impact and shows which factors in the organisation help or block the use of learning.
Kirkpatrick ModelA four-level model for evaluating training: Reaction, Learning, Behavior and Results. It is the most widely used evaluation framework in workplace learning and pushes designers to look beyond the end-of-day survey to behaviour change and business impact.
CIPP Evaluation Model (Stufflebeam)The CIPP Model is a comprehensive framework for evaluating programmes through four lenses: Context, Input, Process and Product. Its guiding idea is that evaluation's main purpose is not to prove but to improve, so it supports decisions throughout a programme as well as a final judgement.