Engineer Training ROI: The Smart Edge You Need Now

Smarter Investments: Making Training Pay Off

When leaders talk about training, the primary concern is usually cost.

• • • A certification course could cost several thousand dollars.
    • Exams can cost several hundred dollars.
    • Even “free” vendor resources come with a cost — the time it takes for an engineer to work through them.

It’s no surprise that training sometimes gets pushed down the priority list. But the bigger risk isn’t what training costs, it’s what you lose when engineers don’t understand it.

Untrained teams move slower, rely more on external support, and risk burnout when they lack confidence in their own skills. These hidden costs quickly accumulate through downtime, delays, and turnover.

The companies that gain the most benefit from training adopt a strategic approach.

• • • Align training with real work. Don’t just send someone to a class because it’s available. Send them right before a system upgrade or rollout, so they can immediately apply what they learn.
    • Combine free and paid resources. Many vendors offer extensive free training libraries. Use these to establish a strong base, then pursue paid certifications where advanced skills will directly improve operations.
    • Multiply the investment. Foster a “train-the-trainer” mindset. When one person learns, they share the essentials with the rest of the team. One tuition check becomes a department-wide benefit.
      
      

Training always involves a cost: whether it’s tuition, exam fees, or just the time needed to complete free modules. But the benefits show up as faster solutions, stronger teams, and engineers who remain motivated because they’re growing in their roles. Instead of asking, “Can we afford to train our people?” the better question is, “Can we afford not to?”

Turning Everyday Work into Training Wins

One of the biggest mistakes companies make with training is treating it like a one-time event. An engineer goes away for a week, earns a certificate, comes back… and within a few months, most of that knowledge fades if it isn’t reinforced.

The plants that see the best results don’t treat training as an “extra.” They integrate it into their operations, just like they do with preventive maintenance.

Here are a few practical ways to do that:

• • • Include training in project budgets. If you know a system upgrade or migration is upcoming, allocate hours and budget for training as part of the project. It’s much easier to justify when it’s directly tied to project success.
    • Schedule micro-training, not just marathons. While a week-long class is valuable, shorter, focused sessions—such as a two-hour vendor workshop—can be equally effective when scheduled properly.
    • Turn daily work into learning opportunities. Every outage, troubleshooting session, or vendor call is a chance to learn lessons and strengthen your playbook for the next time.
    • Use mentoring as a multiplier. Pairing junior engineers with experienced staff turns routine tasks into training opportunities — no extra budget needed.

The real advantage here isn’t just fewer service calls or quicker fixes (though you’ll notice those too). It’s the culture change: when training becomes part of daily routines, engineers become more confident, projects proceed faster, and your team gets stronger while keeping the plant operational.

How to See (and Prove) Training ROI

Most leaders already understand that training matters. The real difficulty is ensuring that the money and time invested actually produce results. The best approach is to treat training like any other investment: define the expected return, monitor the outcomes, and make adjustments as needed.

Ways to Make Training Pay Off

• • • Downtime vs. training costs
      An average outage costs about $125,000 per hour. If training prevents even a single hour of downtime, it has already paid for itself.
      
      
    • Free vs. paid tradeoffs
      Free vendor libraries are excellent for developing fundamentals. However, a paid certification may be worth the investment when engineers require advanced skills or face tight deadlines.
      
      
    • Retention value
      Companies that invest in their employees retain them longer. According to LinkedIn, 94% of workers say they’d stay longer at a company that supports career development. Replacing an engineer costs much more than training one.
      
      
    • Knowledge-fade versus reinforcement
      One-time training quickly loses its impact if it’s not put into practice. Value increases when training is connected to real projects and reinforced through daily application.

Training impact isn’t just about justifying costs — it’s about making smart choices, tracking results, and building a system where value grows over time. When you connect training to avoided downtime, quicker troubleshooting, or stronger retention, the metrics speak for themselves.

From One-Time Fixes to Continuous Learning

The most significant value from training doesn’t come from a single class or certificate — it comes from reinforcement. Engineers retain and use skills most effectively when training is connected to real-world situations.

How to Make Training Continuous

• • • Adopt a train-the-trainer mindset. When one engineer learns something new, have them share it with the team. Knowledge multiplies instead of staying with one person.
    • Turn support into learning. Every troubleshooting call, upgrade discussion, or system review is also a chance to transfer knowledge. Problems get solved — and skills grow at the same time.
    • Learn on demand. Instead of waiting for the next class on the calendar, engineers build skills as needs arise, in the context of their own systems.

That’s exactly why we created EXPERTCONNECT+™ — to blend support and training so every call or project touchpoint doubles as a learning opportunity. Instead of treating support as a quick fix, it becomes part of a continuous training process. Your team solves today’s problems while building the skills and confidence to handle tomorrow’s.

Alongside that, we also offer formal engineer, operator, and maintenance training — built on the same programs we use to train our own people. It’s a way for you to give your teams the same strong foundation we count on internally. While EXPERTCONNECT+ keeps learning alive day-to-day, these structured courses provide a standalone boost for teams that want to deepen their expertise in a focused setting.

Together, they create a cycle of learning that turns one-time fixes into lasting improvements: less downtime, fewer emergencies, and a stronger, more capable team.

Training as a Long-Term Strategy

In industrial automation, training isn’t just a one-time event or a budget item. It’s a way to strengthen your operations and boost your team’s confidence. The benefit isn’t just from certificates, but from how well training is timed, implemented, and reinforced in everyday work.

Companies that approach training strategically don’t just cut downtime or reduce support calls — they foster a culture of ongoing learning that yields benefits long after the first class ends.