The financial impact of staff development.

Staff development educators need to refine their skills in measuring the impact of education activities on the organization's bottom line. Without this ability, when organizations are seeking to cut costs, the resources allocated to the education department are often reduced or eliminated. This article guides readers in identifying the organization's bottom line. Basic principles of budgeting, a template to calculate the actual costs of individual education activities, and methods to measure the impact of these activities on the organization's bottom line are included. A case study is used to demonstrate the process.