Consider the following cost-benefit training needs analysis elements:

• Is it worth our effort to undertake the proposed training?
• What will be the return on investment or ROI of the proposed training?
• Are there any cost-benefit benchmarks for the proposed training?

In a cost-benefit training needs analysis, a course designer takes a long, hard look at the financial side of training, to determine whether training makes economic sense. Before we can accurately forecast the costs of training we need to know details about the design process proposed, the learning methods, the participants, and compensation packages of people associated with the training programme. Before we can accurately forecast the benefits of training we need to know the bottom-line benefits of similar programmes, since this information will help us forecast benefits from the proposed programme.

In our real-world scenarios, a cost-benefit training needs analysis would compare the costs of designing and delivering the training to such things as the savings resulting from reducing the number of harassment complaints, or the number of workplace accidents. In the Internet training needs analysis scenario, a cost-benefit training needs analysis could conceivably calculate the financial benefits resulting from the time saved by having skilled Internet users seek information as opposed to untrained workers.