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Total Economic Impact
Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By Cornerstone Galaxy
A FORRESTER TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY COMMISSIONED BY Cornerstone, September 2024
Total Economic Impact
A FORRESTER TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY COMMISSIONED BY Cornerstone, September 2024
Forrester research states: “Leading organizations are turning to skills-based talent practices to help them manage their workforce at speed. To execute a skills-based talent practice and to build skills intelligence as an organizational capability requires intention, investment, technology, and change. The old way of managing skills and competencies can’t keep up with humans who are always learning and growing, nor with leaders who need to anticipate what’s next and recompose their workforce accordingly. Leaders need new AI-powered skills intelligence technology to enable their adaptive workforce.”1
Cornerstone Galaxy is an AI-powered workforce agility platform that organizations use to build high-performing, future-ready people and close the widening workforce readiness gap. With Cornerstone Galaxy, organizations can identify skills gaps and development opportunities, retain and engage top talent, and provide multimodal learning experiences to meet the diverse needs of their modern workforce.
Cornerstone commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying Cornerstone Galaxy.2 The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of Cornerstone Galaxy on their organizations.
To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed five global representatives across various industries with experience using Cornerstone Galaxy. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the interviewees’ experiences and combined the results into a single composite organization: a hypothetical manufacturing organization with 5,500 employees and revenue of more than $1 billion per year.
Interviewees said that prior to using Cornerstone Galaxy, their organizations relied on fragmented systems for learning, talent management, and recruitment, leading to disjointed processes and multiple inefficiencies. Before using Cornerstone Galaxy, their approach caused challenges such as cost-inefficient operating models, decentralized administration, a lack of visibility into workforce skills, inconsistent onboarding, and ineffective content curation. Learning professionals reported an inefficient use of their time developing content and excessive and duplicative spending producing it. Managers and HR professionals had trouble managing employee development, forcing a reactive approach to workforce training and little to no ability to identify workforce skills. This left interviewees’ organizations unable to react to the changing demands of their work, costing them time, money, and efficiency.
After investing in Cornerstone Galaxy, interviewees described a significant transformation in how their organizations managed learning, talent development, and their ability to bridge the workforce readiness gap.3 The workforce readiness gap is created when the ability of a workforce to adapt to change is out of sync with the pace of that change. This gap impacts organizations through challenges to skills, employee expectations, and data visibility.
Key results from investing in Cornerstone Galaxy include streamlined administrative processes, increased internal mobility, improved employee engagement, and increased retention through more personalized learning pathways. Additionally, organizations saw reductions in compliance risks and improved recruitment efficiency, leading to substantial cost savings.
Quantified benefits. Three-year, risk-adjusted present value (PV) quantified benefits for the composite organization include:
The value of an upskilled employee base worth $6.3 million over three years. Cornerstone Galaxy enables the composite organization to upskill its employees and promote from within and to enable true succession planning, leading to reduced reliance on external hires. The platform’s extensive capabilities empower employees to explore growth opportunities and allow managers to discover employees’ previously hidden skills, fostering a more agile and engaged workforce and better overall performance.
A 49% reduction in time to hire. By automating and centralizing recruitment, Cornerstone Galaxy helps reduce the average time to hire from 87 days to 43 days. This reduction allows the organization to expedite its recruitment process, saving more than $9.0 million in HR productivity over three years and enabling faster onboarding of new talent.
A 40% reduction in employee time to productivity. Cornerstone Galaxy streamlines the onboarding process, cutting training from five days to two and reducing associated travel expenses. This efficiency improvement allows employees to become productive faster, saving the composite organization $1.6 million over three years.
Content consolidation savings worth $2.1 million over three years. By implementing Cornerstone Galaxy, the composite organization can discontinue third-party content subscriptions and reduce its multiple learning suppliers down to one learning platform. This consolidation simplifies admin, billing, and content curation and creation, and it allows employees to access high-quality learning resources in multiple languages and modalities from a single platform.
Compliance savings worth $7.4 million over three years. Improved training and automated compliance tracking through Cornerstone Galaxy significantly reduces the downstream risks of noncompliance. By ensuring timely and consistent completion of regulatory training, the organization avoids potential fines and improves safety protocols, enhancing both employee well-being and company reputation.
Unquantified benefits. Benefits that provide value for the composite organization but are not quantified for this study include:
Enhanced employee experience. Cornerstone Galaxy significantly improved employee engagement and development opportunities across interviewees’ organizations by providing accessible resources for personal and professional growth. Galaxy’s user experience allowed employees to easily identify and pursue career pathways and learning opportunities, causing employees to feel more valued and supported. This increased their engagement and helped develop a stronger culture of continuous learning.
Improved candidate experience. Cornerstone Galaxy streamlined the recruitment process, providing a more consistent and engaging journey for applicants. By centralizing recruitment tasks and automating workflows, interviewees’ organizations could ensure that candidates received timely updates and had a seamless transition through each stage of recruitment. recruitment stages.
Improved experience for managers. Implementing Cornerstone Galaxy improved managers’ experience by aiding the facilitation of manager/employee development conversations. With Cornerstone Galaxy, managers could easily access relevant courses and resources, relieving the burden of finding resources and knowing where to look for guidance on topics like time management and team collaboration. As a result, interviewees noted an increase in hourly team members taking elective courses, indicating a greater interest in personal growth and development. Additionally, they saw a rise in internal promotions to higher-level positions, saving on recruitment costs while demonstrating the workforce’s readiness for advancement.
Increased administrative efficiency gains. By consolidating multiple platforms into one system, Cornerstone Galaxy significantly reduced administrative burdens, allowing teams to more efficiently manage learning resources. This centralization freed up administrative resources and enabled interviewees’ organizations to shift focus toward strategic initiatives, ultimately enhancing overall operational efficiency.
Costs. Three-year, risk-adjusted PV costs for the composite organization include:
License and implementation fees paid to Cornerstone totaling $1.7 million for three years. Cornerstone Galaxy licensing is based on the number of users and Cornerstone modules and features deployed. The composite organization also leverages professional services for an additional initial implementation fee in Year 1.
Internal employee costs for deployment, ongoing maintenance, and employee training time totaling $3.2 million for three years. This cost is based on the typical development activities the composite organization needs its people to complete over three years. For example, internal team members are involved in implementation, deployment, and ongoing management for HR, learning, and content development-related tasks. In addition, employees who want to take advantage of the Cornerstone content upskilling opportunities spend time increasing their skills with Cornerstone Galaxy, which is accounted for in these costs.
The representative interviews and financial analysis found that the composite organization experienced benefits of $26.54 million over three years versus costs of $4.89 million, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $21.65 million and an ROI of 443%.
Return on investment (ROI)
Benefits PV
Net present value (NPV)
Payback
| Role | Industry | Geography | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head of group talent acquisition, learning and growth | Logistics | Global | 600,000 |
| Head of learning | Media | UK | 31,000 |
| People director | Airline | Global | 23,000 |
| Senior learning management specialist | Manufacturing | US | 1,150 |
| HR systems and analytics manager | Legal | Australia | 1,000 |
Prior to implementing Cornerstone Galaxy, organizations used a variety of fragmented approaches for managing their students’ information. Many relied on legacy student information systems that were outdated, not user-friendly or scalable, while others were using antiquated custom-coded on premises solutions.
Some cobbled together basic systems to share learning content, while others depended heavily on in-person training. Skills tracking was manually recorded in a spreadsheet or neglected altogether, which made succession planning near impossible. Recruiting and applicant-tracking processes were often manual and disjointed across different departments. Performance management was siloed, difficult to track, or lacking clear growth pathways. Overall, companies lacked centralized, specialized, and integrated platforms to manage the full employee lifecycle and deliver engaging and continuous learning experiences.
The interviewees noted how their organizations struggled with common challenges, including:
Disparate learning platforms and decentralized administration. Interviewees’ organizations struggled with fragmented learning and talent management systems that lacked cohesion and consistency. Companies had disparate learning platforms and portals, making it difficult to have a holistic view of employee development. The head of learning at a media organization exclaimed: “We had 15 different learning platforms and portals in the organization! This led to inconsistent employee experiences and an extra management burden for our IT teams.”
The fragmented system also made administrative tasks like compliance tracking and monitoring employee progress much more difficult. Overall, fragmentation led to inefficiencies, inconsistent experiences across the employee lifecycle, and challenges in managing learning across different systems.
Lack of visibility into workforce talent and data. Organizations lacked visibility into the skills and capabilities of their workforce. This made it difficult to identify internal talent for open roles or understand skills gaps. The head of group talent acquisition, learning and growth at a logistics organization noted they wanted to implement skills mapping to “understand where we may have gaps in the future” but lacked the tools to do so effectively before Cornerstone. The same interviewee described their legacy talent management solution: “We had a talent management tool to manage our annual talent cycle that was basically a locally built spreadsheet with a macro for memory. It could not scale, but we also wanted to modernize our talent, performance, and learning activities. We grew by acquisition, and Cornerstone gave us the visibility of the talent and skills that we had coming into the organization.”
Additionally, organizations struggled to get consistent, comprehensive reporting across their various learning and talent management systems. This made it difficult to track progress, measure the impact of learning initiatives, and make strategic, data-driven decisions about talent development. The lack of visibility into workforce skills created challenges for organizations in addressing the workforce readiness gap and ensuring they had the right talent to meet future business needs.
Difficulty meeting internal workforce development expectations. In a similar vein but from a different angle, prior systems provided limited access to career development opportunities and made it challenging to foster internal mobility. The head of learning at a media organization explained: “We really pride ourselves on growing our team members. It’s not just a job. It’s a career. However, without robust tools to support employee growth, we struggled to provide clear career pathways.” Additionally, the head of group talent acquisition, learning and growth at a logistics organization noted: “The conversations would happen. We would have the best of intentions and tell someone they need to work on their EQ, for instance. And there was just really no follow-through. There was no action behind it. It was just sort of a statement.” The lack of structured development processes and resources made it difficult for employees to progress their careers internally, impacting employee retention, and for organizations to foster workforce agility.
Ineffective content curation. Organizations faced challenges with ineffective content curation and a lack of engaging, personalized learning experiences. Existing platforms and content did not proactively engage users in learning beyond required courses. As the people director at an airline stated, “[We wanted to] push learning opportunities on a more on-demand, proactive basis and unlock more value from our systems and our people.” However, companies lacked the tools to create an engaging learning culture and provide tailored development opportunities at scale. This made it difficult to drive continuous skill development and keep pace with changing business needs.
Inefficient content management and spending. Companies faced challenges with managing learning content across multiple systems and often had redundant or outdated content. This led to inefficient spending on content creation and procurement.
Additionally, some organizations struggled with providing learning content in multiple languages to support their global workforce. One interviewee mentioned that their previous solution lacked language parity across their core languages, necessitating additional investments in content providers.
Reactive — not proactive — response to change. Interviewees’ organizations indicated that they struggled to close the gap between the pace of change in the business world and their organizations’ ability to adapt to these changes — i.e., to close the workforce readiness gap. Over time, as job demands evolved, employees sometimes lacked the necessary skills, knowledge, and visibility to keep up. They lacked workforce agility. The HR systems and analytics manager at a legal organization said: “We had difficulty ensuring our workforce was adequately prepared to handle changing roles and responsibilities. We needed a more integrated approach to employee lifecycle management to address this challenge and make training and skills development more consistent.”
Interviewees‘ organizations sought solutions that could address their fragmented learning and talent management approaches while providing a modern, engaging experience for employees. They searched for a solution that could:
Replace multiple disparate learning systems and portals with a single, unified platform to provide a consistent learning experience across different divisions and countries.
Provide an engaging, user-friendly interface that employees would enjoy using and that aligns with the company‘s brand and culture, while fostering workforce agility.
Reduce manual work, optimize resource allocation, and decrease spending on redundant content and systems, boosting organizational agility and readiness.
Offer tools for skills mapping, succession planning, and identifying skills gaps to foster workforce agility, readiness, internal talent development, and mobility.
Track the employee journey from onboarding to performance and career development, ensuring continuous workforce readiness and growth.
Deliver tailored content recommendations based on individual skills and career interests to enhance workforce agility and preparedness.
Provide better visibility into learning activities, skills data, and the ability to track key metrics across the organization to support workforce readiness.
Enable content curation and provide access to a wide range of high-quality, up-to-date learning content in multiple languages, driving workforce agility.
Support efficient delivery and tracking of mandatory training across the organization to maintain workforce readiness.
Consolidate learning materials to make employee development more efficient and effective, helping create a culture of continuous learning and workforce agility.
Based on the interviews, Forrester constructed a TEI framework, a composite company, and an ROI analysis that illustrates the areas financially affected. The composite organization is representative of the five interviewees, and it is used to present the aggregate financial analysis in the next section. The composite organization has the following characteristics:
Description of composite. The composite organization is a US-based manufacturing firm with global operations. It has 5,500 employees and generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
The composite is a market leader in its space, and it has experienced rapid growth during the past three years. This has driven the company to hire quickly and look internally for upskilled employees to fill open roles.
Each country in which the firm operates has its own regulations around employees taking industry-specific and compliance training each year.
Deployment characteristics. The composite seeks to empower workforce agility at the organization. It hopes to identify skills gaps and development opportunities for its employees, retain and engage top talent, and provide multimodal learning experiences to meet the diverse needs of its workforce. As such, the organization deploys all elements of Cornerstone Galaxy.
Those elements include Cornerstone Learn (products for talent development), Cornerstone Elevate (for performance management and talent mobility), and Cornerstone Transform (for talent intelligence), as well as Cornerstone Content Subscriptions and Cornerstone Content Studio (for content), Cornerstone Immerse (for VR, XR, and experiential learning), and additional learning and content ecosystem offerings. The composite organization also uses Cornerstone Galaxy to integrate with outside HR, productivity, and recruiting platforms throughout the organization, leveraging Cornerstone Extend (for integrations) for a unified view into the workforce agility ecosystem.
The company gives each of its employees and managers access to Cornerstone Galaxy.
Manufacturing organization
$1+ billion annual revenue
5,500 employees
All Galaxy elements deployed to all employees and managers
| Ref. | Benefit | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atr | Value of upskilled employee base | $2,093,887 | $2,560,528 | $2,982,212 | $7,636,627 | $6,260,253 |
| Btr | Savings from reduced time to hire | $3,656,318 | $3,656,318 | $3,656,318 | $10,968,953 | $9,092,720 |
| Ctr | Reduced employee time to productivity | $592,639 | $662,774 | $728,503 | $1,983,917 | $1,633,846 |
| Dtr | Content consolidation savings | $855,563 | $855,563 | $855,563 | $2,566,688 | $2,127,657 |
| Etr | Compliance savings | $2,986,080 | $2,986,080 | $2,986,080 | $8,958,240 | $7,425,939 |
| Total benefits (risk-adjusted) | $10,184,486 | $10,721,262 | $11,208,675 | $32,114,424 | $26,540,415 |
Evidence and data. Interviewees highlighted how implementing Cornerstone Galaxy enabled their organizations to effectively upskill employees, reducing the need to hire externally. Cornerstone Galaxy facilitated improved internal mobility and talent retention by providing a transparent and accessible platform for career development. This shift not only saved costs associated with recruitment but also enhanced workforce readiness through upskilling, career guidance, and succession planning.
According to Forrester research, adaptive organizations need to move beyond static job descriptions and embrace a skills-based talent strategy to thrive in today’s volatile markets.4 With Cornerstone Galaxy’s integrated platform, organizations can provide personalized, role-based learning pathways that foster continuous development and career progression. By leveraging Cornerstone Galaxy’s skills intelligence technology, organizations can match employees with the right opportunities and build a more future-proof workforce.
The people director at an airline highlighted the value of having an internal professional networking platform that allows employees to express their career aspirations and identify opportunities for growth within the company. They stated: “Our people are able to express their personal aspirations. At the same time, when there’s a job opportunity, our talent acquisition team can search internally for a suitable profile to recommend or even tap the employee on the shoulder so that we have a more interactive kind of succession planning and talent acquisition process. Our internal mobility opportunities are actually quite rich, and having an ‘internal LinkedIn’ is very useful.” This internal mobility framework encourages employees to explore new roles and career paths within the organization, reducing the likelihood of turnover and enhancing talent retention. By promoting from within and providing clear career pathways, organizations can reduce recruitment costs and retain valuable talent.
The emphasis on internal growth was echoed by the HR systems and analytics manager at a manufacturing organization, who mentioned, “With Cornerstone Galaxy, we‘ve seen a 40% increase in employee satisfaction, which correlates directly with our reduced hiring costs and improved productivity.”
The head of group talent acquisition, learning and growth said that Cornerstone Galaxy has supported the execution of the shift to a learning culture at their logistics firm: “Talent has been something you do because HR made you rather than understanding as a leader, you deeply need to work on your talent strategy. You must be as on top of that as you are on top of finance. I say it all the time: ‘We’re building our talent pools. We’re building our people. We want 95% of our people recruited from within.’ Sometimes I hear, ‘No, you need fresh blood.’ But my response is: ‘No, you don’t. You need to focus on developing the [people] you’ve got because it’s the best [talent] you’ll find.’”
These insights underscore the transformative impact of Cornerstone Galaxy in creating a more agile and skilled workforce, ultimately contributing to significant cost savings and enhanced organizational performance.
Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes:
The composite organization has 5,500 employees.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) benchmark, employee turnover (both voluntary and involuntary) is 30%.5
The composite fills 55% of frontline positions internally.
Of those, 40% are engaged with Cornerstone Galaxy in Year 1. This increases to 70% by Year 3 as Cornerstone Galaxy usage becomes more widespread.
According to the SHRM benchmark, the cost to recruit and hire a new frontline employee is $3,497.6
For management positions, 14% are filled internally.
For executive positions, 1% are filled internally.
Risks. The value of an upskilled employee base may vary depending on the following:
Variance and changes in turnover rates.
The variability in internal promotion success and the rate of internal mobility and skills development.
The saturation of Cornerstone Galaxy usage within an organization.
Fluctuations in recruitment costs.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $6.3 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Total employees | Composite | 5,500 | 5,500 | 5,500 | |
| A2 | Percentage employee turnover (both voluntary and involuntary) | SHRM benchmark | 30% | 30% | 30% | |
| A3 | Employees to be replaced | A1*A2 | 1,650 | 1,650 | 1,650 | |
| A4 | Percentage of frontline positions filled internally | Interviews | 55% | 55% | 55% | |
| A5 | Percentage engaged with Cornerstone platform (multiple returns/multiple assets) | Interviews | 40% | 55% | 70% | |
| A6 | Upskilled frontline employees | A3*A4*A5 | 363 | 499 | 635 | |
| A7 | Cost to recruit and hire a new frontline employee | SHRM benchmark | $3,497 | $3,497 | $3,497 | |
| A8 | Subtotal: Value of frontline upskilled employee base | A6*A7 | $1,269,411 | $1,745,003 | $2,220,595 | |
| A9 | Percentage of management-level positions filled internally | Interviews | 14% | 14% | 14% | |
| A10 | Percentage engaged with Cornerstone platform (multiple returns/multiple assets) | Interviews | 80% | 90% | 95% | |
| A11 | Upskilled management-level employees | A3*A9*A10 | 185 | 208 | 219 | |
| A12 | Cost to recruit and hire a new management-level employee | SHRM benchmark | $4,683 | $4,683 | $4,683 | |
| A13 | Subtotal: Value of upskilled management-level employees | A11*A12 | $866,355 | $974,064 | $1,025,577 | |
| A14 | Percentage of executive-level positions filled internally | Interviews | 1% | 1% | 1% | |
| A15 | Percentage engaged with Cornerstone platform (multiple returns/multiple assets) | Interviews | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| A16 | Upskilled executive-level employees | A3*A14*A15 | 17 | 17 | 17 | |
| A17 | Cost to recruit and hire a new executive-level employee | SHRM benchmark | $28,329 | $28,329 | $28,329 | |
| A18 | Subtotal: Value of upskilled executive-level employees | A16*A17 | $481,593 | $481,593 | $481,593 | |
| At | Value of upskilled employee base | A8+A13+A18 | $2,617,359 | $3,200,660 | $3,727,765 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓20% | |||||
| Atr | Value of upskilled employee base (risk-adjusted) | $2,093,887 | $2,560,528 | $2,982,212 | ||
| Three-year total: $7,636,627 | Three-year present value: $6,260,253 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees highlighted how Cornerstone Galaxy streamlined their recruitment processes, significantly reducing the time to hire externally and enhancing HR productivity. With Cornerstone Galaxy, organizations were able to consolidate their talent acquisition tools into a seamless, transparent, data-driven system.
The head of group talent acquisition, learning and growth at a logistics organization shared, “Prior to the Cornerstone implementation and the visibility we get from it, we were looking at an average time to hire of 87 days.” After implementing Cornerstone, the time to hire was reduced to approximately 43 days, showcasing a significant improvement in recruitment efficiency.
The people director at an airline noted, “Previously, our talent acquisition process was fragmented and manual, relying heavily on spreadsheets and ad hoc systems.” By consolidating these processes, the organization improved efficiency and reduced the recruitment timeline.
Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes:
Prior to implementing Cornerstone Galaxy, it takes an HR employee 87 days to hire an external candidate.
With Cornerstone Galaxy in place, this timeline is reduced to 43 days.
The fully burdened daily salary of an HR employee is $395.
Forrester conservatively estimates that 50% of the total time saved per HR employee is applied directly to value-generating tasks, and it is therefore included in the benefit calculation. Individual employees may apply additional time savings toward professional development, training, and work-life activities that were not included in the benefit analysis.
Risks. Savings from reduced time to hire may vary depending on the following:
The total number of Cornerstone Galaxy-enabled HR employees.
The scale and complexity of an organization’s hiring process.
The percentage of productivity captured by the affected users.
The fully burdened salaries of affected users.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $9.1 million.
49% reduction in time to hire
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Days to hire before Cornerstone | Interviews | 87 | 87 | 87 | |
| B2 | Days to hire after Cornerstone | Interviews | 43 | 43 | 43 | |
| B3 | External hires | A3*30% | 495 | 495 | 495 | |
| B4 | Fully burdened daily salary of an HR employee | Composite | $395 | $395 | $395 | |
| B5 | Productivity recapture | TEI methodology | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| Bt | Savings from reduced time to hire | (B1-B2)*B3*B4*B5 | $4,301,550 | $4,301,550 | $4,301,550 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓15% | |||||
| Btr | Savings from reduced time to hire (risk-adjusted) | $3,656,318 | $3,656,318 | $3,656,318 | ||
| Three-year total: $10,968,953 | Three-year present value: $9,092,720 | |||||
Evidence and data. Cornerstone Galaxy integrates personalized learning paths and skills tracking into the onboarding process, ensuring that employees receive tailored training at scale. This helps to accelerate the onboarding process and enhance employee productivity from day one to create an agile workforce. As such, interviewees highlighted how Cornerstone Galaxy significantly reduced onboarding times, leading to reduced travel expenses and faster employee productivity for their organizations.
At a manufacturing organization, onboarding time was cut from five days to two, eliminating unnecessary training and allowing new employees to become productive more quickly. This reduction in onboarding duration also led to decreased travel expenses for new hires, as they spent less time traveling for training sessions.
The people director at an airline noted: “Our onboarding process was previously fragmented and manual, relying heavily on in-person sessions. With Cornerstone, we’ve streamlined the process, reducing the number of in-person training days required and enabling new hires to hit the ground running much faster.”
The head of group talent acquisition, learning and growth at a logistics organization highlighted, “The transition to hiring more internal talent, instigated by Cornerstone Galaxy, results in a more than 10% reduction in onboarding time.”
40% reduction to in-person training time
Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes:
Before Cornerstone Galaxy, the number of in-person training days required to onboard an employee is five.
Once implementing Cornerstone Galaxy, this is reduced to two days.
The travel expenses related to in-person training are $240 per day ($200 for lodging, $30 for parking, and $10 for lunch).
The number of external employees onboarded per year is 495.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average daily salary of a frontline, a management-level, and an executive-level manufacturing employee are $168, $272, and $1,712, respectively.9
Risks. Employee onboarding savings may vary depending on the following:
The complexity of roles being onboarded.
The effectiveness of the onboarding process improvements.
The variability in travel and accommodation costs.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.6 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | In-person training days required to onboard an employee | Interviews | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| C2 | In-person training days required to onboard an employee with Cornerstone | Interviews | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| C3 | Daily travel expenses related to in-person training | Composite | $240 | $240 | $240 | |
| C4 | Travel expenses before Cornerstone | C1*C3 | $1,200 | $1,200 | $1,200 | |
| C5 | Travel expenses after Cornerstone | C2*C3 | $480 | $480 | $480 | |
| C6 | External employees onboarded each year | B3 | 495 | 495 | 495 | |
| C7 | Subtotal: Travel expense savings related to onboarding | (C4-C5)*C6 | $356,400 | $356,400 | $356,400 | |
| C8 | Average daily salary of a frontline manufacturing employee | Assumption | $168 | $168 | $168 | |
| C9 | Average daily salary of a management-level manufacturing employee | US Bureau of Labor Statistics | $272 | $272 | $272 | |
| C10 | Average daily salary of an executive-level manufacturing employee | US Bureau of Labor Statistics | $1,712 | $1,712 | $1,712 | |
| C11 | Increased days worked due to shorter onboarding process | C1-C2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| C12 | Frontline employee productivity savings due to faster onboarding | A6*C8*C11 | $182,952 | $251,496 | $320,040 | |
| C13 | Management-level employee productivity savings due to faster onboarding | A11*C9*C11 | $150,960 | $169,728 | $178,704 | |
| C14 | Executive-level productivity savings due to faster onboarding | A16*C10*C11 | $87,312 | $87,312 | $87,312 | |
| C15 | Subtotal: Employee productivity savings due to faster onboarding | ((C13+C14)*50%)+C12 | $302,088 | $380,016 | $453,048 | |
| Ct | Reduced employee time to productivity | C7+C11 | $658,488 | $736,416 | $809,448 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Ctr | Reduced employee time to productivity (risk-adjusted) | $592,639 | $662,774 | $728,503 | ||
| Three-year total: $1,983,917 | Three-year present value: $1,633,846 | |||||
Evidence and data. Many interviewees described significant savings for their organizations by consolidating their learning content into Cornerstone Galaxy and discontinuing third-party content subscriptions. This consolidation not only reduced costs but also streamlined learning content management (by dealing with one supplier) for more efficient use of resources.
The head of group talent acquisition, learning and growth at a logistics organization noted, “We saved on external content subscriptions and reduced the time spent curating and creating new content thanks to Cornerstone Galaxy’s vast library.” This shift allowed their organization to focus more on strategic learning initiatives, such as workforce upskilling and employee engagement, rather than administrative content management.
The head of learning from a media organization shared a similar experience, stating that the organization was able to consolidate its 15 different learning platforms and portals into a unified Cornerstone Galaxy platform. This streamlined the administration of learning and development and allowed the organization to offer a consistent content experience across all regions without purchasing additional content. This approach also ensured that employees had access to high-quality, relevant content, including leadership, management, and technology training aligned with their needs. And because Cornerstone supports content in multiple languages, the organization could make content available to all employees without restrictions. Overall, the organization saw cost savings through the discontinuation of other learning systems and reduced content spend.
Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes:
The composite organization saves $185,625, or 75% of license costs, on discontinued third-party content costs.
It is able to avoid creating 3,000 pieces of 5-minute content.
A learning professional requires 60 hours to create 1 hour of learning content.
The average fully burdened salary of a learning professional is $102.
Forrester conservatively estimates that 50% of the total time saved per learning professional is applied directly back to value-generating tasks, and it is therefore included in the benefit calculation. Individual employees may apply additional time savings toward professional development, training, and work-life activities that were not included in the benefit analysis.
Risks. Content consolidation savings may vary depending on the following:
Variability in third-party content costs.
The amount of content in the legacy environment and the time spent curating and creating content.
The percentage of productivity captured by the affected users.
The fully burdened salaries of affected users.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.1 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Discontinued third-party content costs | Interviews | $185,625 | $185,625 | $185,625 | |
| D2 | Pieces of content | Composite | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | |
| D3 | Average length of content (minutes) | Interviews | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| D4 | Total content (hours) | (D2*D3)/ 60 minutes | 250 | 250 | 250 | |
| D5 | Average time to create 1 hour of learning content (hours) | Interviews | 60 | 60 | 60 | |
| D6 | Labor time to create content before Cornerstone (hours) | D4*D5 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | |
| D7 | Average fully burdened salary of learning professional | US Bureau of Labor Statistics | $102 | $102 | $102 | |
| D8 | Productivity recapture | TEI methodology | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| D9 | Subtotal: Efficiency gains after Cornerstone due to time saved curating and creating | D6*D7*D8 | $765,000 | $765,000 | $765,000 | |
| Dt | Content consolidation savings | D1+D9 | $950,625 | $950,625 | $950,625 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Dtr | Content consolidation savings (risk-adjusted) | $855,563 | $855,563 | $855,563 | ||
| Three-year total: $2,566,688 | Three-year present value: $2,127,657 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees emphasized risk avoidance and associated cost avoidance that their organizations achieved through improved training and compliance with Cornerstone Galaxy. Additionally, Cornerstone Galaxy’s tools for automated recordkeeping and reporting reduced the risk of human error in maintaining records and could quickly generate reports for internal audits or external regulatory reviews, ensuring that the organization could demonstrate compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
The head of learning at a media organization highlighted how Cornerstone Galaxy streamlined compliance training, allowing for more consistent delivery and tracking across regions: “The reporting experience is better with Cornerstone Galaxy. It’s a more streamlined process to get the information we need, which allows us to understand how our business areas are performing and whether [employees] are completing their training, which means we need to spend less time gathering this insight.”
The senior learning management specialist for a manufacturing organization noted: “We chose Cornerstone Galaxy to ensure compliance with regulatory training, which was challenging with our prior setup. The risk of non-compliance fines was too high to ignore.” The transition to Cornerstone Galaxy provided more efficient tracking and assignment of compliance courses, reducing potential fines and improving safety protocols. The interviewee explained: “Just because we’ve never been fined doesn’t mean that we couldn’t be, and for some things, you’re talking about $7,000 per person per day that you’re out of compliance. That’s a risk we weren’t willing to take.” The company requires employees to take 12 regulatory courses to ensure compliance; using Cornerstone Galaxy allowed the organization to check whether all employees took them. As such, the organization could avoid substantial compliance fines and the potential impact on employee and product safety as well as on company reputation.
Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes:
Given that this is a manufacturing composite, Forrester chooses to quantify compliance savings associated with the cost of workplace injury.
The organization has 5,500 employees.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 6.6 per 100 FTEs are impacted by workforce injuries.10
According to the National Safety Council, the average cost per medically consulted injury is $40,000. This includes estimates of wage losses, medical expenses, administrative expenses, and employer costs.11
According to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, safety training reduces the impact of workplace injuries by 25%.12 As such, improved training through Cornerstone Galaxy reduces compliance costs related to workforce injuries by 25%.
Due to streamlined reporting capabilities, the organization is also able to reallocate one FTE away from compliance reporting.
The average fully burdened annual salary per reallocated FTE is $102,600.
Risks. Compliance savings may vary depending on the following:
The compliance use case and associated monetary value of noncompliance.
The number of employees within an organization.
The usage of Cornerstone trainings within an organization.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $7.4 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Employees | A1 | 5,500 | 5,500 | 5,500 | |
| E2 | Employees impacted by workplace injuries | US Bureau of Labor Statistics | 363 | 363 | 363 | |
| E3 | Average cost per medically consulted injury | National Safety Council | $40,000 | $40,000 | $40,000 | |
| E4 | Percentage credit assigned to Cornerstone Galaxy | Composite | 25% | 25% | 25% | |
| E5 | Subtotal: Avoided costs due to improved training and compliance | E2*E3*E4 | $3,630,000 | $3,630,000 | $3,630,000 | |
| E6 | Avoided FTEs for compliance reporting | Interviews | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| E7 | Average fully burdened annual salary for compliance reporting FTE | Interviews | $102,600 | $102,600 | $102,600 | |
| E8 | Subtotal: Compliance reporting savings | E6*E7 | $102,600 | $102,600 | $102,600 | |
| Et | Compliance savings | E5+E8 | $3,732,600 | $3,732,600 | $3,732,600 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓20% | |||||
| Etr | Compliance savings (risk-adjusted) | $2,986,080 | $2,986,080 | $2,986,080 | ||
| Three-year total: $8,958,240 | Three-year present value: $7,425,939 | |||||
Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:
Enhanced employee experience. Interviewees reported that Cornerstone Galaxy significantly improved employee engagement and increased development opportunities throughout their organizations. The people director at an airline emphasized the importance of providing employees with resources for personal and professional growth: “We pride ourselves on giving our team members every opportunity and every resource that they could imagine. It shows our team members that we really do care about their development.” This commitment to development has led to an increase in employee engagement, as employees feel more valued and supported in their career growth. The ability to access a wide range of learning materials and development plans through Cornerstone Galaxy has made it easier for employees to identify and pursue career pathways within the organization, fostering a culture of continuous learning and development.
The head of group talent acquisition, learning and growth at a logistics organization experienced similar results: “We’re literally questioning the data right now because we’re so blown away by the level of engagement we’ve seen with Cornerstone Galaxy. The benchmark we were using for learning system engagement was 20%, but with Cornerstone, it’s currently 56%.”
Improved candidate experience. Interviewees noted that Cornerstone Galaxy brought an added benefit of streamlining the recruitment process and providing a more consistent and engaging journey for applicants. The HR systems and analytics manager at a legal organization shared: “We wanted to reduce the number of manual tasks within the recruitment process. Now, with Cornerstone Galaxy, we have a clear line from application to onboarding, which was not possible before.” This centralization and platform’s ease of use, along with the streamlined, automated workflows has ensured that candidates receive timely updates and a seamless transition through each stage of recruitment, enhancing their overall experience. A more personalized and engaging candidate experience is crucial in attracting top talent in a competitive job market.
Improved experience for managers. The senior learning management specialist at a manufacturing organization described the impact Cornerstone Galaxy had on helping their managers improve their experience: “It’s an expectation of our management for our supervisors to be helping and facilitating that development for those who want to develop. Before Cornerstone Galaxy, managers were having discussions because they had to twice a year, but they really weren’t going anywhere. Our supervisors were very boots on the floor, and the people management side was more difficult because they didn’t know how to help their employees. Now with Cornerstone Galaxy, being able to literally just type in a keyword in the system about, say, time management or team collaboration — it takes the burden off the manager having to know what those resources are. It takes some of the fear out of helping their teams develop, and it makes managers comfortable with those conversations.”
Increased administrative efficiency. The adoption of Cornerstone Galaxy streamlined administrative processes within interviewees’ organizations. The head of learning at a media organization described how consolidating multiple learning platforms into a single system reduced administrative burdens and allowed for more efficient management of learning resources. They mentioned: “We had different admin teams administering different platforms. Now, we just need a few on one platform.” This consolidation not only reduced the time and effort required to manage learning platforms but also freed up resources to focus on strategic initiatives, ultimately enhancing organizational efficiency.
The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement Cornerstone Galaxy and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:
Enhanced data-driven decision making. Interviewees’ organizations looked forward to using centralized data gathered through Cornerstone Galaxy to inform strategic decisions. The HR systems and analytics manager at a legal organization shared: “We can plot a line through an end-to-end process to track the majority of the actions an employee takes along it. This gives use deeper insights into items such as employee lifecycle management and performance metrics.” By having all relevant data in one place, organizations can make more informed decisions about resource allocation, talent development, and process improvements, ultimately leading to better business outcomes.
Staying agile in a constantly changing work environment. Cornerstone Galaxy enables organizations to build a more agile workforce by providing tools that support flexible learning, development, and talent management strategies. The people director at an airline emphasized the potential of Cornerstone Galaxy to support dynamic talent management processes, explaining, “Our vision is to create a single view of the employee that integrates performance, development, and career progression data.” By fostering internal mobility and aligning employee development with organizational goals, companies can enhance their workforce agility and resilience.
A senior learning management specialist discussed how their manufacturing organization will mature as a skills-based organization as it rolls out Cornerstone Galaxy: “The sell for Cornerstone Galaxy was being able to see all the positions throughout the company and what skills they require. But for the employee, empowering self-directed opportunities to understand, ‘These are the skills I have now, and to be ready for the type of position I want, I need to be able to start working on those.’ Cornerstone Galaxy is where we’re going to start with identifying and developing those skills.”
Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Appendix A).
| Ref. | Cost | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ftr | License and implementation fees paid to Cornerstone | $0 | $842,928 | $612,401 | $612,401 | $2,067,729 | $1,732,520 |
| Gtr | Total internal employee costs for deployment, ongoing maintenance, and employee training time | $196,096 | $984,060 | $1,204,583 | $1,425,105 | $3,809,844 | $3,156,921 |
| Total costs (risk-adjusted) | $196,096 | $1,826,988 | $1,816,983 | $2,037,506 | $5,877,573 | $4,889,441 |
Evidence and data. The interviewees’ organizations paid Cornerstone for licensing based on the number of users and the Cornerstone Galaxy modules and features in use. Interviewees noted that Cornerstone‘s approach to pricing provided their organizations with the flexibility to select and pay for only the services and features they needed, aligning with their strategic goals and budget constraints.
The interviewees’ organizations also leveraged Cornerstone professional services for initial implementation and setup. The costs of implementation were highly customized to the needs of each client based on its size, geography, and modules deployed.
Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes:
The composite organization pays $556,728 for deploying Cornerstone Galaxy features and modules to its 5,500 employees.
The composite organization pays $209,570 for Cornerstone resources during initial implementation.
Pricing may vary. Contact Cornerstone for additional details.
Risks. Fees paid to Cornerstone may vary depending on the following:
The number of users.
The modules and features deployed.
The complexity of the organization’s technology environment.
The organization’s need for professional services.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.7 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Cost of Cornerstone licenses | Interview | $556,728 | $556,728 | $556,728 | ||
| F2 | One-time implementation fee | Interview | $209,570 | ||||
| Ft | License and implementation fees paid to Cornerstone | F1+F2 | $766,298 | $556,728 | $556,728 | ||
| Risk adjustment | ↑10% | ||||||
| Ftr | License and implementation fees paid to Cornerstone (risk-adjusted) | $0 | $842,928 | $612,401 | $612,401 | ||
| Three-year total: $2,067,729 | Three-year present value: $1,732,520 | ||||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees said that the implementation, ongoing management, and training related to Cornerstone Galaxy required the following:
Involvement from multiple organizational teams for implementing and integrating the solution within an organization’s environment. Organizations highlighted the complexity of transitioning from a fragmented system to a centralized platform, emphasizing the need for careful planning and resource allocation. The HR systems and analytics manager at a legal organization mentioned that the deployment process involved consolidating various HR functions such as recruiting and onboarding into Cornerstone Galaxy, which required coordination across different departments to ensure a smooth transition. The interviewees’ organizations took an average of six months to implement Cornerstone Galaxy, integrate it into their environment, and roll it out to different teams and departments.
FTEs involved in ongoing maintenance. Interviewees’ organizations needed resources to be involved on an ongoing basis from an HR, learning, and content development perspective to make sure the system runs smoothly. The senior learning management specialist at a manufacturing organization said that, as a one-person department, they spend 30 hours per week managing the system, including content management and troubleshooting. Despite the time commitment, the interviewee acknowledged that Cornerstone Galaxy’s flexibility and comprehensive features ultimately streamlined many administrative tasks, reducing the overall burden on these teams. The number of people involved in ongoing management scaled as organizational size increased.
Time spent on training. Employees who wanted to take advantage of the upskilling opportunities Cornerstone content provided spent an average of 1 hour per month expanding and/or elevating their skills with Cornerstone Galaxy. Employee training time constituted the majority of this cost.
Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes:
Two FTEs spend 100% of their time for six months planning and implementing Cornerstone Galaxy.
Three FTEs spend 50% of their time over six months planning and testing content.
Ten FTEs spend 2 hours per week for six months coordinating the implementation with other parts of the business.
One FTE spends 100% of their time on ongoing system ownership and maintenance for HR-related tasks.
One FTE spends 100% of their time on ongoing system ownership and maintenance for learning-related tasks.
Two FTEs spend 100% of their time on ongoing testing and content development.
The average annual fully burdened employee salary is $90,000.
The average hourly employee salary for those taking advantage of upskilling is $20.25.
Frontline employees taking advantage of upskilling spend 1 hour on training per month.
Risks. Total internal employee costs for deployment, ongoing maintenance, and employee training time may vary depending on the following:
The size, scope, and complexity of deployment and operations.
The skill set of internal FTEs involved in implementation, training, and management.
The salaries of FTEs.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $3.2 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | FTEs involved in planning and implementation time | Interviews | 2 | ||||
| G2 | Months involved full-time in planning | Interviews | 6 | ||||
| G3 | FTEs involved in planning and testing content | Interviews | 3 | ||||
| G4 | Months involved in planning and testing content | Interviews | 6 | ||||
| G5 | Percentage of time involved in planning and testing content | Interviews | 50% | ||||
| G6 | Average monthly salary | Composite | $7,500 | ||||
| G7 | Subtotal: Employee costs for planning, implementation time, and testing content | (G1*G2*G6)+(G3* G4*G5*G6) | $157,500 | ||||
| G8 | FTEs involved in business collaboration planning | Interviews | 10 | ||||
| G9 | Hours per FTE involved in business collaboration planning over six months | Interviews | 48 | ||||
| G10 | Average hourly salary | Composite | $43 | ||||
| G11 | Subtotal: Employee costs related to business collaboration planning | Interviews | $20,769 | ||||
| G12 | Average annual fully loaded employee salary | $90,000 | $90,000 | $90,000 | $90,000 | ||
| G13 | Ongoing system ownership and maintenance for HR-related tasks | 1 FTE | $90,000 | $90,000 | $90,000 | ||
| G14 | Ongoing system ownership and maintenance for learning-related tasks | 1 FTE | $90,000 | $90,000 | $90,000 | ||
| G15 | Ongoing testing and content development | 2 FTE | $180,000 | $180,000 | $180,000 | ||
| G16 | Subtotal: Employee costs related to planning, deployment, and maintenance | G5+G6+G7 | $360,000 | $360,000 | $360,000 | ||
| G17 | Average employee salary taking advantage of upskilling opportunities | C8/8 | $20.25 | $20.25 | $20.25 | ||
| G18 | Employees taking advantage of upskilling opportunities | A1*A5 | 2,200 | 3,025 | 3,850 | ||
| G19 | Hours of training per employee per month | Interview | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| G20 | Subtotal: Employee training time | (G8*G9*G10)*12 | $534,600 | $735,075 | $935,550 | ||
| Gt | Total internal employee costs for deployment, ongoing maintenance, and employee training time | G7+G11+G16+G20 | $178,269 | $894,600 | $1,095,075 | $1,295,550 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↑10% | ||||||
| Gtr | Total internal employee costs for deployment, ongoing maintenance, and employee training time (risk-adjusted) | $196,096 | $984,060 | $1,204,583 | $1,425,105 | ||
| Three-year total: $3,809,844 | Three-year present value: $3,156,921 | ||||||
| Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total costs | ($196,096) | ($1,826,988) | ($1,816,983) | ($2,037,506) | ($5,877,573) | ($4,889,441) |
| Total benefits | $0 | $10,195,806 | $10,718,056 | $11,197,036 | $32,110,898 | $26,539,311 |
| Net benefits | ($196,096) | $8,368,818 | $8,901,073 | $9,159,530 | $26,233,325 | $21,649,870 |
| ROI | 443% | |||||
| Payback | <6 months |
The financial results calculated in the Benefits and Costs sections can be used to determine the ROI, NPV, and payback period for the composite organization’s investment. Forrester assumes a yearly discount rate of 10% for this analysis.
These risk-adjusted ROI, NPV, and payback period values are determined by applying risk-adjustment factors to the unadjusted results in each Benefit and Cost section.
The initial investment column contains costs incurred at “time 0” or at the beginning of Year 1 that are not discounted. All other cash flows are discounted using the discount rate at the end of the year. PV calculations are calculated for each total cost and benefit estimate. NPV calculations in the summary tables are the sum of the initial investment and the discounted cash flows in each year. Sums and present value calculations of the Total Benefits, Total Costs, and Cash Flow tables may not exactly add up, as some rounding may occur.
From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a Total Economic Impact™ framework for those organizations considering an investment in Cornerstone Galaxy
The objective of the framework is to identify the cost, benefit, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the impact that Cornerstone Galaxy can have on an organization.
Interviewed Cornerstone stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to Cornerstone Galaxy.
Interviewed five decision-makers at organizations using Cornerstone Galaxy to obtain data about costs, benefits, and risks.
Designed a composite organization based on characteristics of the interviewees’ organizations.
Constructed a financial model representative of the interviews using the TEI methodology and risk-adjusted the financial model based on issues and concerns of the interviewees.
Employed four fundamental elements of TEI in modeling the investment impact: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks. Given the increasing sophistication of ROI analyses related to IT investments, Forrester’s TEI methodology provides a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions. Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology.
Benefits represent the value the solution delivers to the business. The TEI methodology places equal weight on the measure of benefits and costs, allowing for a full examination of the solution’s effect on the entire organization.
Costs comprise all expenses necessary to deliver the proposed value, or benefits, of the solution. The methodology captures implementation and ongoing costs associated with the solution.
Flexibility represents the strategic value that can be obtained for some future additional investment building on top of the initial investment already made. The ability to capture that benefit has a PV that can be estimated.
Risks measure the uncertainty of benefit and cost estimates given: 1) the likelihood that estimates will meet original projections and 2) the likelihood that estimates will be tracked over time. TEI risk factors are based on “triangular distribution.”
The present or current value of (discounted) cost and benefit estimates given at an interest rate (the discount rate). The PV of costs and benefits feed into the total NPV of cash flows.
The present or current value of (discounted) future net cash flows given an interest rate (the discount rate). A positive project NPV normally indicates that the investment should be made unless other projects have higher NPVs.
A project’s expected return in percentage terms. ROI is calculated by dividing net benefits (benefits less costs) by costs.
The interest rate used in cash flow analysis to take into account the time value of money. Organizations typically use discount rates between 8% and 16%.
The breakeven point for an investment. This is the point in time at which net benefits (benefits minus costs) equal initial investment or cost.
Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists solution providers in communicating their value proposition to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of business and technology initiatives to both senior management and other key stakeholders.
1 Source: You Need Skills Intelligence Technology To Master A Skills-Based Talent Practice, Forrester Research, Inc., June 27, 2023.
2 Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
3 Source: Carina Cortez and Mike Bollinger, Workforce Agility for Dummies, Cornerstone, 2024.
4 Source: A Skills-Based Talent Strategy Is Central To An Adaptive Organization, Forrester Research, Inc., September 26, 2022.
5 Source: SHRM Benchmarking: Human Capital Report, Society For Human Resource Management, November 2021.
6 Source: SHRM Benchmarking: Talent Access Report, Society For Human Resource Management, 2022.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Survey, May 2023.
10 Source: Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, 2021–2022, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 8, 2023.
11 Source: Work Injury Costs, NSC, N.D.
12 Source: Alexander Cohen and Michael J. Colligan, Assessing Occupational Safety and Health Training, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Publications Dissemination, 1998.
Readers should be aware of the following:
This study is commissioned by Cornerstone and delivered by Forrester Consulting. It is not meant to be used as a competitive analysis.
Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive. Forrester strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided in the study to determine the appropriateness of an investment in Cornerstone Galaxy. For any interactive functionality, the intent is for the questions to solicit inputs specific to a prospect's business. Forrester believes that this analysis is representative of what companies may achieve with Cornerstone Galaxy based on the inputs provided and any assumptions made. Forrester does not endorse Cornerstone or its offerings. Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this model, Cornerstone and Forrester Research are unable to accept any legal responsibility for any actions taken on the basis of the information contained herein. The interactive tool is provided ‘AS IS,’ and Forrester and Cornerstone make no warranties of any kind.
Cornerstone reviewed and provided feedback to Forrester, but Forrester maintains editorial control over the study and its findings and does not accept changes to the study that contradict Forrester’s findings or obscure the meaning of the study.
Cornerstone provided the customer names for the interviews but did not participate in the interviews.
Amy Harrison
September 2024
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