How did you calculate the ROI of the Confidence Academy program?

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The Program ROI (13.9x) is calculated by dividing the net cost savings—achieved by being able to promote an internal female employee into a leadership role after she went through our confidence coaching —by the cost of a pilot program, compared against the costs of hiring external candidates. 

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Program Return Multiple (13.9x) = Net Cost Savings (EUR 700,570) / Program Investment (EUR 50,500)

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This ROI highlights the effectiveness of our talent development program, the Confidence Academy - and it shows that you make a small investment compared to the impact and financial benefit your business will see. ​

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What data is your ROI based on?

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Our ROI is grounded in historical data from 206 corporate alumni and their companies between 2021 and 2026. We track each participant’s career progression post-program through annual surveys, 1-on-1 interviews, and verified career tracking.

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What assumptions have you used in the ROI calculation?

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We work with global organizations across multiple sectors. We calculated the ROI for a standard pilot (14 participants/2 groups): 

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• Cohort Size: We recommend to start with a minimum pilot cohort of 14 participants.

• Promotion Rate: Within 24 months of completing the program, an average of 50% (7 participants) are promoted into leadership roles.

• Program Attribution: We only include promotions where participants explicitly confirm that the Confidence Academy accelerated or enabled their promotion readiness.

• Role Breakdown: Across a 14-person cohort, the 7 promoted participants average 5 mid-level promotions (Managers & Leads) and 2 senior promotions (Directors).

• Benchmark Roles: We used data from a partner company that started with a minimum pilot that helped 7 of their 14 participants to get promoted into the following roles: Director of Product Management, Director of HR, Procurement Manager, Factory Training Lead, Territory Distribution Manager, Regional Manager, and IT Project Lead.

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How did you calculate the net savings from joining the Confidence Academy?

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Net savings represent the avoided cost of hiring external candidates minus internal transitions and program expenses:

Net Savings (EUR 700,570) = External Hiring Expenses (EUR 1,121,000) -  (Internal Transition Costs (EUR 369,930) + Pilot Investment (EUR 50,500))

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Let’s dive deeper into this. How were the costs for hiring external candidates calculated?

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Research from analytics firm Gallup and the bank NatWest indicates that replacing leaders and managers with external candidates costs 150% to 200% of their annual salary. Only a small part of that cost are search & interviewing fees. An accurate estimate needs to include (and in their calculation does include) lost team productivity during vacancies, and the ramp-up lag required for an external hire to adapt to internal processes and corporate dynamics needed to reach full productivity. We applied the conservative lower bound (150%) to the benchmark roles used in this calculation.

Salaries were benchmarked using partner company data across Europe and the US, supplemented by 2026 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Where pay ranges applied, we used the lowest salary tier, as internally promoted candidates typically enter at the start of a pay band:

• Director, Product Management: EUR 120,000

• Director, HR: EUR 103,000

• Procurement Manager: EUR 80,000

• Factory Training Lead: EUR 46,000

• Territory Distribution Manager: EUR 200,000

• Regional Manager: EUR 120,000

• IT Project Lead: EUR 78,000

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How were internal transition costs calculated?

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Research from AMS (a Korn Ferry Company) and The Josh Bersin Company estimates that internal promotions reduce overall placement costs by 67% to 80% compared to hiring external candidates. Internal transition costs account for promotional salary increases, lower-tier role backfilling, and ongoing role training. We applied the conservative estimate (a 67% cost reduction) to each salary/role used in this calculation to calculate internal transition expenses.

 

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I would like to know something else.​

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Reach out to us at office@wingwomen.org.

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