How to Measure the ROI of Employee Development with Katja Kempe

Businesses invest thousands—or even millions—of dollars into employee coaching, leadership development, mentoring, and training. But how do they know whether those investments are actually improving the bottom line?

On this episode of Pivot to Profit, Pam Jordan sits down with Katja Kempe, founder and CEO of Viveka, a human capital technology platform designed to connect people-development initiatives directly to measurable business outcomes.

Katja’s career spans marketing, consulting, strategy, and leadership roles within international law firms. Her experience gave her an inside look at how well-run organizations operate—and eventually helped her connect two passions: business strategy and human development. That combination became the foundation for Viveka.

One of the biggest challenges Katja sees is that companies often measure the wrong things. Completion rates, attendance, and employee satisfaction can provide useful information, but they don’t necessarily reveal whether training is producing meaningful business results.

Instead, Katja encourages organizations to examine metrics tied more directly to performance and profitability, including productivity, sales performance, retention, turnover, absenteeism, and even legal costs. Viveka integrates data from an organization’s existing systems and compares those numbers with coaching and development initiatives to help businesses understand what is actually working.

That shift can transform employee development from something viewed simply as a cost center into an investment capable of driving profitability. Katja explains that organizations may be spending significant amounts on programs without understanding which initiatives are producing ROI—or which ones employees aren’t actually using.

Pam and Katja also discuss the financial metrics Viveka tracks internally, including annual recurring revenue (ARR), monthly recurring revenue (MRR), and gross profit margins. For business owners, it’s another reminder that the right numbers depend on the business model—but knowing which numbers matter is essential for sustainable growth.

Looking ahead, Katja sees AI as an opportunity to make human coaching more effective rather than replace it. By combining technology, data, and human interaction, she believes organizations can make smarter investments in their people while measuring the business impact those investments create.

Listen to this episode of Pivot to Profit for Pam and Katja’s conversation about measuring employee development ROI, using workforce analytics, and turning people development into a measurable driver of business performance.