To be sure of getting approval for any investment, a business case needs to be watertight. You need to show the return on the investment for your programme and, if possible, demonstrate added value in how it will drive the business forward.
Make sure you’ve covered each of these 4 considerations in your business case for investment.
1. Identify the basic needs that exist
We believe it’s critical to drill down into the development needs of the business because sometimes, what manifests on the surface isn’t where the exact problem lies. Take sales training. Often, companies will push their entire team through some basic sales training because they need to tighten up their process and generate more leads.
However, this generic training won’t necessarily flush out and solve the root cause of the failure to reach targets and exceed results.
When we engage with a client, we create a tailored ‘development prioritiser’ to find out exactly where there are skills gaps. We do this by investigating the sales process, understanding what skills are required at each stage, and then carrying out a 360o feedback exercise against those skills. We interview the people in the sales roles, as well as their peers and leaders. In doing this, we identify the skills gap so any training given will then address the root of the problem.
You can’t get a better investment than one that’s tailored to solve your precise issue, which is exactly why we work in this way.
2. Understand the key behaviours and mindsets linked to your revenue goals
Not every sales team is chasing more leads. Sometimes, the problem can be the length of time it takes to close a sale, or even the percentage closed in total. It’s important to understand which skills are a priority in order for you to achieve your revenue goals. It might be the confidence and negotiation skills needed to close a sale, or the ability to demonstrate value during a sales conversation.
If you’re not sure of your priorities, go back to your current strategy and pick the competencies that need improvement and which directly align with it.
Whatever the priority, we then address it in your bespoke transformation programme and give you direct visibility of the impact on the bottom line.
3. Dig for treasure
Everything we do starts with looking at what your people believe to be true. You can train someone as much as you like, but if they have a limiting belief in terms of their capability, the training will not have the impact you need it to.
We know that beliefs drive behaviours, which drive outcomes. So we start with beliefs and help people to challenge these as part of the transformation programme we deliver. This approach guarantees sustainable change that continues long after our programme. It also means you avoid junk learning – where lots of people go through lots of training and don’t identify with it, meaning the actual learning that is taken away can be minimal.
It’s therefore a much better return on investment as you won’t have to keep repeating the training when it ‘wears off’.
4. Make it manageable
One of the problems with learning interventions that fail is biting off more than you can chew. Businesses still need to function, and budgets need to add up, so we are big fans of working with our clients over the medium to long term.
Once we’ve identified where your skills gaps are, we ask you to prioritise them. This might mean you pick a few that will have a big impact in the short term and then follow up with those that will create longer-term impact but don’t need addressing immediately. It is important to remember that learning and development is at its most effective as an ongoing journey, not a single event.
Doing this means you spread the impact of the programme on business as usual, leaving teams in place delivering their day jobs while others go through the programme. Additionally, by taking this prioritised approach, you maximise the overall benefit to the business by addressing everything that needs improvement in a way that will deliver the right increase in performance at the right time.
About to launch your transformation project? Make sure you remember the importance of communicating this programme launch to employees correctly – read our blog here.
