When presenting a proposed training program to senior leadership, don’t make the mistake of getting caught only discussing the ROI. Executives expect something much different in a true business case. In this webinar we’ll cover the basic 5 elements to include in your business case for employee training: 1. Scenario analysis – most likely outcomes, best case and worst case. 2. Link each expected benefit of the solution to an expected operational effect. 3. Identify the KPI (key performance indicator) for each benefit. 4. State the risk of not taking the proposed action. 5. Align proposal with organization’s strategic goals. www.bizlibrary.com

2. ?
THE MOST COMMON
OBJECTION FROM SENIOR
EXECUTIVES ABOUT
LEARNING INITIATIVES IS…

3. ?
IN YOUR ORGANIZATION,
WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST
CHALLENGES WITH CHANGE…

4. WHAT WE HOPE YOU’LL
TAKE-AWAY
How to communicate the cost justification and
strategic impact of your training initiatives.
Understand your current situation, where you
want to be and when and how you will get
there.
How to communicate how your plan will benefit
the overall organizational goals.

5. Executives Want to See More Impact and Value
RANKED
IMPORTANCE
TO EXEC’S
MEASURE
LEARNING
EVALUATION
LEVEL
EXAMPLE
CURRENTLY
MEASURED
1 Impact 4 “The Accel project contributed 20% to
our reduction in error rates this fiscal.”
8%
2 Value 5 “Within one year, the East program will
achieve a 2:1 benefit-cost ratio.”
4%
3 Awards 0 “Our learning program won an award
from Chief Learning Officer magazine.”
40%
4 Application 3 “78% are applying their new skills to their
jobs”
11%
5 Learning 2 “92% of participants increased their
skills”
32%
6 Activity 0 “Last year 7,800 employees participated
in our learning programs”
94%
7 Efficiency 0 “Formal learning costs $2.15 per hour” 78%
8 Reaction 1 “Employees rated our training very high
with an average of 4.5 on a 5 point
scale”
53%
Source: How Executives View Learning Metrics by Patti and
Jack Phillips, CLO Magazine, Dec 2010

6. 58%SKILLS
Organizations with a strong learning culture
significantly outperform their peers…
INNOVATION 46%
PRODUCTIVITY 37%
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
33%
PROFITABILITY 17%

7. ELEMENTS OF A BUSINESS
CASE
SCENARIO ANALYSIS
Best, most likely, worst
CAUSE/EFFECT ANALYSIS
Link to specific benefits
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
RISK OF THE STATUS QUO
Risk of no investment
ALIGN WITH ORGANIZATIONAL
GOALS

8. It takes all the running you can do, to
keep in the same place.
If you want to get somewhere else,
you must run at least twice as fast as
that.
The Red Queen
Through the Looking Glass
by Lewis Carroll

9. RISKS OF THE STATUS QUO
What could happen to the company's
bottom line?
Could the company lose customers?
Or market share?
Could some future costs be avoided if the
investment is made today?
SCENARIO
ANALYSIS
CAUSE/
EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH
BENEFIT
RISK OF THE
STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH
ORG’S GOALS

10. Organizations with comprehensive
training programs:
Higher income per employee
than those with less comprehensive training.
Higher profit margin than those
who spend less on training.
Higher shareholder return
if the training expenditure per employee increases
by $680.
SOURCE: Association of Talent Development

11. Most likely results
Best case scenario
Worst case scenario
SCENARIO ANALYSIS
SCENARIO
ANALYSIS
CAUSE/
EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH
BENEFIT
RISK OF THE
STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH
ORG’S GOALS

12. Your training program improves the
employee’s ability to do the job.
That improvement has a positive impact on
the business.
That impact results in a financial benefit to
the company.
CAUSE / EFFECT ANALYSIS
SCENARIO
ANALYSIS
CAUSE/
EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH
BENEFIT
RISK OF THE
STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH
ORG’S GOALS

14. BUSINESS IMPACT
IMPROVE EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN AREAS
THAT IMPROVE ORGANIZATIONAL OUTCOMES

15. COST JUSTIFIED VS. ROI
QUALITY
EFFECTIVENESS
BUSINESS RESULTS
JOB IMPACT

16. REPORT: VALUE OF TRAINING ON WRITING SKILLS FOR
ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES AND CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS
Goal: Reduce turn around time on bug fixes from an average
of 21 days to 10 days.
x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x
x x x

17. $1,155,000
80% OF THE BUGS REQUIRED A RETURN OF
THE WRITTEN REPORT TO THE REP FOR
CLARIFICATION.
$50 / DAY – OVER 6 MONTHS – 1,100 BUGS
VALUE:
The expected value to be gained is measured by using the average
revenue lost for each day the service is down for customers due to
sloppy or unclear written explanations of bugs to the programmers.

18. TRAINING COSTS:
Human Resources: $90,000
Reps: $300.000
Total = $390,000
VALUE ADDED FROM IMPROVED PERFORMANCE:
500 reps X $600/day/rep
Access to online writing courses including time to take and complete 5 courses
each and successfully complete writing evaluations to prove increased skills. 2 HR
reps needed to administer program and build writing evaluations.
IMPACT:
• Less than 10% of written reports of bugs
were returned for rewrites in 6 months
after program.
• Average bug fix reduced from 21 days to
12 days.
• Total bugs affected 1,210.
TOTAL VALUE GAINED:
$544,500 ON A $390,000 PROGRAM

19. Identify the KPI for the business problems
you are trying to solve.
What will improved performance
look like, and how will we know?
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
SCENARIO
ANALYSIS
CAUSE/
EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH
BENEFIT
RISK OF THE
STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH
ORG’S GOALS

20. A process of continuous adjustment to keep
the parts in their correct relative position.
GOAL ALIGNMENT
SCENARIO
ANALYSIS
CAUSE/
EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH
BENEFIT
RISK OF THE
STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH
ORG’S GOALS

21. Will employees participate, use it etc…
What are the costs? What’s the value?
Is the learning initiative relevant to our
business needs?
BARRIERS TO PROGRAM
ADOPTION

22. RESISTANCE SUCCESS STRATEGIES
No Help
• Create an advisory committee
• Use a coach
• Ask supervisors for support and provide them tools
Communication
• Work with your internal learning team to develop strategies for high-
level and end-user communication
Not Enough Time
• Focus on just-in-time learning: search and learn, job aids
• Deliver kickoff events, blended learning, learning labs
• Emphasize time management courses
• Create learning in progress signs
Fear and Anxiety
• Nurture safety and trust with perceived freedom of choice
• Focus on individual needs and help folks to see the benefits of having
online learning available
Not Relevant
• Emphasize on-the-job application
• Understand the goals of others and ask questions: “how can you use
this initiative to meet your goals?”

23. WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR
TRAINING - Case Study
CHALLENGE: Making time for
training
SOLUTION:
TAG TRAINING –
5-10 minutes for a video
Tag cube neighbor
Discuss at the end of the day
BENEFIT: Maintain workflow
and service standard

24. YOUR BUSINESS CASE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (1 page)
Objective sentence and bullet points on each key element.
CURRENT SITUATION (1-2 pages)
The business challenges being addressed and business goals
to be met.
PROPOSED SOLUTION (2-3 pages)
Explanation of the solution – include a simple statement of
each expected benefit and risk assessment of the status quo.
1
2
3

25. YOUR BUSINESS CASE
EXPLANATION OF BUSINESS BENEFITS (2-3 pages)
A thorough analysis of the bottom-line impact including
business benefit gains and costs of the proposed solution
(ROI) EMPHASIS on business benefits.
CONCLUSION (1page)
Executives will “bottom-line” it, so they will inevitably read the
summary and conclusion before reading anything else. Be
concise and cover each major element of business case.
SUPPORTING MATERIAL (3-4 pages)
Include key supporting material, data and research.
4
5
6

26. 1. Don’t get stuck on ROI only. Communicate the cost
justification and strategic impact of your training
initiatives.
2. Plan and organize. Understand your current situation,
where you want to be and when and how you will get
there.
3. Know the facts and risks back it up with data.
4. Communicate how your plan will benefit the overall
organizational goals.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS

27. Executing Your Plan

28. Overcoming Resistance

29. WWW.BIZLIBRARY.COM/FREE-TRIAL
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30. Jessica Petry
Sr. Marketing Specialist
jpetry@bizlibrary.com
@JessLPetry
@BizLibrary
Chris Osborn
Vice President of Marketing
cosborn@bizlibrary.com
@chrisosbornstl
#BIZWEBINAR