Dive Brief:
- HR leaders have heard it many time. If they want approval for a new initiative or program, they will have to tell C-suite denizens how the effort will affect the bottom line – particularly with learning programs, according to CLO Media.
- Author Doug Stephen, senior vice president for the learning division at CGS, a global provider of business applications, enterprise learning and outsourcing services, writes that in his firm's 2016 Enterprise Learning Annual Report, one of the top challenges nearly 200 senior-level corporate learning professionals reported facing was getting resources, including budget, to fuel programs.
- Getting over this hurdle is strongly connected to the inability to show value to C-level executives, Stephen writes, and to land that support, learning professionals need to make a clear, strong business case, including metrics that show just how ROI will be achieved.
Dive Insight:
Stephen lays out several best practices in convincing C-Suite to loosen the purse strings. One is to use available data to lay out business need and projected success. For customer-facing learning programs, offer feedback data to determine the type of learning employees need as well as what qualifies as success. If the the goal is improved management or employee engagement, offer retention data as ROI.
He adds that all learning must be built with a business goal in mind. Short-term goals are key, so that success occurs throughout the process. It's also a great chance to engage the C-suite.
When presenting the program’s value to the C-suite, tailor the messages for each audience, whether it's the CEO, CFO, CMO, etc. Most of all, Stephen writes, be accurate, as inaccuracies in reporting can cause the C-suite to reconsider the original decision to invest.
