how to build a business case for online employee training | webinar 12.02.14
DESCRIPTION
How do communicate the value of your new training initiative and get it approved? In this webinar we’ll cover 5 easy to execute elements to include in your business case for employee training. www.bizlibrary.comTRANSCRIPT
? THE MOST COMMON OBJECTION FROM SENIOR EXECUTIVES ABOUT LEARNING INITIATIVES IS…
? IN YOUR ORGANIZATION, WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES WITH CHANGE…
WHAT WE HOPE YOU’LL LEARN
The core elements of a business case.
Anticipating and overcoming the most common objections from your senior executives
SCENARIO ANALYSIS
CAUSE/ EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
RISK OF THE STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH ORG’S 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
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SCENARIO ANALYSIS
4
5
CAUSE/EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
RISK OF THE STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS
5 KEY ELEMENTS OF A BUSINESS CASE
RISKS OF THE STATUS QUO
What could happen to the company's bottom line?
SCENARIO ANALYSIS
CAUSE/ EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
RISK OF THE STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH ORG’S GOALS
Could the company lose customers? Or market share?
Could some future costs be avoided if the investment is made today?
WHY VIDEO AND ELEARNING? COST
Reduce training budget without
sacrificing effectiveness
REACH More employees, at lower
cost
TRAVEL Reduce or eliminate travel costs
PRODUCTIVITY Ensure productivity and
minimize away from work
FEATURE BENEFIT
EFFICIENT Capable of teaching the same material in less time and reducing the
duration of class time
ADAPTABLE Addresses both formal and informal learning needs
AVAILABLE No need to schedule learning with a 24x7x365 solution
SCALABLE Reaches more employees faster and with greater consistency
EFFECTIVE Found to be as effective as face-to-face learning*
ECONOMICAL Cost -effective for any size audience
*U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, Evaluation of
Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies,
Washington, D.C., 2009, revised 2010.
ONLINE LEARNING MAKES SENSE
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
SCENARIO ANALYSIS
Most likely results
SCENARIO ANALYSIS
CAUSE/ EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
RISK OF THE STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH ORG’S GOALS
Best case scenario
Worst case scenario
CAUSE/EFFECT ANALYSIS
Your training program improves the employee’s ability to do the job.
SCENARIO ANALYSIS
CAUSE/ EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
RISK OF THE STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH ORG’S GOALS
That improvement has a positive impact on the business.
That impact results in a financial benefit to the company.
BUSINESS IMPACT
IMPROVE EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN AREAS THAT IMPROVE ORGANIZATIONAL OUTCOMES
COST JUSTIFIED VS. ROI
QUALITY . EFFECTIVENESS . JOB IMPACT .
BUSINESS RESULTS
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
$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.
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
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
Identify the KPI for the business problems you are trying to solve.
SCENARIO ANALYSIS
CAUSE/ EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
RISK OF THE STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH ORG’S GOALS
What will improved performance look like, and how will we know?
GOAL ALIGNMENT
A process of continuous adjustment to keep the parts in their correct relative position.
SCENARIO ANALYSIS
CAUSE/ EFFECT ANALYSIS
KPI’S FOR EACH BENEFIT
RISK OF THE STATUS QUO
ALIGN WITH ORG’S GOALS
BARRIERS TO PROGRAM ADOPTION
Will employees participate, use it etc…
What are the costs? What’s the value?
Is the learning initiative relevant to our business needs?
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?”
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.
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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.
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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
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