Big picture, helicopter view, stepping back — however you describe it, taking a wider business view of what learning and development (L&D) contributes to an organisation’s bottom line is the latest way to protect training budgets in the boardroom.
Here I’ll explain how training professionals can defend (and even grow) their budgets by designing learning programmes that focus on business outcomes, not just learning outcomes.
As training professionals, when we create a training programme we ask ourselves questions about learning objectives and competency building. We perform a thorough training need analysis (TNA) to determine the learning objectives, resulting in a learning roadmap with innovative methodologies. Where appropriate, we use technology-enhanced learning to reduce the cost of delivery. In short, we do more for less.
But still we are faced with cost reductions because training is often not a high priority in the boardroom. To demonstrate the value added by L&D, we evaluate training using the Kirkpatrick‘s Learning Evaluation model, motivate learners and get very positive feedback. But what’s the real ROI? And why does the L&D budget still get cut?
Sundar Balasubramanian, Director, BT Learning Solutions, BT Global Services
The problem lies in the way we measure RoI. We compare the new delivery mechanisms with the old to claim RoI but we forget to ask the question: what would happen if we did nothing?
To design effective learning programmes we need to take a step back and focus on business outcomes, not just learning outcomes. We need to ask business questions before we get into the detail of competences and learning outcomes and we need to incorporate measurement in the initial design.
All this starts with the definition of a business objective and planning the measurement of the business success resulting from the training programme. This isn’t easy and requires more upfront discussion, a broader approach in training design and rigorous data analysis. But it will mean training professionals can prove the business impact or the real RoI of training. And this will mean that the next time budgets are cut, training is not the first area for the chop.
BT Learning Solutions partnering with Tracoin recently hosted a seminar on RoI for training programmes moderated by Jane Massy, an expert in the measurement of training results at a boardroom level. This will soon be followed by a workshop leading to a Professional Certification.
To find out more about how BT Learning Solutions can help your organisation add value with L&D please get in touch via our page on BT.com or join the debate by leaving a comment below; we’d welcome your views.
To read other articles from Sundar, please click here.
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