When budgets are under pressure, learning and development is often first on the chopping block. But cutting back could mean that companies miss out on long-term wins. Caroline Evans shares how L&D teams can get the decision-makers on-side, prove their value and deliver high-impact learning, even when every pound counts
In an ever-changing business landscape – from AI adoption, all the way through to staying afloat in an era where geopolitical tensions are impacting the supply chain – we’re seeing seismic shifts in how businesses operate. As a result, strategic investment in employee growth is now significantly more than a ‘nice to have’ – it’s no longer just about sharpening skillsets; it directly impacts an organisation’s bottom line.
Show how every pound invested translates into measurable returns
For L&D teams, the challenge is clear: convincing decision-makers to prioritise L&D spending, even under tightening financial constraints. By demonstrating the strategic value of development programmes, and aligning these with core business goals, L&D teams can ensure learning remains a pivotal part of the company’s trajectory.
Craft a solid business case for L&D
To secure buy-in from business leaders, L&D must be positioned as an essential programme that drives measurable and tangible value.
What’s important is illustrating how a strong L&D strategy aligns directly with critical business outcomes. We know trying to measure the correlation between a strong learning pathway and its positive impact on a business can be tricky, but the connection becomes clearer when we consider productivity.
The caveat is that measuring productivity can be influenced by several factors, but the undeniable link lies in how well-equipped and engaged employees drive innovation, efficiency and overall organisational success. As such, L&D teams need to think more about the measurable changes.
Target employee turnover
One example of this would be looking at employee turnover. The majority (84%) of employees agree learning adds purpose to their work, and businesses with strong career development programmes often see higher rates of engaged learners and internal promotions – and by proxy, reduced turnover rates.
The CIPD has also noted that organisations with robust L&D strategies often see higher internal mobility and lower external recruitment costs. As a result, an alternative way to build the business case for L&D is to highlight metrics like the cost savings of internal promotions over external hiring.
Plug skills gaps
Another area to explore is how strategic training programmes can mitigate skill shortages. Partnering with a learning provider can help here, working with businesses to demonstrate how training can mitigate skill shortages, ensuring productivity doesn’t suffer from gaps in workforce capabilities.
The important thing is to ensure L&D is positioned as a solution to an existing problem or challenge. Framing any learning initiative alongside tangible numbers – whether that’s around reducing employee turnover, skill building or cost savings – is vital. Show how every pound invested translates into measurable returns.
Show that training programmes are in demand
To build on this and further the business case, I’d also advise gathering data directly from employees to showcase the demand for L&D programmes. Surveys or focus groups can help to identify the skills employees feel they need to build to perform effectively. If employees indicate that training is critical to them achieving higher performance or building their ability to adapt to evolving roles, L&D teams can use their voices to strengthen the case with leadership.
It’s important to define KPIs for measuring outcomes, such as employee performance improvements, productivity increases or reductions in recruitment costs. Share these regularly with leadership to keep them engaged and highlight the programme’s ongoing value.
Align L&D with wider business goals
One of the most crucial steps in securing buy-in is connecting L&D to the larger organisational strategy. Training programmes should clearly align with short and long-term business objectives.
Here, it’s important to start with the company’s immediate priorities. Any learning provider, when onboarding a new business partner, should always start with questions like: is the organisation focusing on scaling operations, improving customer satisfaction or introducing new technologies? Once we know the answer to this, we can design L&D programmes that directly support these goals, ensuring the skills learnt are having a direct impact on them.
By positioning L&D as a mechanism to prevent costly business challenges, L&D teams can reframe the conversation from ‘cuttable expense’ to ‘non-negotiable investment’
For instance, if customer satisfaction is a priority, offering training on service excellence or communication skills can help. Or if the business is implementing new technology, creating initiatives to upskill employees on the tools they’ll need to succeed will be more useful. When L&D directly maps to leadership priorities, budget sign-off becomes a much smaller hurdle.
Highlight the risks
Learning teams should also be equipped to explain how cutting back on development initiatives can leave the organisation exposed to risks. For example, outdated practices in compliance-heavy industries could cause costly errors, and a lack of leadership development could result in succession gaps when roles inevitably need to be filled. On a basic level, where an existing workforce doesn’t have the right skills, businesses will need to hire additional people who do.
It’s important to note, however, that one size doesn’t fit all. Creating individual learning and upskilling pathways for each employee is vital to keep them engaged while simultaneously meeting the business’ projections. By positioning L&D as a mechanism to prevent costly business challenges, L&D teams can reframe the conversation from ‘cuttable expense’ to ‘non-negotiable investment’.
Showcase short-term wins
While the long-term benefits of L&D are important, businesses under financial stress usually want to see immediate results from any learning spend. As a result, where possible, L&D teams should focus on quick wins.
For example, AI adoption is rife, and the need to upskill is urgent. In LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report, only 36% of organisations are currently classified as “career development champions”, with robust programmes yielding business results. These champions are 42% more likely to be frontrunners in generative AI (GAI) adoption compared to others. They’re also much more likely to report higher levels of confidence in their ability to be profitable (75% vs 64%), attract qualified talent (71% vs 58%) and retain employees (51% vs 36%).
As such, we’d recommend introducing short interventions, which allow employees to enhance skills and apply learning relevant to daily tasks more quickly, so leadership teams can see the instant benefit. This is made even better with on-the-job coaching and mentoring for real-time improvements in productivity. By fostering short-term gains, L&D teams can establish credibility and position training as a valuable investment.
Build a cost-effective L&D programme
Budget constraints don’t have to limit L&D’s effectiveness. There are many ways to maximise impact with minimal financial investment. L&D teams can accelerate their efforts with cost-efficient, scalable digital tools. From eLearning platforms to AI-powered quizzes, technology allows employees to access development opportunities anytime, anywhere.
Businesses can host webinars, develop prerecorded video tutorials or use learning management systems to share curated learning content. There are so many approaches that offer high reach and scalability without incurring excessive costs.
Added to this, numerous online platforms, webinars and open-source courses offer affordable training options, and these can be supplemented with action learning and impact workshops to tailor content to an organisation’s specific needs.
To remain cost-effective, L&D teams should also prioritise cross-functional skill building that benefits the organisation across multiple areas. For example:
- Leadership development for mid to high-level employees.
- Communication and collaboration skills, especially for hybrid or remote workers.
- Resilience and adaptability training for navigating change.
Each of these areas drives productivity and morale, with applications in multiple roles – widening the impact and boosting many different areas of the business.
Create a culture of learning
Finally, securing buy-in isn’t just about the initial proposal. It’s about embedding a culture where learning is simply and broadly recognised as critical to business success. As such, it needs buy-in from everyone in the company.
It might seem like a big ask, but when focusing on the following, it should be much simpler:
Demonstrate leadership support – Encourage leaders to actively champion L&D efforts by attending or hosting sessions themselves. Leading by example reinforces the value of learning across the company.
Reward participation – Celebrate employees who actively engage in development programmes. Recognising their efforts through shout-outs, awards or opportunities for advancement can inspire others to follow suit.
Embed learning in daily work – Show employees that learning doesn’t happen exclusively in classrooms or online modules. Creating collaborative projects or stretch assignments encourages continuous growth while building connections between teams.
It’s time to get strategic
When positioned strategically, L&D becomes more than just another budget line item. It turns into a powerful lever for achieving business goals, attracting top talent and ensuring long-term organisational success.
L&D teams wield immense potential to champion this perspective and design programmes that demonstrate clear value. With a strong business case, alignment to company priorities and cost-efficient execution, L&D can transform from a ‘nice-to-have’ to an essential component of business strategy.
Caroline Evans is VP of Enterprise Sales at FutureLearn
