It’s no news that investing in employee training and development is pivotal to the success of every organisation that wants to remain competitive. However, this requires top-level leadership buy-in for training before the resources for any new initiatives can be approved.
This can be a recurring problem for many learning managers as they often find it challenging to get senior leadership buy-in for their learning initiatives. It is not enough to create training content and plan its delivery. What makes a successful training programme is how well learning managers can secure leadership buy-in from senior management.
Having that support will not only reinforce the importance of your learning initiative but also establish appropriate expectations. Now, how do you secure this support the right way?
Here are six tips that will help you become the internal advocate for training and show how to work with your C-suite team to create a truly successful strategy that drives impactful learning.
How to Get Leadership Buy-in for Training Success
Know your leaders and what they want
CEOs are your first customers. They are concerned with how changes to any business processes will impact the bottom line. Hence, you must know exactly what they want to hear.
Seek to understand their goals and key performance indicators. Understanding business KPIs will help determine how best to tailor your business case for training. Consider how they like to consume information. Do they prefer detailed narratives or numerical key facts, or pictorial representation?
How do you accurately present and deliver your proposal in a relevant way to each stakeholder?Identifying this upfront will encourage them to be more receptive to your proposal, which will increase your chances of securing leadership buy-in.
Define key success metrics and how they affect business results
Successful learning and development programmes must be tied to a clear return on investment (ROI) because management wants the same thing it has always wanted; results.
Senior leaders want to know what success looks like and the metrics for measuring success. This will give them greater satisfaction and motivation to buy into your idea. Therefore, learning leaders must appropriately seek to answer their key concern: “How much has employee performance and productivity increased due to your learning initiatives?”
Therefore, it is important to plan and review how the training initiative you are proposing will make or save more money for the organisation in the long run. Everything must be linked to specific results that need to be achieved to guarantee a great return on investment.
Sharing such in-depth information paints a good perception of you that you have done your homework and put pen to paper.
Align initiative effort to organisation strategy
Your learning initiatives will win leader buy-in when developed in line with the organisation’s goals and objectives. Therefore, it would be best if you communicated how your training programme contributes to achieving the company’s goals and how it supports its overall strategy.
To do this, take into cognisance the direction in which your organisation is headed; you then allow that insight to shape your overall idea and strategy.
Identify the business problem you want to address with the learning initiative, engage key stakeholders and show them how it will meet management’s expectations.
You must understand that if you cannot speak the language the business understands, you cannot sell your idea to top management, and if you cannot sell your idea, you cannot gain support.
Frame the issue concisely
Once you have outlined how your initiative aligns with corporate strategy, you need to communicate it. You must frame the issue concisely so that it is easy to grasp. Be extremely selective with the information you present because executives do not have the time to go through hundreds of documentation pages.
Describe the context of the problem. Then, clarify and convey why the training is essential and what you want to accomplish. Present your program with the use of charts, tables, and diagrams. Use only persuasive data that support the company strategy.
How much the organisation prioritises your idea or initiative depends heavily on how you can structure the idea. Once they see how your initiative aligns with their organisational strategy, they’ll be more willing to buy into it and commit necessary resources.
Get the timing right
Timing is everything too. Presenting your idea when management would be receptive to it is vital.
Observe any pressure or situation management is experiencing and find the right moment to present your ideas. That moment might be when organisational priorities change, when certain players leave or join the company, or when a boss’s preoccupations change.
Be assertive
What you say and how you say it is imperative when making an effort to get leadership buy-in. You will struggle to make your point and get your message across if you approach your executives with timidity. On the other hand, your ability to communicate your ideas can mean the difference between the success and failure of your new initiative.
How you display competence and confidence will help your audience decide if your initiative truly deserves the financial support it is seeking. But, of course, they will also arrive at these decisions based on your body language and vocal attributes.
Avoid dwelling too much on existing problems and give them solutions that can help achieve success. Then, having carried out a deep level of quality research, put your ideas and answers forward. Back them up with relevant facts and data. Lastly, accept both positive and negative feedback humbly and positively.
Gaining leadership buy-in for training doesn’t come with a one-size-fits-all solution. However, although it’s not an easy challenge, it is achievable. With the right level of support from the c-suite, a well-designed learning initiative can really impact an organisation.
Therefore, it is essential to be clear on your purpose and ensure this aligns with your executive board. By helping key stakeholders fully understand how your training fits in with the organisation’s goals, learning leaders will be able to drive impactful initiatives that win the trust and support.
