It’s no secret that learning and development (L&D) initiatives and an organization’s training department are typically the first things to go when an organization starts downsizing. But this should never be the case because L&D and training programs yield huge benefits to organizations and their employees.
According to seminal research conducted by the Association for Talent Development, organizations that offer comprehensive training programs have 218% higher income per employee than companies that don’t offer official training programs. And those organizations also experience 24% greater profit margins than those who spend less on training programs and initiatives.
But how can you make sure your training budget, programs, and initiatives remain intact if your organization starts downsizing and it’s looking for ways to cut costs at every corner? Keep reading to learn more.
Tie Your Learning Initiatives to Organizational Goals
If you want management and other executive decision-makers across your organization to understand the real value and impact of your training programs so that they’re not cut, you’ll need to tie each program’s learning initiatives to tangible organizational goals.
For instance, you’ll want to develop your sales training program to generate more profits. And you’ll want your marketing training program to generate more business growth and more leads and attract more stakeholders. Overall, you’ll want to ensure your training programs’ goals are always aligned with what your organization as a whole is trying to accomplish.
Cultivate a Learning Culture
Organizations with an effective learning culture:
- Are 32% more likely to be first to market and are 17% more likely to be a market share leader;
- Experience 37% greater employee productivity;
- Have a 34% better response to customer needs;
- Own a 26% greater ability to deliver quality products; and
- Remain 58% more likely to have skills to meet future demand.
So, if your training programs help cultivate a learning culture and you can illustrate that they achieve what’s listed above, they are much less likely to be ousted from your organization.
Collect Success Stories on an Ongoing Basis
Another way to continually prove the value of your training programs is to collect and share your trainees’ success stories. For example, you could share stories of how a sales associate doubled his or her sales numbers in a short amount of time after participating in your sales training program.
Or, you could share stories about how your new employees were easily able to learn operational guidelines that saved your organization time and money after participating in your onboarding training programs. You could also distribute awards or certificates to employees who completed your leadership training program and went on to become managers and supervisors, and so on.
When individuals across your organization see the value of your training programs on an ongoing basis and how they impact real people, your training programs won’t be the first things that come to mind when budgets need to be cut.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post for more details on how to make sure your training budget, programs, and initiatives remain intact if your organization starts downsizing.