At the moment it feels like penny counts in L&D.

And yet, as your business feels the squeeze, L&D has an incredible opportunity to show its true value.

It’s not just about delivering training—it’s about proving how learning can drive business growth, reduce costs, and retain talent.

Whether you’re presenting a business case, navigating budget cuts, or helping your people thrive with the skills they need, L&D has a vital role in supporting the organisation through tough times.

Let’s explore how to navigate these trying times and implement 5 tactics to show your true value.

Build a Business Case

Building a proper business case for each of your L&D initiatives is particularly important in times when money might be constrained due to factors affecting the cost of the business.

Before you propose initiatives like acquiring new learning tech, running a programme, or hiring additional staff, it’s essential to put together a solid business case. This should not only outline what you’re planning to do and the costs involved but also clearly articulate the return the business can expect to see.

Why is this important? Because it demonstrates commercial alignment with the business, shows that you’ve considered the financials, and highlights your strategic thinking. For example, you could project that your return on investment in Year 1 will be X, in Year 2 Y, and in Year 3 Z. This helps the business see that your proposals have long-term benefits beyond the initial investment.

By presenting this kind of analysis, you position yourself as commercially astute and aligned with the business’s priorities.

Refocusing Efforts Amid Budget Cuts

When asked to refocus your efforts due to budget cuts or other factors increasing business costs, it often leads to questioning the value of L&D.

A good tactic is to focus on learning initiatives that directly contribute to revenue generation or cost reduction.

This could mean helping the business gain new customers or retain existing ones, thereby avoiding the costs of offboarding and onboarding.

By demonstrating that L&D can help drive new businesses and retain existing customers, you establish a clear link between your work and the business’s financial health.

This ensures that when people think of L&D, they associate it with helping the business grow, even during challenging times.

Retaining Talent

Skills gaps, skills portfolios, and career progression are powerful tools to help retain talent and reduce hiring costs.

I believe and have seen evidence to suggest that employees who have access to the L&D opportunities they need to build their skills and portfolios are more likely to stay with a business.

Retaining current employees is crucial, as it helps lower overall hiring costs.

L&D can step in by helping teams identify missing skills and creating skills portfolios for individuals.

These portfolios outline the specific skills employees need to progress within the business.

L&D can then collaborate with talent or organisational design teams to create clear career pathways, showing employees how they can grow with the company.

This not only reduces hiring and retraining costs but also positions L&D as a vital function in the business rather than a discretionary one.

Improving People’s Capacity

How can you help improve the capacity of your people through skills gap analysis and skills portfolios? This is a crucial question for L&D teams, particularly during periods of hiring freezes.

Businesses will always need people to fill specific roles, but skills gaps within existing teams can lead to costly additional hiring. During times of contraction, those extra hires may leave the business, which is where L&D can step in.

By identifying the skills people need for their roles and addressing those gaps, you reduce the need for further hiring.

This approach enhances productivity and efficiency while signalling to the business that L&D is essential for maintaining a skilled workforce. It moves L&D into the “must-have” category rather than being seen as a “nice-to-have,” especially when budgets are tight.

Supplier Review

Conducting a supplier review can benefit L&D teams facing financial constraints.

Supplier reviews should be done regularly, but if you know a budget squeeze is coming, they’re an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your commercial awareness and prepare for future challenges.

What does this look like?

Sit down with each supplier and evaluate whether you’re getting the best value from your supplier.

Ask if there’s anything they can do about pricing. Even if you’re locked into contracts, it doesn’t hurt to negotiate.

For example, if a contract is nearing its end, you could approach suppliers as you would a broadband provider: “Our circumstances have changed; we need to explore pricing options.”

By proactively identifying areas where you can save money, you create opportunities to reinvest those funds into other parts of your

L&D offering.

I know these can help fraught times and it may feel like your L&D plans are doomed.  They’re not, you just might need to make a few changes.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading this article.  To read more you can head back to the blog page by clicking here and to find out about how we can help you get in touch using the contact page.