10 Steps to Developing an Effective Learning Solution Business Case
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The 10-step document provides guidance on developing an effective business case for a learning solution. It recommends starting with a self-assessment to identify needs, mapping training processes and requirements, calculating financial impacts, finding champions, and making the case through compelling storytelling and addressing pain points. Following the steps helps address problems, build alliances, and make a successful case for the learning solution investment.
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www.sumtotalsystems.com10 steps To Developing An Effective Learning Solution Business Case
contact us today
We’re ready to partner with you. For additional information, send an email to:
connect@sumtotalsystems.com
About SumTotal
SumTotal Systems, LLC, the largest independent provider of integrated HR solutions,
is increasing the performance of some of the world’s most successful organizations,
including AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN[ADR]; London: AZN), Amway (KUL: AMWAY), and
Seagate (NYSE: STX). Providing the industry’s only Talent Expansion Platform, SumTotal
helps organizations improve and expand their employee talent and become great places
to work. SumTotal’s people-focused applications, available on premise and in the Cloud,
enable in-context, just-in-time development designed to advance employees’ skills and
knowledge. For more information or to request a demo, please call +1 (866) 768-6825
(US / Canada), +1 (352) 264-2800 (international) or visit www.sumtotalsystems.com.
corporate headquarters:
SUMTOTAL SYSTEMS, LLC
2850 NW 43RD STREET
SUITE #150
GAINESVILLE, FL 32606 USA
PHONE: +1 352 264 2800
FAX: +1 352 374 2257
emea:
SUMTOTAL SYSTEMS, UK
3RD FLOOR, 100 LONGWATER AVENUE
GREEN PARK, READING
BERKSHIRE, RG2 6GP
UNITED KINGDOM
PHONE: +44 (0) 1189 315 777
FAX: +44 (0) 1189 867 365
APAC:
SUMTOTAL SYSTEMS INDIA PVT. LTD.
7TH FLOOR, MAXIMUS TOWERS
BUILDING 2B, MINDSPACE
RAHEJA IT PARK, CYBERABAD
HYDERABAD, AP- 500081, INDIA
PHONE: +91 (0) 40 6695 0000
FAX: +91 (0) 40 2311 2727
© 2013 SumTotal Systems LLC. All rights reserved. SumTotal and the SumTotal logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of SumTotal Systems, LLC, and/or its affiliates in
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10 Steps to Developing an Effective Learning Solution Business Case
- 1. Whitepaper 10 STEPS to Developing an Effective Learning Solution Business Case
- 2. 2 www.sumtotalsystems.com10 steps To Developing An Effective Learning Solution Business Case Introduction You may already know the value that a LMS could bring to your company. Unfortunately, most organizations still don’t emphasize the importance oflearninganddevelopmentasmuch as they should. Although the need may be very clear, you may need to convince the rest of your organization to jump on board.However, building a business case for a learning solution involves much more than a static business plan. This paper takes you step-by-step through the process of addressing your immediate problems, building alliances throughout your organization, and making a successful business case for a learning solution, including: So, let’s say you already know the value that a learning solution brings to an organization. Perhaps you’re already using one, or maybe you’re considering this investment for the first time. Unfortunately, most organizations still don’t emphasize the importance of learning and development as much as they should. Although the need may be very clear to you, how can you convince the rest of your organization to jump on board? Whether you know it or not, you are about to embark on a huge marketing effort. Building a business case involves much more than producing an ROI document or static business plan. If these are the only deliverables you are expecting to produce, the effort may be destined to fail. Following the 10 steps below will help you address immediate problems, build alliances throughout the organization, and make a successful business case. These best practices come directly from SumTotal customers who have faced similar challenges. STRATEGY: Building a compelling business case is a key part to any successful learning management project. •• Analyzing your current processes and identifying your needs •• Mapping out the various processes and training requirements •• Calculating the financial impact of training •• Making the case and managing the project
- 3. 3 www.sumtotalsystems.com10 steps To Developing An Effective Learning Solution Business Case Solutions sell better when they address real issues. Examine your learning strategy today. Where are the inefficiencies? What are the organizational risks? What work isn’t getting done that should? Identify the checklist of specific pain-points and process inefficiencies that a learning solution help alleviate. Before you get too deep into this process, it’s important to know how the game is played. Before you get too far down the path of building the case for your learning solution it’s important to find answers to the following questions as they will guide the your plan development: Now is a good time to take a person from IT out for coffee. Learn all you can about your organization’s software procurement processes. The details in this bureaucracy matter. Through this process you may realize that teaming with an externally hosted learning solution makes more sense than hosting a solution internally. Either way, this knowledge is power. •• How does your company plan their business? •• How does your company set goals (independently by BU, or cascading from the top)? •• Do you use the Balanced Scorecard approach, or any other formalized methodology? •• What are the planning cycles by group, and what key metrics affect the planning? •• What are key metrics involved in evaluating the success of the business plans by evaluation period? •• When you get to the point of presenting a case, what format should it be in? Can you get a copy of a successful business case that was presented and approved recently to use as a template? Start with a Self-Assessment: Analyze your current processes and identify your own needs Learn how your organization does its strategic planning Find out your organization’s process for purchasing software #1 #2 #3
- 4. 4 www.sumtotalsystems.com10 steps To Developing An Effective Learning Solution Business Case Ask IT to educate you on the following: •• Request for Proposal (RFP) Templates •• Sole source opportunities •• Return on Investment (ROI) & Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Presentations •• Sample legal contracts from previous purchase or rental agreements You will prevent future frustration and your expertise in how the IT world works will help down the road. Oftentimes, mandatory and strategic training requirements exist in many different areas of your organization, and it’s your job to discover and compile them. For example, compliance training, often the primary driver for many learning solution, is usually distributed among many different departments in varying forms. Form a task- force to find out who is carrying out redundant processes and activities. Look into the following areas: •• Human Resources: Onboarding training, workplace conduct compliance training, leadership development training •• IT Group: Systems rollout training, IT skills training, internal process training •• Product Support/Call Center: Product training for internal support, extended-enterprise customer training •• Marketing: Extended-enterprise prospect/customer training •• Sales: Sales training, leadership training, new product rollout •• Alliances: Partner new product training and competency certifications •• Health & Safety Departments: Mandatory compliance training Determine the units in your organization that really need training#4
- 5. 5 www.sumtotalsystems.com10 steps To Developing An Effective Learning Solution Business Case 1. What are your strategic goals for the quarter and year? • Get a plan from them • Do they map to corporate goals, or roll up to other departmental goals 2. How will you be measured on success? • This could be surprising • You are a business partner interested in their success 3. What key metrics do you track to run your business/department? • Understand what these are, how they are gathered, how often • Know what influences each metric 4. What do you feel are the barriers to your success? • These are the pain points • Do they map to corporate goals, or roll up to other departmental goals 5. What issues are you facing today? • These may be different from goals • Alleviating existing pain could allow breathing room for future success 6. Are you dependent on other departments for your success? • Showing interconnectivity could increase your case • Linking common goals drives synergy Eachoftheseinterviewswillilluminatedirection,challenges,andpossibleopportunities for consolidated learning initiatives. It is your job to identify them, and come up with a compelling case for presentation. Now that you have identified who the key people are, take the time to get to know their training challenges and their business needs. Below are some questions that will help in your discovery: Interview these different stakeholders#5
- 6. 6 www.sumtotalsystems.com10 steps To Developing An Effective Learning Solution Business Case Once you’ve mapped out the processes, met with other groups, highlighted redundancies, and showed inefficiencies, you can calculate how much time and money is spent managing training and reporting with current systems and processes. With this information in hand, you’ll be able to present a case for centralizing and automating these functions. Using a single learning application to plan, implement, and assess learning activities will streamline processes, automate administration tasks, and reduce non-compliance risk. Calculate the financial impact of training#7 Management buy-in is crucial to organizing an enterprise-wide initiative. While learning solutions aren’t always top of mind for CEOs, management does understand items presented in terms of cost efficiency, revenue potential, and corporate risk. Finding a champion will: •• Provide you valuable feedback on what is important in making this case •• Share your progress with management •• Help endorse the project once you are actually making the case Find a champion in management#8 Taking the time to map out the various processes and training requirements across your organization will provide 3 major benefits: Conduct process-flows#6 •• Expose areas of redundancy and leverage opportunities •• Highlight the manual steps in each process (for example, email notifications or course assignments) •• Reveal weaknesses in your compliance management and show areas or risk (through the process flows)
- 7. 7 www.sumtotalsystems.com10 steps To Developing An Effective Learning Solution Business Case Although the process of writing the business plan will differ from organization to organization, the most important thing is to take your ROI numbers and the process flows you’ve put together and ensure they are compelling and coherent. Do they support each other in a clear and understandable way? Does it tell a compelling story? Make sure you address the major painpoints in your training process and articulate how a learning solution will alleviate them. The diagram below has been used in the past to help with this framework: Like any project in life, the only way to ensure that you get the results you want it is to lead it yourself. Be wary of having other groups pick up this initiative — loss of control could lead to the project losing steam or delivering unexpected results. This is your project, and for it to be successful, you’ll need to be its biggest champion. If you follow all of the steps above, you’ll be well on your way to presenting a successful business case. Make the case Project manage to the end #9 #10
- 8. 8 www.sumtotalsystems.com10 steps To Developing An Effective Learning Solution Business Case Conclusion This is an exciting time for learning technology. Critical workforce needs and advances in technology mean that learning professionals are at the forefront of the most important talent challenges. With the right technology, you can know that you are up to the task and ready to deliver. As the market leader in enterprise learning, SumTotal can help you address your learning challenges and make the most of the latest industry innovations. Why choose us? 1. We offer an industry-leading learning solution, next-generation mobile technologies, and cutting-edge delivery of content and extended-enterprise solutions. 2. We’ve taken a different approach to product and technology integration. While everyone else is still talking about product integration, it’s a reality with us today. And no one in the industry can match our ability to integrate data with other HR systems; other enterprise systems, like CRM and POS; and even popular third party sites like, salesforce.com and LinkedIn. 3. Our learning solution is completely integrated with talent and workforce applications. 4. Our professional services teams are committed to your success — before, during and after implementation. 5. We put your people first. We’re all about learning and development. We’ll help your people be their best
- 9. 9 www.sumtotalsystems.com10 steps To Developing An Effective Learning Solution Business Case contact us today We’re ready to partner with you. For additional information, send an email to: connect@sumtotalsystems.com About SumTotal SumTotal Systems, LLC, the largest independent provider of integrated HR solutions, is increasing the performance of some of the world’s most successful organizations, including AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN[ADR]; London: AZN), Amway (KUL: AMWAY), and Seagate (NYSE: STX). Providing the industry’s only Talent Expansion Platform, SumTotal helps organizations improve and expand their employee talent and become great places to work. SumTotal’s people-focused applications, available on premise and in the Cloud, enable in-context, just-in-time development designed to advance employees’ skills and knowledge. For more information or to request a demo, please call +1 (866) 768-6825 (US / Canada), +1 (352) 264-2800 (international) or visit www.sumtotalsystems.com. corporate headquarters: SUMTOTAL SYSTEMS, LLC 2850 NW 43RD STREET SUITE #150 GAINESVILLE, FL 32606 USA PHONE: +1 352 264 2800 FAX: +1 352 374 2257 emea: SUMTOTAL SYSTEMS, UK 3RD FLOOR, 100 LONGWATER AVENUE GREEN PARK, READING BERKSHIRE, RG2 6GP UNITED KINGDOM PHONE: +44 (0) 1189 315 777 FAX: +44 (0) 1189 867 365 APAC: SUMTOTAL SYSTEMS INDIA PVT. LTD. 7TH FLOOR, MAXIMUS TOWERS BUILDING 2B, MINDSPACE RAHEJA IT PARK, CYBERABAD HYDERABAD, AP- 500081, INDIA PHONE: +91 (0) 40 6695 0000 FAX: +91 (0) 40 2311 2727 © 2013 SumTotal Systems LLC. All rights reserved. SumTotal and the SumTotal logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of SumTotal Systems, LLC, and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 13_0313_FG_NH