Getting executive buy-in for your learning program

- A couple of years back, I was approached by a VP of one of the world's largest motorcycle companies. He wanted me to implement a 12-month customer service and sales program and kick it off at their international convention. The challenge was, it was only a few weeks away! It was crucial to present the program to the executives, get them to sign off on it, and implement it quickly and successfully. Depending on your company's view of learning and development it can be challenging to gain buy-in from leadership for your programs. What I've found over the years is that there are three components that you must address effectively to gain support for your learning and development programs. The first key component is to align your learning goals with the goals of your company or those you'll be training. At the motorcycle company, we made sure our goals were in alignment with the department we would be working with. In this case, it was the rental and travel department. They had set a target of 25% growth year over year, a lofty goal given the organizational change that they were going through at the time. They were expanding the program into 700 dealerships by the end of the year. So in developing the learning program, we made that our goal, too. Our intention was to help the department hit that target number through increasing the team skills, productivity, and revenue capabilities. Next, clearly outline why your program is vastly important to the success of the organization or initiative. In my example, 25% boost in revenue would dramatically help offset the cost of integrating new systems and equipment into their motorcycle dealerships across the country. Plus, as the organization continued to grow and hire more team members, our training would help onboard them faster and easier. We also set up the program to be ongoing, so the team had a high level of accountability, to keep them on track to hit their targets. Third, provide a detailed look at what would be required to implement your program successfully. We outlined our budget, the resources we would need, the time it would take to develop and deliver the program and all the other details that go with it. That way, it was very clear to leadership what it would take to make this program a success. So did we get approval for the program and hit our target? Thankfully, yes. Exactly 12 months after we implemented the program, we did achieve the 25% revenue increase. The team culture improved, their skills improved, and they continue to grow and dominate their sector. For a deeper dive into how to gain buy-in for your learning and development program, check out Gaining Internal Buy-In for E-learning Training with Ajay Pangarkar.