How To Convince Your Boss To Invest In eLearning
Imagine your boss is a hard task master, and you’re given the mission of convincing them to invest in eLearning for your organization’s training needs. Is the very thought sending shivers down your spine? Convincing them about adopting eLearning is not going to be a bed of roses; you need to bring on your best game plan to persuade them. Sounds hard? It really isn’t, all you need to do is appeal to their mindset and you will have them onboard in no time.
Although there's plenty of data to illustrate the dramatic shift eLearning will bring in the future, still many people out there believe "eLearning" is a passing fad or feel overwhelmed to make any changes. Yet every company needs an eLearning champion like you to make sure your organization leverages technology to effectively train employees.
I wrote this article as a means to help you persuade your boss to implement eLearning because I believe this is the key to ensuring your company remains successful.
Here's how to get them onboard:
1. Brag About Your Competitor
Show your boss proof that eLearning works for your organization. How can you do that if you haven’t tried it yet? Use success stories of businesses similar to yours. You can also take advantage of the fear of missing out (FOMO); tell your boss how your competitors are using eLearning and the benefits they are gaining through it.
When approaching your top management, frame the argument in terms of how your department’s use of eLearning could be a source of competitive advantage for the firm, and/or how its use can achieve organizational goals.
2. Leverage Objective Data
A good way to back your statement is with a healthy dose of data. Don’t tell your boss that you should invest in eLearning just because others are going in that direction. For example, since you are looking to cut training budgets and increase the performance of your employees, show data that says for every $1 that a company spends on eLearning tools and strategies, it can receive $30 worth of productivity (source: IBM).
3. Show Them The Money
Show your boss how much money they are going to save once eLearning is implemented. Time is money, and eLearning saves time in different ways; especially using eLearning, you can cut costs in every aspect of the training. For example:
- eLearning could save a lot of time and money in travel or finding accommodation for your employees and trainers.
- You can also save money on lunch, paperwork; moreover, you don’t have to pull your employees off the job.
Another advantage of eLearning is once you develop a course, it can be assigned to employees any number of times. For example, in case of new recruits who join sporadically, hiring an instructor to train them is quite taxing on the budget. With eLearning, you can regularly train your new employees, as you can have standardized training modules that any new hire can take. According to The Ambient Insight, 42% of leading learning companies say online learning has led to an increase in revenue and 56% say it has improved productivity.
4. Gather Resources To Educate Your Boss
For some, the idea of implementing eLearning may look risky. They may think that eLearning will replace classroom training and it costs too high to get started. Your boss may also be having many misconceptions about eLearning, like it may replace a trainer or it isn’t collaborative or misses out on classroom kind of interaction. You can only answer these misconceptions when you educate yourself on the nitty-gritties of eLearning. Look for blogs, articles, eBooks, or webinars that explain it in a way that will appeal to your boss.
5. Make A Good Business Case
A good business case will justify the proposed eLearning investment with a well structured report on the costs and returns. The more compelling your case, the greater the likelihood that your proposal will be approved. Therefore, as well as investing a lot of time in creating the case study, information must be gathered from the right sources. A good business case will describe in detail the:
- Current training status and shortcomings.
The cost of training as it is structured, shortcomings, such as non-uniformity throughout the organization, little inductee training, lost productivity due to classroom training, and many more. - Advantages of the proposed system.
List how the present shortcomings can be eliminated by the proposed system. - Cost of getting there.
It is wise to cost more than one alternative scenario and present the information for each, with your recommendation. - Savings that will accrue.
There are benefits that are easy to quantify (increased productivity and better quality control), but there are long-term advantages not so easy to assess; however, these should be listed as well.
6. Get An eLearning Ally
Enlist the support of an eLearning specialist; the eLearning specialist with all his experience can easily convince your boss to invest in eLearning. If you can get your boss to agree to a one-hour call, that may be all that is needed.
These are some tips that can increase the chances of convincing your boss. For more ideas on how to convince your boss to implement eLearning, download the eBook eLearning: Getting your Organization READY.
Good Luck!