If you want to stay ahead of competitors and ride the waves of market change, investing in employee growth and development is vital. Equipping your employees with the knowledge and skills to navigate challenges in your organization can help you stay ahead of the curve for long-term business growth. In fact, 93% of employees would stay at their company longer if it invested in their careers, making development key for employee retention.

Getting your team on board with professional development can feel challenging. As such, building a business case that demonstrates the value of continuous learning is critical. 

In this post, we’ll explore how to write a business case to win over your key stakeholders, focussing on the importance of professional development, building a business case, and best practices. 

Understanding the importance of professional development

Professional development is crucial in the workplace for several reasons, including: 

Career progression: Promoting professional development shows your employees they have a long career ahead of them in your business. They’ll be able to learn the skills and knowledge needed to progress and will remain loyal to your organization as a result. 

Relevancy: Personal development training ensures your employees’ knowledge is up-to-date. They’ll be in the know with best practices, industry changes, and advancements in their field.

Customer experience: Professional development training ensures your employees have the knowledge and skills to deliver the best service to your clients. 

Employees’ confidence: The more expertise and knowledge an employee has, the more confident they’ll feel. Professional development can ensure employees have the skills they need to thrive in your industry. 

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Now you know the value of professional development in the workplace, you’ll need to get everyone on board. Presenting a business case can establish goals and put your ideas into context. But what business case structure should you follow?

Below, we’ll cover how to write a business case, step by step:

1. Align professional development with business goals

Your stakeholders will focus on how investing in professional development can help meet their business goals. 

As such, you should keep your business’ vision in mind when explaining the benefits of employee training, so stakeholders know exactly where money is going and what the return on investment will be. 

Outline how the training will equip employees to do better in their roles and how their growth will benefit not only the team’s performance but the growth of the business as a whole.

For more information, check out our blog on aligning your employee learning program with your overall business strategy.

To work out the ROI of investing in training for employees, you can use a traditional ROI formula. This is the total benefits (net profit) minus the training costs, divided by the program costs. This formula should tell you the dollar amount returned as a benefit for the money spent on training. If you need this figure as a percentage, multiply it by 100.

ROI = (total benefits - total costs) / cost of learning * 100

So, if you expect your training to generate $7,000 in revenue, and the training would cost $4,000, you would calculate:

You could therefore work out that the ROI was 75%.

Estimating ROI is just one way to demonstrate the value of professional development. There are several ways you can use data to support your business case. 

You can use data to support the problem statement of your business case, such as employees having limited industry knowledge. Using data can make your problem statement convincing and accurate. You can use business data to show the frequency or severity of the problem you’re describing. Data can also help you set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) objectives for your proposed solution - investing in professional development. 

Anticipating and addressing potential objections from your stakeholders can help you feel prepared. Here are some common objections you may hear in response to your business case:

Limited resources, such as not having the budget for professional development

Limited buy-in, such as having to check with several decision-makers before deciding on your business case

Wrong timing, such as stakeholders saying your ideas aren’t a priority at the moment

By anticipating objections beforehand, you can prepare responses for them. Ensure you have the research, data, and case studies to prove that professional development will make a difference to your employees and the growth of the business. 

Check out our blog on how to motivate your team to invest in professional development for more tips and tricks.

Implementing professional development: best practices

Once you’ve got the go-ahead from key stakeholders, you can start implementing professional development into your business.

Choose the right professional development programs

What skills do your employees need to develop? Perhaps they want to develop new skills or stay up-to-date on industry trends. To ensure your business investment is worthwhile, you’ll need to choose the right professional development programs for your organization. Ask your employees what interests them and what their professional goals are so you can invest in the right training programs. 

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Some courses may be designed for entry-level employees who are just starting in the business world, while others will be targeted at senior managers looking to work their way up the career ladder. 

To ensure your employees’ training meets the goals outlined in your business case, you’ll need to measure the impact and effectiveness of investing in professional development.

Want to see how much employees have learned? You can ask how engaged they were with the training through surveys. Additionally, you can look at course completion rates or test scores (if a course requires an exam for completion). The more data you collect, the easier it will be to measure employee satisfaction and ROI.

Learn how to use professional development for organizational transformation today

Now you know how to build a solid business case for professional development, it’s time to start upskilling your employees. At Go1, we have an extensive selection of online training courses that integrate with hundreds of LMS', making learning and development a breeze.

For more information, download our eBook covering 50 tips for increasing L&D business value. Or, you can speak to one of our experts to find out how Go1 can help you upskill your workforce.

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Build a business case for professional development to showcase the value of investing in employee growth and development.

How to build a business case for professional development

In today’s competitive business world, investing in employee growth and development is essential. When researching different approaches to professional development, you’ve likely come across several professional development models. So, which one is the right fit for your workforce?

We’ll explore the importance of professional development in the workplace and the benefits and pitfalls of different professional development models. Accordingly, you can identify the best approaches to professional development for your organization.

Understanding professional development models

Professional development is all about building knowledge and skills in your field. People learn differently, so what works for one employee may not suit another due to different levels of experience and expertise. With this in mind, many different teaching and learning styles are available, known as professional development models.

The importance of professional development

There are several ways your employees can work towards professional development, from skill-based training to increased responsibility in the workplace. 

But why is professional development so important? Here are some benefits of professional development for you to consider:

Enables your employees to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements in their field, which can give your business a competitive edge.

Can improve employees’ confidence and credibility, which can help your business maintain its reputation.

Can help employees achieve promotions and raises and take on new responsibilities.

Can unlock new business revenue and sales opportunities as staff learn new skills, which can boost business growth.

Ambitious employees will want the opportunity to grow their careers, so investing in training materials can increase job satisfaction and morale among your team.

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Some professional development models you could introduce to your organization include:

Continuing education: Employees could enroll in formal degree programs, workshops, or courses to develop their knowledge. In doing so, they can achieve certificates, accreditations, or other credentials to boost their credibility.

Events: Attending local, regional, national, or internal meetings, conferences, and workshops. Not only are events a great learning tool, but they also offer networking opportunities for employees to meet like-minded professionals, grow their confidence, and promote your business. 

Research: Another form of professional development is conducting research. An employee might spend time researching a particular topic or carrying out customer research to improve your service. They could then present their findings for others to learn from.

Online learning: Online learning allows employees to learn from anywhere in the world at any time. There’s no limit to the topics you can explore through online courses. Online training is more cost-effective than employees attending in-person classes and can easily integrate into your LMS. Check out the benefits of online training for more information.

Increased responsibilities: Assigning employees new projects, tasks, or assignments to develop their skills.

Evaluating the effectiveness of your chosen model

Once you’ve chosen a professional development model, you’ll need to decide how to measure its success. 

One way to measure its effectiveness is to review an employee’s Personal Development Goals (PDGs) and whether the chosen professional development model has helped them reach their goals. Perhaps an employee wanted to improve their presentation skills, so they attended a workshop on public speaking to increase their self-confidence. 

Another evaluation method is asking your employees for feedback on your professional development structure. Did they learn what they expected? Would they have preferred a different approach? You could even ask managers for feedback about their employees’ performance post-training to assess its effectiveness. 

Assigning key performance indicators (KPIs) for your training and development can help you analyze the effectiveness of your professional development models. They also serve as evidence should stakeholders ask if professional development is worth investing in. 

Some KPIs you could use to measure the success of your training and development efforts include:

Choosing the right professional development model for your organization

The professional development model you choose for your employees should suit their learning style, background, and career goals. You can then analyze the pros and cons of each training method to suit their needs.

Here are some factors to keep in mind when choosing a professional development model:

Skills gap: Conduct a skills gap analysis. What training do your employees need? Analyze the knowledge and skills they will require to excel in their roles. 

Types of learners: We all learn differently. To ensure your team’s professional development is effective, you’ll need to choose training that suits each individual’s learning style. Some employees may be auditory learners, meaning they learn best by listening through methods like lectures and conferences. Others may be visual learners who digest information best through diagrams or pictures. 

Methods: Would your employees suit in-person training, or would online courses appeal to them more? In-person training is ideal for hands-on skills that require group work and interaction, whereas online learning is more flexible, allowing employees to learn in an environment that suits them.

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Implementing your chosen professional development model

Once you’ve chosen the right professional development model for your business, you can decide how to implement employee training. 

Creating a business case for professional development can help demonstrate its value to your stakeholders by outlining how professional development will benefit both your employees and the business. 

For example, if your chosen professional development model is online learning, you’ll need to choose courses that will benefit your employees the most. Courses are available to suit all levels and abilities, from entry-level employees looking to learn the ropes to senior managers striving for a promotion.

You won’t know if your chosen training model is effective without measuring its impact. You can assess the effectiveness of training through various methods, such as employee surveys, completion rates, productivity, performance, and test scores. From this data, you’ll have evidence to prove professional development’s power and ROI. Be sure to measure the effectiveness of professional development against your goals and KPIs to ensure it’s a good return on investment. 

Learn how professional development can transform your business today

Once you’ve decided on the most effective professional development model for your organization, you’ll be ready to upskill your employees. We have an extensive selection of online training courses at Go1. Integrating learning and development into your business’ culture has never been easier.

For more information, check out our ebook on the 5 new thinking habits for a smarter, stronger L&D. Or, you can speak to one of our experts to find out how Go1 can help you upskill your workforce.

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Craft the perfect professional development model for your organization and find the right fit to enhance the skills, knowledge, and abilities of your employees.

Which professional development model best suits your organizational structure?

Amy Wheldon has many skills and interests. She’s a wife, a mom of three, a dog mom of one, a baker, a quilter, a backpacker, a Master Gardener – and she’s the head of customer success at Go1. 

Amy’s multifaceted talents are a great match for the fast-paced and versatile world of startups. In fact, Amy has worked in tech startups for the last 15 years. She grew up in the Bay Area on the cusp of Silicon Valley, went to school at The Ohio State University, where she studied accounting and business, and eventually returned to the tech scene. 

Her wide-ranging experience has given Amy a solid understanding of customer success and how it has changed over time. “I've done marketing, SaaS, EdTech, HealthTech, and FinTech,” Amy said. “I have a pretty robust knowledge of SaaS-based businesses as a whole. Customer success has evolved the last 15 years that I've been doing this – it's really dynamically shifted.” 

So, what does customer success look like today, and what does a Customer Success Manager (CSM) do? 

“I think businesses see [customer success] more as a support role,” Amy said, “but really our job is to enable people [to be] successful with our software to help them reach their desired outcomes. Being a customer success manager or leading a customer success team lets us really dig deep into, ‘What are the challenges that our customers are facing?’ And then build solutions to help them have really, really good outcomes.” 

Go1’s CSMs are “the face of all things Go1 to the customer,” according to Amy, and they act as guides to customers who are navigating Go1’s content library. “We need Sherpas to take us up Mount Everest,” Amy said. “Well, Go1 has this [ecosystem] of content, and we're a guide.” 

A CSM’s typical day begins with them checking Gainsight, a customer success tool that gathers information about Go1 customers. It lets CSMs know whether customers have tickets open, how they're using the product, how often we're communicating with them, when their contracts are scheduled to renew, and other useful information. These insights prompt the CSM to take action. For example, if a customer hasn’t logged into Go1 in the past month, the CSM might reach out and see if they have any issues or need help accessing the product. 

CSMs also spend time in meetings with customers, where they help customers launch the Go1 product and curate content for their organizations. The remainder of their time is spent solving tickets, sending resources to customers, and engaging in other activities to provide support. 

A key part of Amy’s role as the head of customer success involves finding out what customers need and then building solutions to help them succeed. “My job is to help L&D professionals step back and say... ‘What are the learning outcomes that I'm trying to drive inside my company? What are the objectives that I want to get out of this?’”  

If, for instance, a customer wants to inspire a culture of radical honesty in their organization, Amy and her team will help them ensure everyone at their company has access to training on topics like emotional intelligence, giving and receiving feedback, and the value of transparency. 

“Helping customers reach their desired outcomes is like leveling up institutional knowledge,” Amy said. “It's identifying where there might be places for improvement and then helping them find what's in our library that supports their goals.” 

Amy also played a pivotal role in advocating to change the Go1 product to better meet customer needs. Four years ago, Amy noticed that many customers were asking for a way to use Go1’s content within their existing learning platforms. She and another coworker wrote up a business case regarding this request, flew to Australia, and presented the case to the Go1 team. As a result of these meetings, Go1’s standalone content library was created. 

“I just love that Go1 pivoted and built something that our customers truly needed,” Amy said. “Listening to customers and hearing what they need and then being part of building that for them has been incredibly fun. I'm proud of the work that we do, and it keeps me coming back day after day." 

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For Amy, the best part of her work at Go1 is that it’s impactful. “Training can change lives, and we are delivering something that helps people help themselves,” she said. “We're doing revolutionary work. AI and VR training and all the things that customers are asking for – we're continually bringing those onto our platform. The fact that we're always seeking out what's latest and greatest in training and the science behind it is super cool.” 

In addition to the work itself, Amy also loves collaborating with her colleagues. "The people that I work with at Go1 make this place just phenomenal,” she said. “This is the best team I have worked with in my entire career.” 

And it’s not just her coworkers that Amy loves working with – she also loves working alongside Go1’s customers. “The customers that we work with are so incredible,” Amy said. “They are the people at organizations that are deeply invested in seeing their internal employees grow and develop professionally, so for me, it's incredibly powerful to be connecting with people that genuinely care about their employees.” 

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Through her role at Go1, Amy gets to help people find success every day, which is exactly what she loves to do. “I’m really passionate about this,” she said. “I know it sounds super cheesy, but I've loved every minute of what we're building here.” 

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs. 

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Meet our Head of Customer Success and find out more about the work our Customer Success Managers do.

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Meet the team: Amy Wheldon

Gamification is a fantastic way to increase engagement in your learning and development program. To do this, many learning management systems (LMSs) have the option to incorporate gamification, introducing a new, exciting, and competitive way for employees to learn.

The good news is LMS gamification is simple to implement and has many benefits, including increasing engagement rates.

Accordingly, we’ll explore how you can use LMS gamification to improve workforce development, including how to implement gamification to increase engagement.

Gamification means introducing game-like elements to bring a more interactive, fun, and competitive element to online learning. As a result, gamification encourages users to engage more with learning materials, thereby increasing retention and building a culture of learning.

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There are various ways gamification adds value and interactivity to learning, including through:

Achievements and badges, similar to video game achievements

Points and league tables, to introduce an element of competitiveness

Weekly or monthly challenges, to encourage learning in specific areas and topics at certain times

Storytelling techniques, to engage employees in new ways

Social activity, such as leaving comments or participating in discussions

Rewards and currency, that employees can use to redeem gifts, whether virtual or physical

While gamification does increase engagement, it must complement learning and development, rather than overshadowing it. Gamification should be a seamless integration, not a forced or superficial add-on. As such, there should be a balance between gamification and learning to ensure it’s effective.

What are the benefits of using gamification in an LMS?

One of the biggest advantages of gamification in LMSs is increased engagement. For example, a study found that 90% of employees are more productive due to gamification. What’s more, 72% of people say gamification inspires them to work harder.

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On top of this, there are many other reasons why your organization should use LMS gamification:

Improves the overall learning experience by making it entertaining and rewarding

Increases motivation and helps employees set achievable goals.

Provides employees with immediate feedback via quizzes and assessments

Introduces a personalized approach to learning

Inspires a change in mindset toward learning and development

Provides your organization with data on how employees engage to monitor performance and provide additional feedback and support when needed

Increases training completion rates and boosts retention

Grows a culture of continuous learning in your organization

These benefits create a positive and rewarding learning experience,  meaning employees will be in the best position to develop.

For more information, see our post on the benefits of gamification for workplace learning.

How to implement gamification in your LMS

Implementing gamification in your LMS requires thought and consideration so it doesn’t become the main focus of your business’ learning and development strategy.

Before introducing gamification, consider the following steps to ensure it complements your L&D program:

Understand your goals and objectives, so you know exactly what you want employees to learn and how their knowledge and new skills will be utilized going forward.

Decide which gamification elements you want to introduce, such as league tables, challenges, badges, levels, and rewards.

Map gamification elements to content in your LMS, such as quizzes and assessments.

Tie learning elements together through storytelling to create immersive learning. 

Communicate the rules and mechanisms of gamification to make the competitive angle fun and fair. Further, encourage employees to engage with social features such as discussion boards, comments, and forums.

Test the implementation by inviting some employees to participate in a partial rollout.

Following a successful test, roll it out among all users and monitor engagement.

Request feedback on gamification elements and make changes to improve features.

Offer incentives and rewards for employees who come first in league tables, achieve high scores, or reach certain milestones. Celebrate successes across the organization to build on your culture of learning.

Use your LMS to collate and analyze data about how employees engage. Then, compare this data to data from before your introduced gamification. 

To encourage collaboration, consider creating teams of colleagues from different departments and seniority levels. This will add another dynamic and encourage employees who don’t usually interact to work together.

To learn more, read our post on tips to get started with gamification.

Types of games to incorporate into your LMS

Gamification can take many forms. Below are some examples of gamification you can utilize at your business.

Add badges or achievements to mandatory quizzes, such as health and safety or compliance training. Badges boost engagement with less popular courses by giving users a small reward. It’s also a great way to introduce employees to gamification.

Simulations are a fun way to learn by providing a realistic scenario that employees can use to apply their skills and knowledge. It encourages employees to think quickly, use their initiative, and learn from mistakes. 

Puzzle games, like matching pairing cards or crosswords, are great for getting employees to think about what they’re learning in new and surprising ways.

Adventure games utilize storytelling techniques to introduce challenges and problem-solving activities.

Escape room and point-and-click style games encourage employees to take their time with learning, which improves their engagement and retention.

To assess the impact of gamification, measure the impact made following its rollout. Consider using metrics related to the following three areas:

Adoption - How many users logged into the LMS to access training? Has this number grown compared to online training adoption before gamification?

Engagement - Engagement is the best way to measure the success of gamification. Rewarding employees for using your online learning platform is a fantastic way to increase engagement, so pay close attention to engagement data, as well as course completion rates, assessment scores, collaboration, interactions, and more.

Productivity - The overall goal of increasing engagement in learning and development is to improve employee productivity and performance. Using metrics to measure performance related to your overall business goals is also a great way to determine the effectiveness of gamification.

Go1 has a range of online courses to upskill your workforce

At Go1, we have a huge range of online courses, which you can use alongside gamification to upskill and develop your employees.

For more information, download our in-depth L&D Playbook, or speak to one of our experts to find out how we can help you with your training strategy.

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We’ll explore how you can use LMS gamification to improve workforce development, including how to implement gamification to increase engagement.

How to use gamification in your LMS to drive engagement rates

Spending professional development funds wisely is key to optimizing ROI and ensuring employees get the most valuable skills and knowledge. 

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The right learning and development solutions will empower individuals to grow and advance in their careers, while simultaneously becoming more efficient and effective at their jobs, supporting the continued growth of your organization.

But which solutions are right for you? Where should you invest professional development funds? That’s exactly what we’ll explore in this post.

Understanding the value of professional development

Professional development is vital for both employees and businesses. For employees, it helps them develop their skills and knowledge, which allows them to progress in their careers and feel like they’re growing professionally. For businesses, it ensures they can adapt to an ever-evolving landscape and not be left behind by competitors.

The impact of professional development on employee retention

When employees continuously develop, they’re more engaged, have better job satisfaction, and feel more valued. These benefits add up to better employee retention, which is a key factor in creating a solid working culture and avoiding the significant costs associated with high levels of turnover.

The role of professional development in business growth

Happy, engaged employees perform better. They’re more productive, and they have greater levels of innovation and creativity. When your employees perform better, they serve your clients and customers better, meaning your entire organization performs better. Therefore, a culture of learning is essential to encourage continual business growth.

Strategic planning for professional development spending

When considering how to spend professional development funds, it’s vital to align the allocation of resources to support both individual and organizational goals. 

Consider the six steps below before making your investment:

Assess business needs - Understand current and future organizational needs, identifying skills and competencies required to stay competitive and hit objectives.

Create personal development plans - Managers should create PDPs for all line reports, covering an employee’s aspirations and tying into the company’s needs. PDPs should outline the steps an employee should follow to progress and understand how their actions will benefit themselves and the company.

Link to organizational goals - Your organization’s strategic goals must directly link to any professional development initiatives you undertake. 

Allocate budget - Allocate funds to address critical skill gaps, which should be prioritized to maximize ROI. 

Choose a solution with a mix of learning methods - This caters to different learning preferences and styles and could include text, image, video, quiz, audio, and in-person learning.

Measure your success - You can’t understand the ROI of your spending without analyzing the impact of learning on your company. Establish KPIs to evaluate your professional development initiatives. 

Balancing cost and quality in professional development

It’s crucial to look for reputable training providers and courses for your teams. And it’s worth considering the format in which your employees will learn. For instance, will they take time out of work to attend conferences or in-person training courses? Or would you prefer to offer a more flexible online learning environment, such as the courses available at Go1? 

Both classroom-style and online learning offer valuable opportunities for employees to upskill, but online courses certainly offer some advantages, such as:

Convenient & flexible - Employees can learn at their own pace, whether they set chunks of time aside or just dip in and out of courses when time allows. 

Spending professional development funds wisely is key to optimizing ROI and ensuring employees get the most valuable skills and knowledge. Here's how.

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