Digital has the unique ability to amplify brand awareness, efficiently generate revenue, and cultivate customer loyalty. 87% of companies think that digital transformation will help them develop their competitive edge. 90% of companies claim that the main benefit of digital transformation is the increase in employee productivity.

There is a severe lack of skilled digital professionals

The main concern for most companies is a distinct digital skills shortage that can make effective recruitment incredibly difficult. Not only are organizations in competition with each other to hire the few proficient candidates, they must contend with the increasingly lucrative salaries and benefits that other companies are offering. This puts smaller businesses and startups with less budget at a distinct disadvantage.

Internal talent can solve the problem

The answer to your organization’s digital success is simple. A strategic and sustainable education plan that will allow both you as an individual and your organization to keep pace with the industry. According to Adobe, companies with a plan for their digital maturity seek to train and advance the skills of their existing workforce, and hire the people they need to get the most from digital tools and technology.

Upskilling with essential skills training will not only help you to refine your digital expertise and forge a fulfilling career – it will enable you to make a meaningful impact in your role that will ultimately benefit your organization.

So you’re ready to show your manager that your digital skills training is a worthwhile investment. Now all you need to do is convince them to fund it!

How to convince your boss

 

DO YOUR RESEARCH

An impulsive 5 minute chat or a hastily crafted email won’t be sufficient if you’re putting forward a case for your manager to subsidize your professional development. Schedule a meeting with your manager during which you can present a persuasive argument that’s backed up by some thorough research.

You need to be able to demonstrate the benefits of your training to the organization.

First, determine if your company has a training budget, and who controls it (be it your head of department, line manager, or Human Resources). This will allow you to establish from which sources you need to gain buy-in. You can maximize your chances of acquiring your employer’s approval by incorporating tangible figures into your research.

Return on investment

As with any investment, calculating the ROI of your skills training will be an essential element to securing senior buy-in. You need to demonstrate the specific value of your training and how it can support the overall goals and strategy of the organization.

We’ve outlined a simple formula to help you estimate the monetary benefit to your organization below:

% ROI = financial benefit – cost of training / cost of training x 100

Financial benefits can include labour savings, reduction in lost workdays and productivity increases.

For example: if you have an idea of how much time your skills training would save you due to increased efficiency and streamlined processes, you can put a price on your time to calculate ROI.

Work out your hourly salary and multiply it by the number of hours you think you would save a month. You can multiply this figure by 12 to calculate how much money you would save a year. This is your financial benefit.

 

Payback period

Another calculation that can potentially reinforce the fact that your training will be a valuable investment for your organization is payback period. In other words, it’s the time it takes for the financial benefits to equal the cost of the training; the point at which your course has paid for itself.

Payback period: Cost of training / monthly financial benefits

If your payback period is reasonably low, your employer will feel more confident in the decision to fund your training.

We’ve listed some additional questions below that will help you to form your initial research:

• Which course have you selected from the Digital Marketing Institute and why?
• What particular content does the course cover that is relevant to your role?
• How will this course improve your performance?