Building a Better Business Case for Training

As an administrative professional, you know the value of continuous learning. Whether it's mastering new software, improving communication skills, or keeping up with the latest technology, professional development is essential for staying ahead. But let’s face it—getting your employer not only to approve your training request but also to finance it can seem like an uphill battle. 

Most companies would love to provide professional development to anyone who wants it. After all, an investment in you is an investment in the organization. There are only so many training dollars to go around, however, so executives need to be strategic about how they allocate them.  

If you want to increase your chances of approval, you need to put time and effort into your request. That means building a persuasive business case for training, quantifying the expected return on investment (ROI), and providing actionable steps for bringing what you’ve learned back to the office.  

Here are some recommendations for how to accomplish all of this with minimal stress. 

Build Your Business Case for Training 

A convincing business case for training outlines why you need it, the type of training, how it will benefit the company, and a call to action. Here’s a basic outline: 

Quantify Your ROI 

Arguably the most important part of your business case is the ROI forecast. You need to be able to show your executive what’s in it for the company. And the more detailed you can be, the better your chances of gaining employer support.  

You can prove your ROI using this very basic formula: 

Here’s how it looks in practice. Let’s say you’re asking for approval to attend a course on Outlook email management. Assuming what you learn will save you one minute per email and you handle 50 emails per day: 

Have you learned a skill that you can teach to your entire team? Congratulations – your ROI just increased tremendously. Take your annual savings and multiply it by the number of people who will be using the improved strategy. If you share your knowledge with five others, that $5,000 in savings becomes $25,000! 

The ROI of non-tangible skills (communication, leadership, conflict resolution, executive partnership, etc.) can be a bit harder to quantify directly, so linking them to real-world applications (time saved, improved team efficiency, better outcomes) can provide a framework for calculating the ROI.  

For example:  

Learning objective: Improving the ability to anticipate the needs of executives and proactively address them (e.g., preparing meeting materials without prompting, managing their schedule efficiently).  

How to calculate ROI: 

Example calculation: If better support saves the executive 30 minutes per day, and the executive’s hourly rate is $150, that’s 30 minutes × 5 days × 50 weeks = 7,500 minutes, and (7,500 ÷ 60) x $150 hourly rate = $18,750 annual savings for that executive alone.  

Develop a Post-Training Action Plan 

Once you complete your training, you need to demonstrate the impact. This is where a post-training action plan comes into play. 

Let’s say you attended a training conference like the Administrative Professionals Conference (APC). Your post-training action plan should detail: 

The Bottom Line 

Building a persuasive business case for training requires careful planning, clear communication, and a focus on measurable outcomes. By outlining the costs and benefits, setting clear goals, and tracking the impact of your development, you’ll not only gain approval for future training but also become a more valuable asset to your entire team. 

Want to Learn More?

Watch Julie's webinar on Proving and Amplifying the ROI of Training!

About Julie Perrine:

Julie Perrine is an executive assistant turned founder of All Things Admin. She is an enthusiastic trainer, author, Certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Administrator, and perpetual planner. As an advocate of the administrative profession, Julie encourages admins to be prepared, hone their skills, and always keep their minds open to new career opportunities.