Securing Funding for Professional Development

How to get funding for professional development is what we're going to be talking about today on how to lead the podcast for CEOs, founders and leaders who want the perfect balance of empathy and authority. I'm Kate Waterfall Hill and I'll be sharing some ideas from over 30 years of working in business and leadership development.

Don't forget if you want to learn how to become a better leader, you can sign up to my free intentional leadership guide, grab a copy of my book, how to lead, or even sign up to one of my coaching programs and get my personal support with your leadership challenges at waterfallhill.co.uk.

So let's kick off with my alter ego Linda the bad manager and see her response to funding professional development for her team.

“Yes, Jason, how can I help? You're interested in getting some personal development. Right, okay. What sort of thing are you thinking about? You wanted to get some coaching to help you advance your career. Right, well, why do you need coaching? You've got me as a manager. Surely I'm an inspiration enough, a good role model.

I could coach you, couldn't I? Can't be that hard, can it? How hard can it be? You want somebody who's actually trained to be a coach? I could look it up on the internet, couldn't I? See what to do. I think it's about asking questions, isn't it? I mean, I can ask questions, can't I? You know, have you thought of doing it like this?

Or, um, why don't you try that? Uh, that's too much advice, is it? That's not what coaching's about. Oh, right, it's actually about asking questions that evoke some sort of awareness in you and help you come to your own solutions. Empowering you to find the right answer to unlock what's going on. Well, as I said, why don't I try coaching you and see how that goes?

Now, you're determined to get an external coach, are you? Somebody independent that you can talk to in confidence. Well, you can talk to me in confidence. Can't you? I won't tell a soul. Lips are sealed. No, no, you'd rather go outside. Right. Okay, well, I don't know if you'll get any funding for it. You might well have to pay for it yourself.

It'd be worth it, would it? To get some proper support. Some professional coaching. Rather than what I might try. Well, rude. Rude, but point taken. I'm quite busy. Probably would never get around to it actually, would I? Yeah, promised that I'd meet you once a month or something and wouldn't ever happen. Okay, well good luck.

Off you pop.”

So if Linda's approach to professional development looks familiar to you, then you're not alone. Many organisations view leadership coaching and other training as a nice to have rather than an essential investment. And today I'm going to try and change that narrative. I'm going to be talking about how to develop a business case to get funding, this would also work in organisations that don't call themselves businesses. So don't be put off by that bit. So here's the reality. Securing funding for coaching and training isn't about pleading for personal development.

It's about building a compelling business case that demonstrates clear return on investment. So let's get started. Breakdown exactly how to do this.

Firstly, I'm going to come clean and say that executive coaching isn't cheap. Quality leadership coaching typically requires a significant investment and you'll need to justify every pound and that's absolutely fair enough. But here's the key, don't start with the cost.

Start with the organisational impact.

The business case needs to focus on three key areas.

First of all, looking at the current context, start by painting a clear picture of your organisation's current situation and Perhaps you're experiencing rapid growth that's stretching leadership capabilities. having to navigate significant change that requires new leadership approaches.

Maybe there are team performance issues that really do need addressing. Or maybe you're facing increased competition that demands sharper strategic thinking. The key here is to link your development needs directly to the organisation's objectives.

This isn't just about personal improvement, it's about organisational effectiveness.

Secondly, take a look at specific challenges and focus areas. At this point, it's a good idea to outline specific areas where coaching or professional development will make a tangible difference. Be precise about what needs to improve. So, let's take them in turn. Strategic leadership. Developing proactive approaches to support growth objectives. Leading with clearer vision and purpose.

Moving from tactical to strategic thinking. Next, team performance. Improving things like delegation and in turn productivity, building stronger accountability. That's often one that's a bugbear of organisations, creating better communication structures and developing conflict resolution skills.

All really important and common challenges that I see coming up time and time again with people I speak to. Then there's the personal leadership impact. So, enhancing your own leadership presence. Balancing authority with empathy, as I talk about quite a lot. Managing your time more effectively.

And delivering feedback that doesn't crush the soul of the other person, but actually leads to better outcomes. Which takes me to my next point, which is about the expected outcomes.

So we've talked about the overall context, then we've talked about the specific challenges, and now we're talking about the outcomes. Expected outcomes are really crucial. Be specific about what the organisation will gain from this investment. So, measurable improvements in team performance, better staff retention enhanced engagement, increased productivity through improved delegation, making, and more effective change management.

In the three elements of context, specific challenges and expected outcomes, we've identified the overview of why professional development is a good idea.

But let's now talk about how to present this case effectively. So you're not asking for a favour here. You're proposing a sound business investment. So here's your framework. Start with the structure. Present a clear timeline. So, you know, my programs typically last six months. outline the session frequency.

So with me, it's usually every three or four weeks. And explain the methodology. So there's some assessment, there's action planning, there's progress reviews. And with my Leadership Accelerator program, there's an Institute of Leadership certificate at the end. Then focus on the ROI. Don't just state the cost, contextualise it.

So, for example, compare the coaching investment to the cost of replacing a team member. That can often be 6 to 12 months of a salary, can you believe it? Calculate the value of improved team productivity and quantify the impact of better strategic decision making. Really consider the cost of not developing leadership capabilities.

Here's a powerful way to frame it. If coaching helps you save just one hour a week, through better delegation and time management, that's 52 hours a year. Multiply that by your hourly rate, and you've already shown significant return on investment.

But the real value goes far beyond personal time management. consider these broader organisational impacts. It's very likely that you will reduce recruitment costs through better staff retention.

You'll improve outcomes through enhanced leadership capabilities. you're going to enhance team performance through clearer communication. There'll be faster problem resolution through improved conflict management, and you'll enhance strategic decision making, leading to better business and organisational outcomes.

And in turn, this means that you'll have stronger succession planning and talent development because the leaders will be leading their people better and they can rise up as well. So let's look at some specific examples of how to quantify these benefits. So with team performance, if improved leadership leads to just a 5 percent increase in team productivity, You could calculate that across your entire team's salary bill.

Next, how about staff retention? Because if better leadership helps retain just one team member who might otherwise have left, you might be saving recruitment costs, maybe 20 percent of a salary, lost productivity during the vacancy, onboarding and training time for the replacement, knowledge retention, and also there's team morale impact.

Don't forget that. When presenting a case, you can use this structure. First of all, an executive summary. So, something along the lines of, This proposal outlines a structured leadership development program decided to enhance our team's performance and support our strategic objectives. The expected return on investment is X times the program cost through improved productivity, retention, and strategic execution.

There it is, in a nutshell. Then the current situation. Our team is facing whatever the specific challenges are, which directly impact our ability to achieve specific goals. And these challenges include, and it might be something like rapid growth, requiring enhanced leadership capabilities, team performance issues needing systematic resolution. Strategic priorities demanding sharper decision making. And change management requiring new approaches. And then move on in the third section to the proposed solution. A targeted coaching program, for instance, will address these challenges through structured one to one coaching sessions every three to four weeks.

Or in the case of my Leadership Accelerator program, it's weekly sessions. Clear goal setting and progress measurement, practical tools and techniques for immediate application, and regular progress reviews and adjustment.

Then section four, talk about the expected outcomes. This investment will deliver measurable improvement in team performance within three months. Enhanced strategic decision making capabilities, stronger team engagement and retention, more effective change management, better succession planning and talent development.

The last section, number five, should detail the investment required. So the program requires an investment of X representing approximately whatever the comparison is to the relevant business metrics and this investment is expected to deliver returns of X times the cost through improved productivity worth X retention savings of Y and enhanced strategic execution valued at Z.

So let's also address some common objections you might face and how to handle them.

One is, it seems expensive. It's not in the budget. So let's look at the cost in context. If we achieve just 5 percent improvement in team productivity, that represents however much money in additional value. compare this to the cost of relevant business expense or the impact of this business risk.

Another concern sometimes is time investment. Can we spare the time? So the response might be the program is structured to maximize impact while minimising time away from day to day operations. The real question is can we afford the cost of not developing our leadership capabilities?

Another question that comes up sometimes is how will we know it's working? So the response could be we'll establish clear metrics at the outset including team performance indicators, employee engagement scores, project delivery metrics and strategic objective achievement. We'll review these regularly and adjust as needed.

One other obstacle sometimes people get is, couldn't we do this ourselves? Couldn't I coach you myself? Or we've got an internal coach. Well, my view is that external coaching brings an objective perspective. Proven methodologies, a confidential space for honest reflection and expertise in leadership development and accelerated progress through really focused attention.

An external coach won't get distracted by internal politics or the projects and tasks at hand.

So there's a whistle stop tour about how you might go about securing funding. about making the most of your investment. So set clear goals and metrics from the start. Schedule your sessions well in advance. Protect the coaching time away from other demands. Share your learnings with your team where appropriate.

Document progress and impact. And regularly review and adjust focus areas.

So when you're making your case for coaching funding, Focus on the organisational impact, not just your personal development. Link the outcomes directly to the organisational objectives. Quantify the return on investment where you can and present it in a structured professional proposal.

Address objections proactively. Don't be afraid to meet those head on and demonstrate your commitment to making the most of the investment. The key to securing funding for professional development isn't just about asking for support.

It's about proposing a strategic investment in organisational effectiveness. By presenting a clear business case with quantifiable returns, you're much more likely to get the support you need to develop your leadership capabilities and drive better outcomes.

So that's all for this week. If you've enjoyed this episode of how to lead, do follow for more leadership insights.

And remember, if you’d like my personal support, take a look at my website waterfallhill.co.uk. I'd be delighted if you could like, leave a review and share with your fellow leaders to help spread the word. it really does help us bring more episodes to you. So team management doesn't have to be frustrating. You too can enjoy being an authoritative yet empathetic leader.

It just takes a decision to be more intentional about your interactions with others. Some great tips for how to influence positive change and of course a good guide. So until next time, listen more, advise less and lead well.