With the end of 2025 approaching, Learning and Development leaders face a critical decision: how to maximize the impact of remaining budget dollars. The challenge isn’t just about spending what’s left—it’s about building momentum for 2026 while demonstrating measurable value to executive stakeholders.
Beth Gantz and Anil Samuel, who leads learning operations and analytics at CIBC, recently shared proven strategies for turning budget constraints into opportunities for strategic growth. Their conversation revealed how data-driven decision-making and business alignment can transform L&D from a cost center into a strategic partner.
The Paradigm Shift in L&D Budget Management
Training expenditures are decreasing across organizations, yet the demand to demonstrate impact has never been higher. This creates a paradox: L&D teams must show more results with fewer resources while addressing accelerating skill gaps driven by AI, economic uncertainty, and rapid technological change.
The solution lies in operational efficiency and data-driven measurement. CEOs now expect L&D leaders to speak the language of business impact and return on investment. According to Brandon Hall Group research, the top priorities for L&D organizations include improving alignment between business strategy and learning initiatives, followed closely by enhancing measurement and analytics capabilities.
Starting with Business Impact: The V Model Approach
The most critical shift in budget planning starts with a single framework: the V Model from the ROI Institute. This model helps L&D professionals structure intake conversations to uncover the true business problem behind every learning request.
“It all really starts with that initial conversation, that dialogue that you’re having with your teams, your business teams, your stakeholders,” Anil explained during the webinar. The V Model guides practitioners to ask questions about business impact first, then work backward to determine what people need to do differently.
One key mistake organizations make is insisting that every initiative must have a tangible monetary ROI. Starting small with intangible results—such as improved performance, changed behaviors, or enhanced mindsets—still tells a compelling story about value. The goal is to move beyond “nice-to-have” training and demonstrate how learning investments directly support business outcomes.
Making Budget Decisions Based on Strategic Alignment
Budget constraints actually create opportunities for more strategic thinking. Rather than spending every dollar simply to avoid losing future allocations, successful L&D leaders evaluate each investment against clear business priorities.
“I actually look at a budget constraint as an opportunity,” Anil shared. When resources are limited, teams must carefully consider where spending will generate the greatest impact. This requires asking stakeholders about alignment to business strategy, expected outcomes, and the consequences of doing nothing.
The conversation should focus on three dimensions: time, money, and impact. By speaking this language, L&D professionals demonstrate business acumen and build credibility with executives. Data becomes essential for making informed decisions about which initiatives deserve funding and which should be declined.
From Spreadsheets to Strategic Platforms
Many organizations track learning requests using homegrown spreadsheets or basic intake forms. While these tools capture preliminary information like budget and department, they lack frameworks for vetting work against strategic priorities or calculating true program costs.
Anil’s team made the strategic decision to transition from an in-house tracker to a comprehensive learning operations platform. The shift wasn’t just about technology—it was about gaining visibility into resource capacity, total cost of ownership, and strategic alignment.
“We’re not experts in developing a whole bunch of new trackers and analytics,” Anil noted. By partnering with a specialized platform, his team gained the ability to track work through governance processes, connect projects to resource allocation, and generate data-driven insights about where time and money were being invested.
The platform enables CIBC to calculate real costs beyond vendor fees—including instructional design time, facilitation resources, and ongoing support. This holistic view helps identify opportunities for efficiency gains, capacity optimization, and higher-value work.
Engaging Stakeholders Throughout the Measurement Journey
A common mistake is measuring results only at project completion. Successful L&D organizations build measurement checkpoints throughout the learning journey—typically at 30, 60, and 90 days.
“Don’t measure it at the end of the quarter,” Anil advised. By checking progress at regular intervals, teams can identify whether gaps are truly learning problems or if coaching, communication, or other interventions are needed. This collaborative approach ensures stakeholders remain engaged and accountable for results.
Importantly, L&D doesn’t own business results alone—stakeholders must participate and sponsor learning solutions. Setting expectations about measurement checkpoints and action plans before implementation ensures everyone understands their role in achieving target outcomes.
The Power of One Question: “What If We Did Nothing?”
When stakeholders struggle to articulate business impact, Anil relies on a simple but powerful question: “If we did nothing at all, how would that impact your business?”
This question shifts the conversation from training features to business consequences. It helps stakeholders visualize potential risks—lost revenue, reputational damage, compliance issues, or competitive disadvantage. Once they articulate the “why,” subsequent questions about performance targets, success metrics, and required capabilities flow naturally.
This approach reinforces that learning exists to support business objectives, not as an end unto itself. It builds stakeholder ownership of outcomes and creates shared accountability for success.
Thinking at Scale Across Complex Organizations
For large enterprises managing multiple business units and stakeholder groups, scale becomes critical. Rather than building one-off solutions for individual departments, successful L&D organizations design programs that can spread horizontally across the enterprise.
“We try to think in scale as much as possible,” Anil explained. A technology team member developing a skill may need the same capability as someone in finance or risk management. By engaging leaders from different groups in solution design, L&D creates universal skill-building opportunities that maximize investment value.
This approach also increases stakeholder buy-in, as business partners see how their needs connect to broader organizational priorities. Cross-functional collaboration during design ensures solutions remain relevant across contexts while avoiding unnecessary customization.
Maximizing End-of-Year Budget Impact
As 2025 closes, L&D leaders should evaluate remaining budget against strategic priorities rather than spending reactively. The question isn’t simply “What can we buy with leftover dollars?” but rather “Where will this investment create momentum for 2026?”
Investments in learning operations platforms, measurement frameworks, and stakeholder alignment processes may deliver more lasting value than additional content purchases. By improving efficiency and demonstrating impact, these strategic investments strengthen the business case for increased budgets in future years.
The most successful organizations use data to tell stories about learning’s contribution to business results. They implement governance structures that ensure only high-impact work receives resources. They engage stakeholders as partners in defining success and measuring outcomes.
Building Your 2026 Strategy Today
The end of 2025 presents an opportunity to set the foundation for a more strategic, data-driven L&D function. By reframing budget conversations around impact and efficiency, learning leaders can demonstrate their value as business partners rather than order-takers.
Start by evaluating your current intake and measurement processes. Do you have frameworks for assessing strategic alignment? Can you calculate the true cost of learning programs including staff time? Are you measuring results at multiple points rather than only at completion?
Consider whether your technology infrastructure supports or hinders strategic decision-making. Homegrown spreadsheets may capture basic information, but specialized platforms provide the analytics, governance workflows, and capacity management tools needed for operational excellence.
Most importantly, commit to speaking the language of business impact. Master the art of asking “What if we did nothing?” to uncover true business problems. Use data to demonstrate value at every opportunity. Build stakeholder partnerships that create shared accountability for results.
By making these shifts now, you’ll enter 2026 with stronger executive relationships, clearer strategic priorities, and the operational foundation needed to maximize every budget dollar.
Ready to transform your L&D operations? Learn how Cognota’s learning operations platform helps organizations like CIBC align strategy, measure impact, and optimize resources for maximum business value. Book your demo today.
