Ask Christa! How Can I Develop When There's No Budget? (S5E55)

Hi everyone and welcome to Ask Christa! the place where you can ask questions about how to work through business challenges and workplace issues. I'm Christa Dhimo and today’s listener question continues our season’s theme of career growth, and it's one of the most COMMON questions AND challenges these days: How much can I develop myself when there’s no budget? And if you'd like to submit YOUR question, go to my show's site, AskChrista.com, that’s Christa with a C-H.

Listener Question

Here’s the listener question: “My CEO recently explained in a Town Hall that we have to cut back on expenses in order to prepare for an uncertain end of the year, mostly due to unpredictable changes related to tariffs. She said we have to maintain what we can and create a buffer so that we can continue to operate without heading toward more drastic cuts like layoffs. We’ve had to adjust our expected supply streams a couple of times since April, shifting them to manage costs while also managing potential scarcity as other companies also shift to the same suppliers to manage costs. Over the summer we got rid of several company perks and cut back on a few benefits, 401k match and tuition reimbursement being two of them.

I understand why we’re doing this, but I was up for a promotion this year provided that I complete the internal Leadership Program that prepares everyone for management roles. I’m almost done with the program, but yesterday all managers were asked that we pause the program and continue after Q1 of next year. They are trying to keep that from impacting promotions, so they’re looking into ways they can fortify our learning with non-budget-related learning and development.

I’m at my wits-end, though. It’s not just the potential disruption of learning from a program I was getting a lot out of, but also the potential disruption of learning altogether. They don’t want us to incur expenses, but how can I develop if there’s no budget?”

Uncertainty Often Spurs Collaboration and Creativity 

I feel for any organization grappling with forecasting difficulties at any time, be it with customers or suppliers.

That said, uncertainty can spur collaboration and creativity when channeled into productive lanes. Season 4’s Episode 37 focused on a listener question about how to improve team collaboration, and I mention the episode because I’ve found in the last many years that most don’t know what “collaboration” means or how to effectively collaborate at work. They think it means to work well together, but that’s often the BONUS. 

The crux of collaboration is working together toward a SHARED goal, and feeling a shared sense of uncertainty can be a deeply bonding experience that spurs some of the best collaborations while working toward a shared goal.

The risk is whether a shared goal, especially during uncertain times, is clear enough for it to actually be a SHARED goal.

If There’s No Development Budget, It Impacts Everyone

I bring up the importance of collaboration in the context of this listener question because if there’s no development budget at work—it impacts everyone. Unlike some budget cuts, which might impact a handful of departments, this is not an isolated or ISOLATING incident. 

And that makes finding solutions all the more likely. You and others will have reason for collaborating toward a shared goal: how to continue your development if there is no budget. And part of the collaboration is keeping in mind that your company is tightening expenses as a means to refrain from lay-offs while navigating an unpredictably expensive time, particularly as it relates to supply. 

It also sounds like your CEO is being transparent, offering full disclosures for the current state, and providing reasons behind tightening up or pausing spend.

Clarity, Clarity, Clarity…

So as a starting point, and since this season addresses Career Growth, I’d close up some of the conditions associated with your potential promotion. It sounds like this is in play, which is good, but it’s still worth a discussion that offers clarity; even better if you can attach it to your performance management system or performance and development plan, or even just follow-up with an email. It important to gain such clarity so you know what you’re solving for.

For example: if promotions happen on a cadence or cycle, say every March if each year before Q1 ends, when can you expect to hear whether this cadence will change to accommodate the budget cuts, or whether the company plans to stick with the cadence and offer accommodations for the required learning? 

It sounds like the company is looking into this to make any delays as least impactful as possible, but you want clarity. Then you want to reflect that clarity in writing to confirm such clarity. That way, again, when you go to solve the issue, you know what you’re solving for.

For example, consider sending a note to your manager, something like this: “Based on our discussion and the recent Town Hall, I understand that the company is determining ways to be sure those on a promotional path aren’t impacted by these unforeseen events. I’m also to continue adhering to my development plan as the company seeks ways to replace my programmatic leadership learning with free online options or something similar. From there, I’ll have to demonstrate my learning in meetings and in projects, and we’ll create a plan for that on [then include that date.]”

This level of written detail enables you both to be sure you said and heard the same things from each other. Your manage may come back to you and say, “Yes and no. You have the part about what we’re doing to make this the least disruptive as possible, but if we cannot find online options, we will seek other options. We will also create very specific goals for you to learn about and demonstrate through mentoring with other leaders. That will be discussed and determined within the next month.”

That kind of response offers CLARITY.

Now… some of you may see this as a CYA move, and this is a kid-friendly show, so if you don’t know what CYA means, look it up (hah hah).

I don’t want you to think that way, though. CYA is an attitude and a mindset about protection. It signals that you have a trust issue based on previous circumstances where you and others had a misunderstanding and there was trouble or retaliation or some kind of negative outcome as a result. Trust was broken, so you send “CYA” emails. Yes, it’s for the sake and purpose of clarity, but the underpinning is REALLY about protection, and that's different from the clarity I'm talking about here.

The purpose of sending a clarifying email in the context of THIS episode is to confirm you and your manager have clarity about the current situation and the plan going forward as it relates to your potential promotion AND the various considerations taking place to assure some continuity toward promotions.

But Remember: There Are Plenty of Ways to Develop (with or without a budget)

But I DO want to remind you that there are plenty of ways to develop yourself even if your organization doesn’t offer a budget or development. It’s obviously a shame if they don’t, because it’s usually associated with a structured approach to promotion: you look at the competencies and capabilities you have for your job today, you and your manager look at the competencies and capabilities you would need for a promotion, then you create a development plan to get there, and it usually includes a mix of technical skills with some kind of formal learning of those skills AND hands-on experience to APPLY those skills.

Which leads me to this episode’s additional resources… 

Additional Resources

And those resources, located in the show notes, include the same list of no cost online courses I’ve placed in a few other Ask Christa! episodes. The list includes Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and The Open University among others. 

I’ve also included a Forbes article called, “Ten Ways To Develop Your People Without A Learning And Development Budget.” It’s from 2017, but includes a lot of tried and true and timeless tactics and actions to support development, from internal rotations and mentoring (including YOU being the mentor), to stretch assignments and volunteer work, which might include non-profit Board of Director work.

And, of course, seek out other learning platforms, like LinkedIn Learning, or even YouTube to learn various skills and techniques, then work with your team, your peers, and your manager to determine ways to practice those new skills. The proof of learning is how you apply it, and there are a lot of different ways to develop yourself, whether there is a budget for it or not.

Wrap Up & Submitting Your Questions

And that’s a wrap for Episode 55 of Season 5 focused on Career Growth! 

You can submit YOUR question on my show’s site, AskChrista.com, that’s Christa with a C-H, where you will see all my episodes listed based on category and season. While your there—sign up for my More Answers… newsletter, where you will receive additional content on Sunday nights to set you up for the work week.

As always, thank you for your support. And remember, if you have a business challenge or a workplace issue—Ask Christa!