Use this practical overview to structure your business case as a presentation or written document that will justify the investment.
You'll most likely need to deliver the business case in a formal setting like a presentation to the C-suite or an official document they’ll work through. In this section we help you structure that final, formal pitch to grab their attention and convince them that investment is needed today.
Think of this as reframing your elevator pitch. You’re presenting the core challenge, giving a brief look at your suggestion and the reasons behind your choice. The idea is to have all important points listed on the page with your executive summary. This way, you’re setting the context strongly from the outset and presenting the key points you’ll expand upon later in your document or presentation.
Talk about how a specific business challenge is linked to a specific people challenge. A CEO will always be primarily interested in fixing a problem that impacts business success.
Is there anything that’s limiting your efforts? Is there a specific tool or process driving the challenging situation? Go over how your current HR operations work and what your leading difficulties are. Compare past results to industry standards or get your financial team on board to analyze how much money you’re losing in the absence of a better solution.
Summarize what you’re trying to get out of a new tool. This can be anything from employee efficiency gains to improving your employer branding efforts or reducing operational costs. Tie these objectives to the business strategy and use language that is tailored to what each C-suite member sees as most valuable.
This is where you present your software choice and how it will help you reach the objectives listed above. Note all benefits (e.g. full stack of features, ease of use, positive employee feedback during trials), but don’t be afraid to bring up its limitations. Perhaps it’s the most expensive tool you’ve tested or there’s a feature that will only be released next year. Illustrate what success with this new HR tool will look like. Give the rough numbers on employee performance, reduced turnover rates, shortened time to hire, or anything else you’re expecting to see improvement in. Make sure to leverage the ROI calculation you completed earlier!
Present these in a table format and go over their cost, top features, the time needed to adopt the new tool, and potential usability issues or risks. This comparison should highlight why you chose one HR system over the others.
Bring your presentation or pitch document to a close by summing up and leaving the C-suite with your final recommendation. You could also take a moment to describe what using the tool could look like on a daily basis and who’s going to manage the process.
👉 The initial cost of investment versus the value gained;
👉 If the company’s data will be secure;
👉 How easy it is to implement the new solution and what training the team will look like;
👉 If there are other companies like theirs that have been successful with this solution;
👉 What the risks of using this tool are (if any) and whether you can prevent them.