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As we head into 2025, there are a few challenges and unknowns on the horizon.
According to LSE Business Review, economic downturn is not exactly set in stone for the UK in 2025 – but still an increase in inflation “prompted many to declare that the economy is heading for a 1970s-style stagflation, not least because GDP growth is faltering” – so it’s best to be prepared.
And nowhere in an organisation is the pinch of economic downturn felt more acutely than in the L&D team, a department that is typically the worst affected by budget cuts. But before we get too melancholy about the state of the world while we’re still only in the first month of the year, let’s instead reframe these possible setbacks as opportunities.
To help you get ahead of any potential issues, we’ve compiled some trusted money-saving tips for L&D teams of all sizes. Read on to find out four tried-and-true ways for L&D teams to save money in 2025 – so that you can stop worrying about the bottom line, and turn your attention to other things.
Of course, the learning platform vendor is going to put “LMS” at the top of the list in terms of its ability to create value that wasn’t there before – but it’s also instrumental in helping you save your existing budget.
Naturally we’re biased, but an LMS truly is an L&D team’s digital goldmine. Let’s explore just a few reasons why:
Training and skills leads to improved revenue
Firstly – and obviously – when staff are well-trained and knowledgeable, both your customers and profits are happier.
That’s putting it in really simple terms, but you can’t overestimate the value of ensuring everyone in your organisation is up-to-date on all their essential training – and perhaps even taking part in self-directed learning. (More on that later.)
For examples of this principle in action, just look to Thrive customers AA and Homebase. Two fairly different businesses, united by one simple attribute: Well-trained staff who used Thrive to increase their product and customer service knowledge, enjoying customer satisfaction as a result.
In the case of AA, transferring their AA Driving Instructor Training School courses from disparate platforms over to Thrive led to 75% customer growth and a Platinum Feefo Award. Meanwhile, Homebase used Thrive to train their employees to “Expert” – and found that stores with such employees saw a 35% increase in customer satisfaction.
Compliance sets you up for success
It’s absolutely essential that your organisation is up-to-date and compliant. Of course, this affects more than your budget, but that’s what we’re focussing on in this piece.
If your company’s security becomes compromised in any way, that has the potential to incur legal fees and other not-so-desirable expenses. Compliance is your key to safeguarding the organisation and its budget against these threats.
Reducing tech bloat saves you money
How many different programs do you have in your tech ecosystem, all performing separate functions that could perhaps be performed by one single program? Be honest…
We’ll explore this in more detail within our next section, but the money you’ll save through reducing “tech bloat” can’t be overstated.
Strong L&D strategies lead to employee retention
Put simply, your ineffective L&D strategy is costing you more than just money. When employees don’t feel like their growth or goals are supported by the wider organisation, they’ll look for opportunities elsewhere. Along with losing valuable staff members, it’s a costly exercise to replace them.
The inverse is also true: A robust L&D strategy makes your people feel supported, and therefore more likely to remain with your company long-term.
Consolidating your tech stack is such an effective money saving tip for L&D, it warrants its own section in this blog.
We’re sure that, as an L&D professional, you’re well-acquainted with this feeling: You have a platform for learning. You have a platform (or several) for comms. You have a platform for skills development. And with all these various functions scattered across several tools, you still somehow feel like none of them are actually performing their functions well.
Meanwhile each individual tool is gradually draining your budget, and pulling it away from places where it could be far better spent. Finding an LMS that consolidates all of these separate functions into one, streamlined platform not only saves you money; it also benefits your workplace learning strategy.
Making every aspect of workplace learning, development and communication accessible in one place leads to people using the platform more often, which in turn leads to people being more knowledgeable and connected. Just look at Frasers Group, who saved a huge chunk of their L&D budget by getting rid of their main comms tool and shifting all communication over to Thrive.
We understand that AI is still quite a controversial topic, and not without reason. Just today, Kier Starmer pledged to “make the UK a great AI superpower,” even promising to set up "AI growth zones" around the UK. From the BBC: “...If you're an AI business, you can set yourself up in one of these zones and benefit from faster planning processes. It will be easier to build data centres there, the government says.”
This government-backed shift to an AI-centric way of doing things points to a need for businesses to get on board, or at least understand what they’re dealing with. It doesn’t have to be “AI supremacy” or nothing; L&D teams – and all working professionals – can embed AI into their daily work in little ways that don’t detract from their own human input, and instead, automate processes that would otherwise take away from more important tasks.
We’ve covered this topic in (very) extensive detail across several different guides, so if you’re looking for more specific ways in which AI can help you save time and money, take a look at some of these resources. There’s a fair few to keep you busy, so open some new tabs, grab a coffee and settle in for the next hour or so!
AI in learning: 5 ways to bring AI into L&D
The essential AI glossary for L&D teams
5 ways AI can bridge knowledge gaps in the workplace
5 AI tools for digital learning
5 ways to use ChatGPT for workplace learning
Our final money-saving tip is one that you’re probably already working towards, and that’s embedding a self-directed learning culture.
Many L&D teams know the value of self-directed or self-led learning; the principle of cultivating a culture in which people feel empowered to take charge of their own development to further their careers. As well as being beneficial for the learner and the organisation, it’s also an easy way to save some L&D spend. It’s literally a win-win-win.
This time last year, we held a roundtable all about self-directed learning which returned some extremely insightful tips from our expert guests, so we’d like to share those here:
Time and space for learning: Helen Marshall (CLO, Thrive) shared some popular initiatives that Compare the Market have implemented and promoted through Thrive, including an optional development day, skills sharing initiatives and an external development fund to help their learners allocate time within the workday for learning activities. This helps create a dedicated space where employees can focus on self-directed learning without distractions.
Campaigns that pull people in: Charlotte Richfield-Betteridge (Design Manager within Retail L&D at Specsavers) highlighted how they’ve used Thrive Content to deliver campaigns, set a meaningful development focus, and share success stories within communities in their organisation. This has helped grab their learners' attention and keep it!
Provide the right resources: But the number one rule is making sure your employees have easy access to a variety of quality and relevant learning resources covering a range of topics both broad and business-specific. Signposting, a smart tag strategy and personalised recommendations make it simple for employees to find relevant materials for them and support their development.
Support goal setting: Encourage employees to set clear learning goals and find a platform that can help you do this automatically! These goals should always be specific, measurable and aligned with progression plans.
Encourage collaboration: Self-directed learning doesn’t have to be isolated. Regularly provide a place for peer-to-peer feedback and recognition for employees who take the initiative to learn and apply their new knowledge and share it. This can be through formal recognition programs or informal praise.
The right Learning Platform: Your holy grail. Investing in the right learning management system is essential to facilitate self-directed learning. It won't change your culture overnight, but it will definitely make executing your strategy a whole lot easier by taking all the heavy lifting out of the points we’ve just discussed.
The right modern-day learning platform should be able to: Recommend learning content and subject-matter experts linked to specific skills and learning goals, track progress, and collaborate with colleagues through social learning and knowledge sharing.
Unfortunately, psychic powers haven’t yet been discovered (that we know of…) so nobody can predict what challenges this year will bring – but rest assured in the knowledge that you have a platform that can help you achieve real results for your business.
Want to learn more? Book a Thrive demo today.
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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As we head into 2025, there are a few challenges and unknowns on the horizon.
According to LSE Business Review, economic downturn is not exactly set in stone for the UK in 2025 – but still an increase in inflation “prompted many to declare that the economy is heading for a 1970s-style stagflation, not least because GDP growth is faltering” – so it’s best to be prepared.
And nowhere in an organisation is the pinch of economic downturn felt more acutely than in the L&D team, a department that is typically the worst affected by budget cuts. But before we get too melancholy about the state of the world while we’re still only in the first month of the year, let’s instead reframe these possible setbacks as opportunities.
To help you get ahead of any potential issues, we’ve compiled some trusted money-saving tips for L&D teams of all sizes. Read on to find out four tried-and-true ways for L&D teams to save money in 2025 – so that you can stop worrying about the bottom line, and turn your attention to other things.
Of course, the learning platform vendor is going to put “LMS” at the top of the list in terms of its ability to create value that wasn’t there before – but it’s also instrumental in helping you save your existing budget.
Naturally we’re biased, but an LMS truly is an L&D team’s digital goldmine. Let’s explore just a few reasons why:
Training and skills leads to improved revenue
Firstly – and obviously – when staff are well-trained and knowledgeable, both your customers and profits are happier.
That’s putting it in really simple terms, but you can’t overestimate the value of ensuring everyone in your organisation is up-to-date on all their essential training – and perhaps even taking part in self-directed learning. (More on that later.)
For examples of this principle in action, just look to Thrive customers AA and Homebase. Two fairly different businesses, united by one simple attribute: Well-trained staff who used Thrive to increase their product and customer service knowledge, enjoying customer satisfaction as a result.
In the case of AA, transferring their AA Driving Instructor Training School courses from disparate platforms over to Thrive led to 75% customer growth and a Platinum Feefo Award. Meanwhile, Homebase used Thrive to train their employees to “Expert” – and found that stores with such employees saw a 35% increase in customer satisfaction.
Compliance sets you up for success
It’s absolutely essential that your organisation is up-to-date and compliant. Of course, this affects more than your budget, but that’s what we’re focussing on in this piece.
If your company’s security becomes compromised in any way, that has the potential to incur legal fees and other not-so-desirable expenses. Compliance is your key to safeguarding the organisation and its budget against these threats.
Reducing tech bloat saves you money
How many different programs do you have in your tech ecosystem, all performing separate functions that could perhaps be performed by one single program? Be honest…
We’ll explore this in more detail within our next section, but the money you’ll save through reducing “tech bloat” can’t be overstated.
Strong L&D strategies lead to employee retention
Put simply, your ineffective L&D strategy is costing you more than just money. When employees don’t feel like their growth or goals are supported by the wider organisation, they’ll look for opportunities elsewhere. Along with losing valuable staff members, it’s a costly exercise to replace them.
The inverse is also true: A robust L&D strategy makes your people feel supported, and therefore more likely to remain with your company long-term.
Consolidating your tech stack is such an effective money saving tip for L&D, it warrants its own section in this blog.
We’re sure that, as an L&D professional, you’re well-acquainted with this feeling: You have a platform for learning. You have a platform (or several) for comms. You have a platform for skills development. And with all these various functions scattered across several tools, you still somehow feel like none of them are actually performing their functions well.
Meanwhile each individual tool is gradually draining your budget, and pulling it away from places where it could be far better spent. Finding an LMS that consolidates all of these separate functions into one, streamlined platform not only saves you money; it also benefits your workplace learning strategy.
Making every aspect of workplace learning, development and communication accessible in one place leads to people using the platform more often, which in turn leads to people being more knowledgeable and connected. Just look at Frasers Group, who saved a huge chunk of their L&D budget by getting rid of their main comms tool and shifting all communication over to Thrive.
We understand that AI is still quite a controversial topic, and not without reason. Just today, Kier Starmer pledged to “make the UK a great AI superpower,” even promising to set up "AI growth zones" around the UK. From the BBC: “...If you're an AI business, you can set yourself up in one of these zones and benefit from faster planning processes. It will be easier to build data centres there, the government says.”
This government-backed shift to an AI-centric way of doing things points to a need for businesses to get on board, or at least understand what they’re dealing with. It doesn’t have to be “AI supremacy” or nothing; L&D teams – and all working professionals – can embed AI into their daily work in little ways that don’t detract from their own human input, and instead, automate processes that would otherwise take away from more important tasks.
We’ve covered this topic in (very) extensive detail across several different guides, so if you’re looking for more specific ways in which AI can help you save time and money, take a look at some of these resources. There’s a fair few to keep you busy, so open some new tabs, grab a coffee and settle in for the next hour or so!
AI in learning: 5 ways to bring AI into L&D
The essential AI glossary for L&D teams
5 ways AI can bridge knowledge gaps in the workplace
5 AI tools for digital learning
5 ways to use ChatGPT for workplace learning
Our final money-saving tip is one that you’re probably already working towards, and that’s embedding a self-directed learning culture.
Many L&D teams know the value of self-directed or self-led learning; the principle of cultivating a culture in which people feel empowered to take charge of their own development to further their careers. As well as being beneficial for the learner and the organisation, it’s also an easy way to save some L&D spend. It’s literally a win-win-win.
This time last year, we held a roundtable all about self-directed learning which returned some extremely insightful tips from our expert guests, so we’d like to share those here:
Time and space for learning: Helen Marshall (CLO, Thrive) shared some popular initiatives that Compare the Market have implemented and promoted through Thrive, including an optional development day, skills sharing initiatives and an external development fund to help their learners allocate time within the workday for learning activities. This helps create a dedicated space where employees can focus on self-directed learning without distractions.
Campaigns that pull people in: Charlotte Richfield-Betteridge (Design Manager within Retail L&D at Specsavers) highlighted how they’ve used Thrive Content to deliver campaigns, set a meaningful development focus, and share success stories within communities in their organisation. This has helped grab their learners' attention and keep it!
Provide the right resources: But the number one rule is making sure your employees have easy access to a variety of quality and relevant learning resources covering a range of topics both broad and business-specific. Signposting, a smart tag strategy and personalised recommendations make it simple for employees to find relevant materials for them and support their development.
Support goal setting: Encourage employees to set clear learning goals and find a platform that can help you do this automatically! These goals should always be specific, measurable and aligned with progression plans.
Encourage collaboration: Self-directed learning doesn’t have to be isolated. Regularly provide a place for peer-to-peer feedback and recognition for employees who take the initiative to learn and apply their new knowledge and share it. This can be through formal recognition programs or informal praise.
The right Learning Platform: Your holy grail. Investing in the right learning management system is essential to facilitate self-directed learning. It won't change your culture overnight, but it will definitely make executing your strategy a whole lot easier by taking all the heavy lifting out of the points we’ve just discussed.
The right modern-day learning platform should be able to: Recommend learning content and subject-matter experts linked to specific skills and learning goals, track progress, and collaborate with colleagues through social learning and knowledge sharing.
Unfortunately, psychic powers haven’t yet been discovered (that we know of…) so nobody can predict what challenges this year will bring – but rest assured in the knowledge that you have a platform that can help you achieve real results for your business.
Want to learn more? Book a Thrive demo today.
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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