How Much Does People and Culture Development Cost?

Executive Summary

Investing in your people is more than salaries; it is building the support system around them, and the data says the best organizations put about 2% of their annual budget toward it.

This piece walks the real factors that set the price of leadership consulting, coaching, and people systems: whether you are developing individuals or teams, whether you train internal champions to carry it, program duration, and how much coaching is built in. The throughline is that structure and efficiency alone will not change your results. A People System will, and it tends to return multiples on the investment.

Investing in leadership and people development is critical for the success of any organization.

What the data says

Data suggests organizations should invest 2% of their annual budget in their people.

The investment in people is more than salaries. It is building the support system around your people.

We Aren’t Going to Charge 2% of Your Annual Budget

People development creates a positive work environment, improves employee engagement, and increases productivity. Who wants to accomplish less in their business? Consulting agencies offer various leadership and people development programs tailored to the unique needs of teams and organizations. How a consultant designs these programs, and what they should result in, is what should decide whether you move ahead.

Pricing matters in that decision. Our instinct when buying is often to find the least expensive proposal, and when we consider programming we have not invested in before, we become wary of investing at all.

We’ve Never Done It That Way, So Why Start Now?

The world is changing, and work is evolving rapidly around us. Machines have trained us to approach everything with an efficiency mindset. But people are different. People need a unique approach, and the highest-performing organizations recognize the power of a people system to succeed in the 21st century.

We often hear, "We should reorganize our staff to a more efficient structure. That's all we need."

Structures and efficiencies alone will not change anything. Building your business without a People System will not bring change. At best you will get the same results, and maybe even increase frustration. Investing in a People System may be a new idea for you. It means:

removing friction
making work flow
creating a culture where your people thrive in every area of life, instead of being exhausted robots when they get home

How Much Should You Invest in People Development?

What will it cost to work with Leaders Rising Network? Here are the considerations that teams and organizations should keep in mind when investing in leadership and people development programs.

Who Are We Working With?

One of the first considerations is whether we are working with individual leaders or with teams and groups of leaders. Individual programs offer a personalized experience tailored to specific leaders. Group programs allow for a more collaborative learning experience, where leaders learn from one another and build a sense of community. The size and scale of the program differs too. Individual approaches focus more on 1-to-1 work, which requires personalization and individualized attention. Team approaches incorporate team exercises that extend more cost-efficiently across an organization.

Our typical approach incorporates individual leaders and teams, but not an organization-wide, one-size-fits-all approach. Here is one path:

Our typical path: individuals, then teams, then champions

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Step 1: Work with individual leaders to ensure they are healthy and building a strong culture.
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Step 2: Work with teams to begin extending across the organization.
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Step 3: Equip internal champions to strengthen and maintain the People System every day.

Developing a Train-the-Trainer Approach

Speaking of internal champions: another pricing consideration is a train-the-trainer approach. We can reach into large organizations and small teams by equipping in-house leaders to come alongside our consulting agency and deliver programming. This can be cost-effective and builds internal capability through those champions. It is essential, though, that internal trainers receive adequate training and support to deliver the program well.

Taking a System Approach to People Development

In the 20th century, consultants assembled training from books, reading, and academic articles to transfer knowledge. In the 21st century, you need a digital approach, and that affects your pricing. Our team uses “digital” in two ways. First, the world is digital and fast-paced, so you need fast-paced strategies for implementation and transformation; knowledge is not enough. Second, we use digital approaches, including virtual access to content, coaches, and platforms, to get the most from your investment.

When you invest, ask yourself: how much application and implementation will I need to manage myself? Our People System approach sets the stage for immediate application, using simple structures and precise tools. We also use digital platforms to deliver content, which yields several benefits:

The information is in the hands of everyone on the team.
The cost-effective digital platform lets us flip the classroom: your team does not come to a session to hear us teach. They come to put the tools into action and build problem-solving solutions.
You gain the most from our high-tech AND high-touch approach.

What Is the Program’s Duration?

Duration also affects pricing. Programs range from short-term to long-term depending on the organization’s needs and goals. A 6-month program may suit organizations that need to address specific leadership challenges, shift to a system-based people development approach, or manage challenging workflow planning across seasons. A 12-month program may fit organizations looking for a fuller, longer-term approach and ready for long-term solutions. Long-term solutions tend to increase the investment in the short term while decreasing it over the long term, as internal champions are trained and equipped.

Does the Program Include Leadership Coaching?

Another factor is whether the program includes leadership coaching for key leaders or for all participants. Individualized coaching is valuable to any leadership and people development program because it pushes participants toward application and accountability. Coaching gives leaders personalized accountability and feedback, helping them identify areas for improvement and grow their leadership skills. Coaching can be uncomfortable for leaders who have never experienced it, but many growing organizations see the value in coaching for every leader.

“I Have Good Leadership Instincts. Why Would I Need to Invest in This?”

The world is moving fast. How are you multiplying your leadership instincts with the people around you? Many incredible leaders have great instincts and have built their own leadership systems. But having a system and sharing it with other leaders are two very different problems. Installing a People System in your organization is the most practical way to increase your efficiency, build your people, and set your organization up for long-term growth.

“That’s Great, But What’s My Investment Actually Going to Be?”

We hope you see the layers of complexity involved in building your solution. We also believe the data: your investment will return multiples in ROI. When considering the pricing of these programs, weigh the organization’s needs and goals against the program options available. With those in mind, teams and organizations can make informed decisions and invest in programs that deliver the best results.

Start with your personal GPS Assessment to find clarity. Then, if it makes sense, we would be glad to walk through how to build leaders people want to work for in your organization.

Ready to Find Out What It Will Cost?

Let’s talk

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No pitch, no pressure. Just a real conversation about where you are and where you want to go. We’d love to meet you.