Your Chief Virtual Learning Architect

Learning to Performance

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Custom Design & Delivery

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Predictive Evaluation

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Enterprise Learning Strategy

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Dave Basarab Consulting has elevated the training experience, offering an end-to-end comprehensive approach that includes training strategy, instructional design, development, delivery , post program training transfer, and evaluation (via the unique Predictive Evaluation methodology). Virtual Chief Architect Dave Basarab has combined all of these individual training elements with his user-friendly, comprehensive Learning to Performance approach, which significantly increases companies' training ROI.

Why we are different

Innovation: Our primary focus is creating learning programs using a Learning to Performance approach.
Expertise: Dave offers the depth and breadth of his experience, including working internally at prestigious companies (Motorola, Ingersoll Rand and Pitney Bowes) as well as his knowledge and expertise as a highly-respected, sought-after consultant.
Partnership: Basarab collaborates with companies, serving as their own Chief Learning Officer whenever they need to plan, strategize, or implement training initiatives.

Training Services

Enterprise Learning Strategy

Enterprise Learning Strategy

At Dave Basarab Consulting, we're experts in creating Enterprise Learning Plans. We work with you to develop your company's learning strategy and direction.

Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom training is an effective way of developing the capability required to execute your strategy. We are a custom design house that creates programs specific to your business.

Learning Burst Development

Learning Burst Development

We can create and deliver your courses via our unique Learning Burst Method - keeping your employees at their jobs while receiving world-class training.

Predictive Evaluation

Predictive Evaluation

We predict the ROI for your courses and establish success gates. We then evaluate the course against the success gates to show value realized and continually improve results.

Leadership Development

Leadership Development

Turn-key virtual custom leadership development program that combines world-class leadership speakers/educators with post-event personalized coaching to provide you with a cadre of highly skilled leaders.

Predictive Evaluation

Building a Business Case for Custom or Off-the-Shelf Learning

Learning and capability leaders across Australian organisations face a recurring decision: invest in a tailored program designed around their workforce, or buy ready-made courses from a global catalogue and deploy them quickly. Each path offers real advantages, and the right answer depends on the capability being developed, the audience, and the outcomes the business expects.

Sydney and Melbourne headquartered enterprises often juggle large graduate cohorts, technical teams in mining and resources, and customer-facing staff across retail and banking. Brisbane and Perth operations frequently support remote sites and fly-in fly-out workforces, while Adelaide manufacturers and Hobart tourism operators manage smaller teams with seasonal demand. These distinct contexts shape whether off-the-shelf content fits comfortably or whether a custom solution delivers a stronger return.

Dave Basarab Consulting helps decision makers cut through the noise with Predictive Evaluation, a methodology that forecasts adoption, measures impact, and quantifies the business return of any learning investment. The approach works whether the program is bespoke or packaged, and gives leaders the evidence needed to win board approval.

Understanding the true cost of each approach

Custom development carries a higher upfront spend because designers, subject matter experts and project managers are engaged from the outset. A bespoke leadership program for a Sydney bank or a Melbourne insurer typically costs between $80,000 and $250,000 depending on scope, including needs analysis, design, pilot, and rollout. Off-the-shelf content shifts much of that into recurring licence fees, often $20 to $150 per learner per course, with extra charges for translations into Mandarin, Vietnamese, or Arabic spoken in many Australian workplaces.

The cost picture extends beyond the invoice. Custom content matches the company's terminology, systems, and scenarios, shortening the time staff take to apply what they learn. Packaged courses often require contextualisation, supplementary facilitator notes, and post-program reinforcement, adding hidden labour that finance teams in Brisbane contact centres and Perth mining camps routinely underestimate. A robust predictive evaluation helps quantify each line item and forecast the return, helping teams maximize your training value across the program lifecycle.

Local compliance, culture and market conditions

Australian workplace legislation adds layers that generic international content rarely addresses. The Work Health and Safety Act requires specific risk management training in industries such as construction, healthcare, and resources. Modern awards under the Fair Work Act dictate certain onboarding and safety briefings, while the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act shapes compliance training in banking and finance. Off-the-shelf modules often miss these nuances, forcing compliance teams to bolt on local material.

Cultural fit matters too. Australian workplaces value straightforward communication, practical problem solving, and a degree of informality that scripted American or British modules often miss. A safety video filmed in a London office rarely resonates with crews on a Pilbara mine site, and a sales course designed for Manhattan financial advisers feels out of place in a Parramatta branch. Engaging formats, such as live learning events, can bridge that gap when timed with Friday kick-offs or pre-roster briefings.

Forecasting adoption and business impact

Predictive Evaluation treats learning like any other capital investment. It starts with a clear definition of the capability gap and the behaviours that need to change, then models adoption rates, proficiency gains, and downstream measures such as error reduction, sales conversion, or safety incidents. The framework has guided Australian industries from a national retailer reducing customer complaints to a utilities operator lowering lost-time injuries.

The technique draws on evidence from previous programs, manager observations, and post-training performance data. A Brisbane logistics company piloted the approach and identified that a generic customer service course would likely deliver only a 12% lift in satisfaction scores, while a tailored coaching program would return roughly 34%. That comparison shifted the budget conversation from price to projected value, and the executive committee approved the custom route.

Dimension	Custom training	Off-the-shelf content
Upfront cost	High ($80k–$250k)	Low
Per-learner cost	Drops at scale	Recurring licences
Time to launch	3 to 9 months	Days to weeks
Compliance alignment	Built in	Requires bolt-ons
Cultural fit	Strong	Generic
Updates	Owned internally	Vendor led
Value tracking	Forecasted and measured	Often assumed

When ready-made content delivers the best result

Off-the-shelf learning earns its place in several scenarios. When a capability is universal, such as project management fundamentals, cybersecurity awareness, or basic Microsoft Excel, the package operates in a mature market where multiple providers compete on quality and price. Buying ready-made catalogues for these skills lets internal teams focus custom design budgets on capabilities that genuinely set the business apart.

Seasonal hiring surges in tourism around the Great Barrier Reef, in agriculture during the wheat harvest in Western Australia, or in retail before Christmas push learner numbers up sharply. Packaged content lets HR teams onboard new starters within days, supported by manager-led discussions that localise the material. For many regional employers in Cairns, Toowoomba, or Launceston, this speed outweighs the precision of a custom build.

Building the financial justification for stakeholders

A persuasive business case speaks the language of the CFO and the head of operations. It links learning investment to measurable business KPIs, presents a sensitivity analysis under conservative and optimistic scenarios, and identifies the metrics tracked post-launch. The document should also name the risks of staying with the status quo, including compliance exposure and lost productivity.

Strong proposals in Australian organisations include a phased rollout, executive sponsorship, and a clear measurement framework. They also reference credible benchmarks from comparable industries, drawing on figures such as the Terry Barber inspiration from a leading Australian business leader to anchor ambition in real-world examples.

Practical recommendations for assembling the case:

Quantify the cost of the current capability gap in dollar terms
Run a three-year cost projection for both options
Apply Predictive Evaluation to forecast outcomes
Map content against Australian legislation and awards
Engage subject matter experts early to validate design
Build a sensitivity analysis covering adoption scenarios

Once the business case is approved, the next concrete step is to commission a short diagnostic with the leadership team to confirm capability priorities and define success metrics before any design work begins.

Learning to Performance

Learning to Performance, a complete training approach, gives companies world-class training to drive significant return. This approach includes upfront work (Impact Mapping, design), training (for staff and company executives), and post-training efforts to ensure training transfer. This unique recipe - the key for successful training and adoption - is changing the way companies implement training. This methodology could work with any content for organizations in any industry.