Let's face it, to stay relevant in today’s job market, you need to embrace a mindset of lifelong learning and professional development.
According to a report from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), 83% of human resources managers say that professional development opportunities help them attract talent, and 86% say that it helps them retain talent.1
That’s why many employers provide annual education assistance benefits as part of their overall employee benefits package.
Educational Assistance Benefits
If your employer offers educational assistance benefits, they are available to all full-time employees within the organization regardless of seniority or compensation. The federal government places a $5,250 limit on the untaxed portion of such benefits, so companies often offer assistance in this range, but the specific amount of the benefit varies by employer.2
Your employer may not provide professional development benefits at all, or they may provide more than $5,250 in benefits each year. Talk to your supervisor or HR department for more details about your organization’s policy. Remember that anything greater than $5,250 may be taxed as non-salaried compensation, so be sure to speak with your HR team if you have any questions or concerns.
How Does Employer Educational Assistance Work?
Every organization will have its own process for accessing your professional development funds. Some organizations may even provide guidelines for the types of professional development that the funds can support. While the specifics will vary from one employer to another, the basics of the process are fairly standard.
Ask questions
Ask your manager or the company's HR team if the company provides a professional development benefit.
If your employer offers professional development, ask:
- What is the review, approval, and payment process?
- How much is my professional development benefit?
- When do my benefits reset annually?
- What types of programs are eligible?
- Are travel and hotel expenses reimbursed?
- Are there existing relationships with professional development providers that I should consider?
If your employer doesn't offer professional development:
Don’t give up. Most organizations—even those that don’t offer universal professional development funding—have budgets for specialized learning and development for employees and teams. While accessing these funds may require additional approvals, they aren’t limited by benefit caps.
There are strategies you can use to secure employer sponsorship for specialized training when professional development benefits aren't available or if the funds provided don’t cover the full cost of the program you’re interested in.
How to Make the Case for Employer-Sponsored Learning and Development
Your employer is likely aware of the challenges you, your team, or the business face and understands the value of addressing them. If you can craft and present a compelling story to leadership, then most of your work is done.
A framework like challenge, solution, benefits is familiar, simple to develop, and easy to communicate.
Step one: name the business challenge
Calling out the specific challenge and how the challenge impacts the business is the first and most crucial step. Be sure to emphasize the impacts that will resonate most with your audience and be specific whenever possible.
For example
Over the past 16 months, our company has invested heavily in integrating AI into our products and services. Our sales engineers and product managers are really excited about these new offerings, but front-line sales teams find it challenging to communicate the value to our current and prospective customers. If we can’t convince decision makers and influencers that our new AI solutions will create value for their business, then our sales will suffer.
Step two: identify a solution
You’ll want to ensure that the program you’re proposing directly addresses the problem you’ve identified. Visit the program’s website and download any supplemental materials and sample schedules that provide specifics about the curriculum to help with this process.
For example
If our sales engineers and product managers have a clearer understanding of the challenges and concerns that business leaders face when evaluating AI integration into their operations, we can speak directly to those pain points to help accelerate the sales process.
Step three: outline the positive benefits
If you’ve named a compelling challenge and identified a good solution, then all you need to do is connect the dots between the problem and the solution and underscore the positive outcomes.
For example
AI for Executives is a three-day program that brings together expert faculty from Berkeley Haas and senior leaders from a variety of industries. Not only will our team gain an in-depth understanding of the executive perspective of AI adoption and its benefits, but they will also hear the concerns and challenges facing business leaders first hand.
The experience will help them communicate more effectively with decision-makers by providing them with a practical understanding of the business applications that leadership teams care about and the unique opportunities and perceived risks associated with them.
The Benefits of Professional Learning and Development Programs
Professional learning and development, especially formats like executive education, is designed to meet you where you are in your career, industry, and field. Programs are typically tailored to a specific audience with particular learning outcomes in mind. Professional learning and development programs take many different forms but share many of the same features and benefits.
Focused skills and knowledge
Programs teach practical, immediately applicable skills and knowledge related to business topics relevant to a subset of professionals.
Fits into busy schedules
Professional learning and development programs vary in length and time commitment, but all are designed to maximize learning while minimizing time investment.
This can be accomplished in a number of ways including intensive in-person or live online sessions, on-demand online sessions that flex to your schedule, or blended learning that combines the benefits of intensive in-person sessions with the flexibility of on-demand and live online learning.
Applied and practical curriculum
Subject matter experts and practitioners facilitate innovative sessions that highlight trends and industry best practices. The work is applied in nature and designed to impart skills, knowledge, and frameworks that you can implement quickly for an immediate and positive impact.
Networking opportunities
Networking is an essential part of career advancement and stand-out professional learning and development programs create unique opportunities for participants from a variety of roles and industries to engage with one another.
A boost to your resume
Be sure to update your LinkedIn profile and resume or CV with any specialized learning and development courses you have completed. Many professional development providers also issue certificates of completion to participants that can be shared directly to your LinkedIn profile with just a few clicks.
A demonstrated commitment to ongoing professional development signals to current and prospective managers and employers that you value ongoing education and that you’re committed to staying sharp.
Final Thoughts: Maximizing Professional Development Opportunities
Whether you want to understand the ins and outs of financial reporting, develop your negotiation skills, polish your communication style, mature as a leader, or tackle complex strategy and management challenges, there is a professional learning and development program to meet your goals. Be sure to follow these tips to help maximize your experience:
- Identify a specific goal, challenge, or set of knowledge and skills that you want to develop and look for programs that address your needs
- Research professional education providers and select an organization with a reputation for quality instruction and faculty
- Ask your employer about educational assistance programs and/or specialized learning and development opportunities to cover the costs of programming
- If you have an education assistance benefit, be sure to use it each year—you work hard and it’s a valuable part of your overall compensation package
- Take advantage of in-program and post-program networking opportunities to develop personal and professional connections
- Keep your resume and LinkedIn profile up to date with any new skills and knowledge that you acquire and add any digital credentials directly to your LinkedIn profile
