Corporate education plays an important role in any company’s business strategy. Yet, many companies pay very little attention to it, and, as a result, it has its negative effects. According to the stats, 74% of employees feel they are not achieving their full potential because of a lack of corporate education. Moreover, 7 out of 10 employees name corporate education one of the decisive factors, when agreeing to work in a company.
However, even if professional education is not a part of your company’s corporate policy, you can still get your boss to pay for your vocational training.
How? Here are some tips that work perfectly for everyone.
- Choose an Appropriate Setting
Talking to your boss in a restroom, elevator or a lunchroom isn’t the best idea. Even if you’re looking for a setting where you could feel more at ease, your boss will more likely feel uncomfortable and caught off guard.
Choosing the right setting is the first thing you should think about when planning this conversation. Here are some interesting ideas to consider, when choosing a setting for this important conversation:
- Ask your boss to meet in the comfort of their own office. When scheduling the meeting in advance, make sure that you mention the topic of the conversation directly, so that your boss could prepare for the discussion.
- A good and thoughtful gesture is to ask your boss for lunch, again, telling the topic of this meeting directly. Make sure that your boss will find such a gesture appropriate.
- If there are several employees besides you, who want to take a professional education course, you can bring up the topic of funding for discussion during the weekly meeting, warning about this conversation prior to the meeting.
Choose the setting that you will feel comfortable too. This conversation may be quite uncomfortable, so make sure that you create a situation in which you’ll feel confident.
- Prepare Your Arguments
Before the conversation happens, make sure that you build a strong case. Providing as many details as possible is important for your boss to understand, where the money of the company will go and whether this is an investment that will pay off.
When preparing for this conversation, take into consideration the following points:
1) Training information.
What is the make of the training? What will it teach? When will it take place? Where? How much time will you be absent from work?
Provide full answers to these questions to persuade your boss. It is also a good idea to provide your boss with the options, how you can save money. For instance, when it comes to accommodation, there are several options that offer attractive options for corporate clients:
- Airbnb: a renowned resource, providing those who travel with accommodations options worldwide;
- Flatfy: a resource that supplies its users with tons of options when it comes to cheaper and affordable accommodation in the biggest cities around the world;
- booking.com: this is a resource, where you can book a hotel at the cheapest price anywhere in the world. A great option if you’re traveling somewhere for a day or two.
2) ROI
What about the return of investment? How will your company’s investments pay off? Discuss the possible effects of your training on your job performance.
3) Personal Reasons
Lastly, don’t be afraid to discuss personal reasons, why you’re interested in a particular course. If you’re passionate about it, don’t be afraid to show it to your boss. It will work for your benefit if your boss sees that you’re enthusiastic about perfecting your skills.
- Turn ‘No’ into ‘Maybe’
Want to know a surefire way to convince your boss to pay for your professional development? Give them an example of how you will apply your perfected skills on practice.
For instance, if you want to take a course on office skills for administrative professionals, tell your boss, for instance, how your improved problem office skills will help bring your next project to success. If your boss sees a clear case of how your improved skills can be applied, you’ll be more likely to get a ‘Yes’ out of them.
Final Thoughts
Prepare a good explanation and a strong case to make sure that you get what you want, stressing the importance of improving your skills for higher productivity. After all, every company is interested in skilled workers, so it’s also in their best interested to help you fund your professional development.