Your employer is a great resource for professional development funding, which is part of many organizations’ strategies for talent retention, employee engagement and succession planning. Understanding the benefits a Professional Master of Business Administration (PMBA) offers both your employer and your career will help you make a strong case for support from your organization.
While the benefits may seem clear, ensuring you are prepared to make a formal request for professional development support can help you approach the conversation with confidence and professionalism. We put together some tips to help you navigate this request and articulate the benefits of a UBC PMBA.
Review the existing policy
Start by checking your employer’s existing professional development policy. It can often be found on your company’s intranet, or you can inquire directly with the human resources department. Your employer may have an existing monetary allotment per employee, which is important to know so you can determine how much additional funding you are requesting. You can review the PMBA program tuition here for financial planning purposes.
Prepare in advance
Before approaching your employer, ensure you are able to articulate your professional development goals by considering your career ambitions and researching the program you are interested in. Determine if you are requesting monetary support, or if you would prefer time off for your academic endeavours. The UBC PMBA was designed to fit around your full-time work schedule, so you can plan your academic calendar with minimal interruptions to your work commitments.
Emphasize the mutual benefit
The UBC PMBA curriculum ensures students have critical business skills, actionable tools, and knowledge to make a meaningful impact as a leader across all areas of business. Do your research beforehand and review the PMBA foundational and advanced courses to explore what is most relevant to your career ambitions. Position the practical skills you will learn to your employer, highlighting that you will be able to apply them immediately at work–both to your current role and forming the next phase of your career. This will increase your level of contribution and offers an immediate return on investment for your employer. Emphasize the key benefits to your employer, such as the following:
- Cultivate your leadership skills: You will gain a set of frameworks, skills and processes that will help you effectively build and lead high performance teams.
- Build your business acumen: Diversify your business background with an understanding of all areas of a business–from corporate finance, marketing research and supply chain management to financial statement analysis and fundamental issues in corporate strategy.
- Minimal interruptions to your work commitments: The UBC PMBA was designed for professionals who want an MBA but don’t want to lose career momentum, so you can reassure your employer that you can fit your studies in around your full-time work schedule. The only exception to this is the three PMBA residency weeks for an immersive educational experience: January of Year 1 and Year 2, and December of Year 2.
Book a one-on-one meeting
Schedule a one-on-one meeting with the person you report to. This will ensure you have their undivided attention and can approach the conversation openly in a private setting.
Demonstrate your commitment to the company
Your employer may request that you sign an agreement that commits you to a one- or two-year contract with the company after completion of your PMBA. This means that if you resign before the agreed upon timeline, you would be required to pay the professional development funds back to your employer. If this is something you’re comfortable with, it demonstrates your commitment to the company and may be a factor in increasing the funding you receive.
Approach with confidence
Don’t second guess yourself or the mutual benefit of investing in your growth. Keep in mind that many organizations are keen to train their existing employees. When you consider the high cost of onboarding and recruiting new employees, ensuring existing employees are motivated by opportunity is key.
Follow up
After ending the conversation with an agreed upon timeline for next steps, consider following up by email to recap the conversation and reiterate when you will touch base on this next.
If you have any questions about the PMBA program, funding options, or more tips to discuss support from your employer, don’t hesitate to reach out to UBC Sauder at pmba@sauder.ubc.ca.
