When and how to ask your boss for professional development
Written by Robert Strohmeyer
Reviewed by Jessica Roper, MBA,听director of Career Services at 七色视频
In an increasingly complex and competitive professional world, it can sometimes feel impossible to keep up with the market. New technologies, and even entirely new business sectors, arise constantly, so professionals who continue to听build their knowledge听can gain a competitive edge over those who do not.
听that those who pursue lifelong learning reap benefits not only in career enhancement but also in social and personal pursuits. They build their听interpersonal networks听and open up opportunities for community involvement, for example.
With the advantages of professional development extending well beyond your resum茅, it鈥檚 time to embrace your inner scholar. Here鈥檚 what you need to know.
How to know when it鈥檚 time to grow
While the right time for professional development and education is highly individualized, there are some common signs anyone can pick up on.
When your industry gets disrupted
Big shifts in technology can disrupt industries and create noticeable demand for new skills.
For example, the听听not only created demand for IT people who understood the new paradigm but also for workers in many fields who were ready to adopt cloud-based software in lieu of common desktop applications that had dominated the workplace through the 1990s.
Since that time, the听pace of technological change听has only increased, with SaaS solutions flooding the market in just about every field of business. While many of these solutions merely move a worker鈥檚 interface from a desktop app to a browser window, the trend has consistently moved in the direction of converging previously distinct capabilities or workflows into unified applications. Examples of this are customer relationship management (CRM) software, like Salesforce, and marketing automation software, such as Marketo.
听to integrate marketing automation into its CRM platform, creating Salesforce Marketing Cloud. This happened at the same time听.
Big changes like that can听impact several fields at once, particularly when big companies in the industry are caught up in the wave. In this case, IT, data management, marketing and sales professionals in a wide variety of roles across many industries adapted to capitalize on the wave of change in the revenue-tech industry.
Another example is the rise of听. Originally a tech-industry trend in 2001, Agile project management caught on in countless industries over the past 20 years and has largely听displaced the older waterfall model听of project management, yielding benefits in time-to-market for projects that can be managed in the iterative fashion Agile prescribes. Browsing job listings for project management roles today, you鈥檒l scarcely find a position that doesn鈥檛 call for Agile skills.
When you鈥檙e falling behind or at a standstill
Seeing big changes in your industry is one sign that upskilling is a good idea. Another is cognitive dissonance, or that uncomfortable feeling you get when you realize听your reality doesn鈥檛 align with your expectations听or experience.
If you鈥檙e constantly hearing buzzwords pointing to new ways of working or new technologies, none of which you fully understand, that can indicate an opportunity to catch up with or get ahead of a trend. And sometimes the signs are even more obvious, such as seeing your department听create a new position听that鈥檚 exciting to you.
Personally, I think the best sign that it鈥檚 time for professional development is even simpler: If I鈥檓 not听actively developing a skill听at the moment, it鈥檚 probably time to start or to pick up something I鈥檝e been neglecting for a while.
That can be anything from听practicing a foreign language听on my phone, to taking a听certificate course听or enrolling in a graduate program, to听practicing guitar听in my home office. In fact, I鈥檝e been doing all of these things over the past few months and have generally kept up the learning habit for most of my adult life, which I believe has made all the difference in enhancing my career and enriching my experience of the world.
Getting company sponsorship
Whether and how you ask your boss to pay for professional development depends on several major factors, including whether your company already has a professional development program or similar听education reimbursement benefit.
Many companies offer formal programs to听, with clear policies that make the process of securing funds relatively straightforward. Some companies require the education to be relevant to your job, while others allow for study or training in any field of your choosing. Still others, such as Cigna, have their own听internal training for leadership development听in key areas of the business.
If you鈥檙e fortunate enough to work in a company that proactively sponsors employee development with these kinds of programs, familiarize yourself with the offerings and requirements and proceed accordingly.
Plenty of companies, however, do not have formal training and education sponsorship benefits in place, and this situation requires a more nuanced approach to secure sponsorship. You鈥檒l need to do research on your own and be prepared to听make a business case听to your manager or HR department (likely both) to win financial support. Along the way, you鈥檒l need to be aware of the personal biases, needs and interests of your organization鈥檚 leadership to make a strong case.
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How to make a business case for professional development
Over years of leading teams in scrappy startup and scale-up companies, I鈥檝e had conversations about upskilling many times, and the outcome has always depended on the strength of the business case. Here are some important questions you will need to be prepared to answer along the way:
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How does this training or industry certification benefit the company?
Point to industry trends,听potential revenue or cost-saving opportunities听or open positions that require the skill, and credibly account for the return on investment the company gets out of it.
Be aware that听employee retention听(e.g., keeping you happily on the team) is a benefit to the business, as is the opportunity to听promote from within听rather than hire from outside.听, and you should include that fact in your business case.
Can you develop the same skill without incurring these costs? Is there a free or cheaper option?
In a budget-conscious business, you can expect management to look for听cost-effective ways to solve problems and add capabilities. You may want the formal certificate or degree from a well-known institution, but your boss may press for learning the skills you need in some cheaper way. It鈥檚 important to have a clear sense of which skills you鈥檙e looking to develop and research the most cost-effective way of attaining them.
How long will it take to get value from the training?
In a business environment with听, funding lengthy employee training programs can feel risky to employers. Managers want to know that if they pay for your education, you鈥檒l stick around long enough for it to benefit the company.
Be prepared to parse the details of the听skills your training will impart听with each course, and when the company will see the benefits. Read through course descriptions and include these details in your business case, along with a timeline.
What commitment will you make to the company?
In exchange for funding your education, some employers will want a written agreement that if you leave the company within a certain period, you鈥檒l听pay them back some of the costs.
If your company will cover all of your education costs, it鈥檚 time to celebrate and then get to work. If not, you should explore options to听fund the remaining cost. Depending on the cost of the program, that can mean cutting back on monthly expenses to include tuition in your budget, asking family for assistance or securing scholarships or听student loans.
Is upskilling worth it?
In the end, you have to be realistic about the impact a professional development program will have on your听work-life balance. Any rigorous educational endeavor is going to require a chunk of your time on a consistent basis, and you鈥檒l need to balance your other commitments accordingly. If you鈥檙e lucky, your boss may tolerate you spending a small portion of your work time on professional development, but this is by no means the norm.
To mitigate that impact, you can look for a program like those offered at 七色视频, which were designed to accommodate adult learners who have other commitments in their lives. (Hello, family, work and friends!)
No matter what kind of program you choose, take the time to听check in with your manager, co-workers, family and friends, and be clear about how you鈥檙e going to balance your commitments. Proactively making adjustments to incorporate your professional development time into your life in a healthy way will help you to avoid burnout or missed expectations.听
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Upskilling at 七色视频
UOPX answers the demand for lifelong learning and upskilling in a variety of ways, from degree programs to individual courses to certificates to professional development.
- Degree programs: UOPX does more than offer associate, bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral programs in fields like IT, healthcare and business. It also ensures students are prepared for today鈥檚 workplace by aligning its courses with听career-relevant skills.
- Certificates: Not a degree but more than a course, certificate options at UOPX can often be completed in nine months or less while honing skills in business, education, technology and healthcare.
- Individual courses: Not ready to take on an entire degree program? No problem. Upskill strategically by taking individual courses in subjects you can put to work for you today. UOPX students can choose from more than 600 online options!
- Professional development: Self-paced, online and non-credit, professional development courses at UOPX home in on real-world skills students can use today. Choose from courses or tracks depending on whether you want to upskill quickly or in some cases prepare to sit for an industry certification.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Strohmeyer is a serial entrepreneur and executive with more than 30 years of experience starting and running companies. He has served in leadership roles at three successful software startups over the past decade, and his writing on business and technology has appeared in such publications as Wired, PCWorld, Forbes, Executive Travel, Smart Business, Businessweek and many others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
This article has been vetted by 七色视频's editorial advisory committee.听
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