How to get your firm to pay for your EMBA
ALTHOUGH executive MBAs can offer tangible benefits to both employees and employers, they also impose large upfront costs. A course at Kellogg/Hong Kong UST Business School, the world’s leading programme, is highly-priced at $143,300 (£91,300). The London Business School (LBS) charges a more conservative £58,900.
Many students ask their employers to meet this burden. But some business schools have seen a sharp decline in employer sponsorship. The Cass Business School has recently shifted its focus to attracting a burgeoning market in self-funders.
Potential students can still convince companies to sponsor their studies. As with all investments, however, employers will require a well-researched business proposal before they fork out the money.
This proposal should focus on return from investment – what the company will get from paying for the degree. Louise Cook of Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, the UK’s largest provider of admissions consulting services, recommends highlighting new skills and contacts that will allow the company “to charge more for the employee’s services”.
Similarly, although general skills improvement may be useful, it must be linked directly to the business’s development plans. The LBS suggests associating specific EMBA courses to particular future benefits for the company. An international assignment in India, for example, could improve management competency in outsourcing decisions.
The proposal must do more than offer a positive case for employer sponsorship. Companies will be concerned about staff retention and the employee must offer reassurances that they plan to stay on post-EMBA. Cook recommends citing evidence that employer sponsorship “can generate employee loyalty as well as development opportunities”.
Even if full sponsorship is unlikely, potential students could suggest other avenues of support. Financial help need not stretch to payment of fees and companies may be willing to fund expenses, travel, or time off.
All this should be discussed in an integrated conversation between employer and employee. Both sides may recognise the benefits of an EMBA but these benefits should be assimilated within a clear career progression plan. Often business schools can assist with this planning.
Steve Cousins, MBA recruitment and admissions manager at Cass, has seen students fail to consider closely enough their career progression after the EMBA. A full and frank discussion must address how the employee will use any new skills and where opportunities exist within the company for promotion. The result should be greater clarity over which EMBA is most appropriate for the executive. Although sponsorship may generate loyalty, lack of development post-EMBA may also occasion disappointment.
Cousins stresses that employer sponsorship is not right for everyone. Companies often attach “conditions that may outweigh financial benefits” and the executive who aspires to an entrepreneurial turn in his career, for example, may not benefit from the average two-year retention contract.
Ultimately, therefore, a sponsorship proposal should create a realistic development plan for the employee just as much as convince the company of the value of its investment.