Continuing Your Employees’ Education
by Carrie Hinkel on November 6th, 2007
For years, large corporations have been sending employees to colleges and universities to further their education. Now, even small companies are beginning to offer incentives for employees to take classes and earn higher degrees.
How does it work?
Typically, there are two different ways that companies can get their employees to earn college credits or an advanced degree:
1. Employees take evening or weekend classes (either at a college or university or online) and the company reimburses them.
2. The company hires an extension of an accredited college or university to teach courses at the office, typically in the evenings.
Usually, in return for furthering an employee’s education, the employee will to commit to two things:
1. To earn at least a "C" grade.
2. To work at the company for an agreed upon period of time once the education has been completed.
If either of the above criteria is not met, then the employee will either not be reimbursed for the education or they will have to reimburse the company, if their education has already been paid for.
Offering to pay for employees’ continuing education isn’t for every company. Here’s a list of some of the pros and cons associated with it, so you can see if it’s something that might be right for your business:
The Pros of Paying for Your Employees’ Continuing Education
Better benefits package - It’s hard recruiting quality employees, but one way to get good candidates interested is with plump benefits and, for many, tuition reimbursement is a tempting one.
Bring new skills to the company - The hope is that your employee will bring back to the company some of the skills he or she learned. That could mean better management techniques, the latest marketing strategies or even proven ways to retain quality employees.
Loyal employees - Most employees are grateful for their employers taking the extra step to help them continue their education or earn a degree. They might just feel special that their company thinks they are worth investing in and therefore have a renewed sense of loyalty to their company.
Keep Employees Longer - Since most companies require that employees taking courses agree to a service commitment, employees will work for the company longer. That translates into savings because the company isn’t spending money hiring and training new employees.
The Cons of Paying for Your Employees’ Continuing Education
Employees not taking classes seriously - It’s true, there may be some employees who are just using the tuition money to get a degree on paper and aren’t interested in absorbing any of the information long-term. Of course, they’ll pay attention enough to get a passing grade (because if they don’t the company won’t pay); but they’re only focused on walking away with a degree, not the knowledge that goes along with it. In that case, your company really wouldn’t be gaining anything by spending money on such a slacker.
Tension over failing grade - Most companies require that their continuing education employees sign a contract that states that they will maintain a "C" average or above. Still, when the "report card" comes in and they receive a "D" grade, neither the employee nor the company is happy and hard feelings between the two might ensue, creating a tension-filled work environment.
Employee leaves after training - It happens, an employee uses a company’s money to earn a master’s degree and then finds a higher-paying job. Of course, they did agree to pay back their company because they did not fulfill their service commitment. The problem arises if the employee is not willing to pay back the money, and that means getting lawyers involved and possibly going to court. That, of course, means money lost for the company.
Employee takes classes not relevant to company - Let’s say a company is an engineering firm and an employee takes a course in sports medicine. It’s probably nothing that will ever be of any use to the company, and certainly seems like the employee is looking for a new career path. To avoid paying for classes not relevant to your company, you might decide to write in the tuition reimbursement contract that management must first approve all classes.
While paying for an employee’s education may have its benefits, it also has some downsides if the employee isn’t taking their education seriously. It’s the company’s responsibility to have a specific terms and conditions contract written that each employee must agree to in order to receive tuition reimbursement. It will help avoid misunderstandings and grievances between the company and its employees.