How tuition assistance programs and training can pay off for companies
By James Medina
Oft times, employers send their employees off to school or training with nothing more than a signature authorizing the expense. Is there any wonder why employers see tuition assistance programs and training as expenses instead of investments?
Tuition programs and training can truly benefit companies when used correctly. Here are three things to make sure they do:
First Things First
The first thing to do is discuss them. Talk about the courses to be taken and what will be learned. What are the course objectives? What are the expected outcomes? What projects will be assigned? Discuss what is expected of the employee (e.g. GPA, Work vs. Attendance, projects, etc.). Ask employees what their goals are for the course.
Connect the Learning
The second thing to do is link. Meet with employees beforehand to determine how the class can be used to further company goals. For instance, a course in instructional design could be used to develop a training course for the company. A management class could be used to develop business acumen or strategic initiatives. An engineering course could be used to develop new processes for the company.
In addition, by linking the learner with company goals, the benefits by having access to university resources such as professors, equipment, and software that a company may not otherwise have.
How you link the course to business needs is up to you. Many students will be able to use workplace issues in their course work or course projects. At Agrium, we have one individual who is studying Training and Development at a local university. His projects are being used to develop training for the company. An added benefit is that he has valuable input and feedback from noted professors for only the cost of the class. If the company had to pay consulting fees, the costs would be much higher.
Did it Do What We Wanted?
The third thing to do to make training programs benefit the company is evaluate. After the course is finished, evaluate what was learned or accomplished. What grade was received? Did the project meet business needs? Did the project do what was expected (profitability, return on investment, etc.)? Was it of the caliber expected? Did the employee share new knowledge with others?
Did the company benefit or not? In other words, was it an investment or an expense?
All we need to do is remember three things:
Discuss expectations
Link them to business needs, and
Evaluate how well the training and learning accomplished what was expected.
As Tuition Programs and Training are discussed, linked, and evaluated, companies tend to find greater benefit in these programs.
James Medina is the Training Coordinator for Agrium’s Conda plant near Soda Springs, Idaho.
Tags: learning outcomes, ROI, training, tuition assistance
