Break Through the Glass Ceiling with Continuing Education

In today’s corporate world, you either have the goods or you don’t. You have Bachelor’s degree (or two) from a fine
institution and were always told that it was the key to your success. However, times are changing and the majority of your
colleagues have a Bachelor’s degree. When it comes time for that promotion, how will you set yourself apart from the pack?

You can set yourself apart from your colleagues with continuing education. Continuing education is any sort of learning
that helps you advance and learn more than you did previously. This could be something as simple as taking a few courses
at your local college to advance your computer skills to going for a Master’s degree in your field.

You may be wondering if it will be worth the extra costs to pursue continuing education. In the end it will. Let’s say you
spend upwards of $10,000 on an advanced degree or continuing education certificate program. That’s $10,000 that you couldn’t
spend on something else. However, if your company has a tuition reimbursement program that money can be given back to you
and you would have a leg up on a raise and promotion. Or, it they don’t have a program, you could still pay for it out of
your own pocket and be more likely get that raise and promotion. That raise could be enough to cover the costs of your
tuition in just a few months. Then you’d be more likely for future raises and promotions that you wouldn’t have been considered
for earlier.

If you are a woman, it also helps you prove that you are better for a promotion than a male counterpart. Women still make
less on average than men. If you are vying with a man for the same position, it is hard to make the case of why you are
better for the job. But, if you have some continuing education under your belt, it makes it easier to prove. And you’d
probably end up with the bigger salary too.

Continuing education also shows that you are committed to increasing your skill set. Your ambition will shine through along
with the added knowledge you receive from the courses. That is very appealing to executives looking for people to fill the
upper ranks at companies.

It is easy to see why you should take the plunge and go with continuing education. You advance your skill set, gain
confidence and show how ambitious you really are. You also show your superiors how willing you are to take on new
challenges without being told to do so.

So, take the plunge and break through that glass ceiling. Start your research today on continuing education opportunities
and begin to advance your career in ways that you never thought possible. Who knows, by the end of your career, you could
be the CEO! That would not have been possible without finding a way to have continuing education.

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Are There Benefits to Offering Tuition Reimbursement To Employees Continuing Education?

As the costs of college continue to rise, so do the debt loads of graduating students. Students are constantly told that they
need to pursue an advanced degree to make it in the world, but the amount of government funded loans and scholarship awards
is decreasing each year. It is true, students do need continuing education to advance in the business world, but how can
they do so without breaking the bank?

Well, that’s where you come in. If you do not already have one, you should really look in to starting a tuition reimbursement
program at your company. Large and forward thinking companies know that they need to be competitive in today’s tight job
market to attract and retain the best and brightest employees. Tuition reimbursement programs are one way they can do this.

Tuition reimbursement programs, if you are not familiar, work like this. Your employees work for your for a certain period
of time before they become eligible for this program-usually somewhere around six months to one year. Once they have become
eligible, they can submit the grades they receive from the coursework and you in turn cut them a check to cover the tuition
and expenses. It really is that easy.

However, you do not have to cover expenses for someone who is not studying in a field that will benefit your business. If
you are an insurance company, you do not have to reimburse someone who is going into art, unless that person will become
your web or graphic designer once he or she graduates. Remember, continuing education that you reimburse should benefit
your company too. You take advantage of the new knowledge they have acquired to increase the brain bank at your company.

Many workers say that tuition reimbursement programs are a big draw for potential employers. In fact, many students even
say that is one of the biggest things they look for in employers when comparing job offers. Those are the employees you
want to attract: they are clearly ambitious, smart and are looking to continuing education to increase their knowledge and
worth to their field and company.

You may wonder what happens if one of your employees takes the money from your tuition reimbursement program to obtain a
continuing education degree and then quits for a better job offer. Well, most companies have a clause in their tuition
reimbursement agreements for this sort of thing. They will require that students who are reimbursed for their continuing
education expenses continue to work for the company for a period of time after completion. If they bolt out early, they can
be required to pay back the money to the company. A fair trade off, no?

So, it is in your best interest to look in to ways to increase your company’s competitive stance in the job market. Start a
tuition reimbursement today and begin to see the quality of your job applicants increase almost immediately. It is a
win-win situation for everyone involved.

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Should You Offer Continuing Education to Your Employees?

Maybe an employee dropped it off anonymously in the company suggestion box a few weeks ago. Maybe one of the new bright-eyed
employees stopped you one morning while you were on your way to get coffee. Or maybe Janeen from Accounting asked about it.
For whatever reason, you have continuing education for your employees on the brain. And you cannot stop thinking about it.

On one hand, you think it is a great idea. It can boost the company’s internal intelligence level while increasing company
morale and encouraging employees to stick around. On the other hand, you think it is expensive and will cut in to productivity during the workday.

Baloney! Offering continuing education to your employees is the best choice you could make for you, your company, you
employees and your customers. Just think about it: you could offer a customer service training to all of your staff who
have direct contact with customers. The staff learns important lessons and techniques for amazing customer service and in
turn, your clients are happy. That means they will be more likely to do repeat business with you and your company makes more
money.

Then, you look better in the eyes of YOUR boss. And who does not want that?

Or, all of your IT staff goes through a continuing education course on the importance of the new software the company is
using. The IT staff learns the ropes of the software and even learns a few little tricks to keep the software running
effectively and smoothly. In turn, your products go out on time and customers are happy. Again, that means they will be
more likely to do repeat business with you and your company makes more money.

And again, you look better in the eyes of YOUR boss. So tell me again why you think continuing education is a bad thing?

Also, it boosts company morale because it shows your employees that you care about their minds and want to help make them
in to better employees. So actually, the return goes both ways. You have a more educated staff and they have the greater
self-confidence and intelligence needed to create a dynamic work environment.

You could also look in to creating a program where employees can choose to take a class of their own choosing each year.
That way they will be more loyal to your company because they feel like you have a vested interested in them and their
well-being. And they are happier.

So, get your coffee, go back to your desk and create a winning plan for continuing education at your company. You will look
good, your employees will feel good, your customers will be happy and your boss will be impressed. You company will
flourish and sales will continue to increase by the thousands (or maybe even millions!) Everyone is happy and you get the
new corner office. You are now officially the company idealist, sales savior, favorite employee and the boss of the year!

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