How to get employer support for your Executive MBA studies
It’s a tough time for getting employer support for an Executive MBA (EMBA). In 2013, more than 41 per cent of students were entirely self-funded according to the EMBA Council (up from 34 per cent in 2009), with just 24 per cent now receiving full sponsorship from their employers. And with a higher bar for corporate funding, it’s more important than ever that the idea is pitched as a compelling business proposal that will impact on your firm’s bottom line. So how can you achieve this?
The first step for prospective EMBA students, says Dawn Bournand, editor in chief of QS TopExecutive magazine, is to get a firm idea of exactly what you want from your employer, and what is realistically possible. “There are three levels of corporate support. Full sponsorship is the best, but many employers will just offer the second, time off. The third is moral support – an understanding that the candidate may not always be 100 per cent on task.” Finding out what level of support your employer has given EMBA candidates in the past will give you an idea of what to expect, says Bournand. And successful EMBA alumni in the firm could help sell the idea to your managers.
How can you frame the proposal in the most attractive terms to boost your chances of getting funded? The University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School recommends approaching the issue as a business deal, using data to illustrate how an EMBA will help the organisation. Quantifying the benefits is difficult, but Bournand points out that candidates often use group projects to bring fellow students into their organisation to work on a real business project – “this is the kind of thing that companies would pay more than £100,000 for through consultants.” And as Duncan Macintyre of Oxford’s Said Business School argues, the highly international nature of most EMBAs adds another dimension to this. “Our course has 33 nationalities from a host of sectors. The employer can effectively learn how similar business issues are approached from an international perspective.”
The key, Macintyre says, is to emphasise that the EMBA is not purely a matter of your own personal development – “it can be a partnership, with the student choosing modules that help meet the strategic objectives of the firm.” And committing yourself to the firm for some time after the qualification will help to back up the argument that your employer will benefit. “If an employee approached me saying they want to study an EMBA to help boost the firm, I’d be listening carefully,” says Bournand.
Once your business proposal is ready, it’s important to raise the issue in the right way. For Bournand, an annual review is the perfect opportunity. “But it’s also important that you approach your direct superior first, rather than going straight to human resources. Otherwise, there’s a danger they’ll think you are going behind their back, and this won’t help your pitch.”