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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Back to school time for employers too

Those who run area companies have been concerned about a shortage of mid-level professionals and managers.

CEO Council for Growth, which tackles issues related to the economic competitiveness of the Philadelphia region, on Tuesday will issue a set of recommendations to address that problem.

UPDATE: Read the report online here.

Anthony J. Conti, who chairs the CEO Council’s Human Capital Working Group, said the answer boils down to retaining your talented employees by encouraging them to get a needed certification or college degree - and paying for it.

“There’s a body of academic information that makes a persuasive argument that companies that invest in continuing education,” Conti said, “appear to create a return to the company that’s positive.”

The 20-page report provides examples of how six large companies do it. For example, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals L.P. provides a reimbursement tuition assistance plan with an annual $10,000 cap for any business-related course.

“When you talk to companies, what you find is that if you give employees flexibility around their personal development and facilitate it, people will stay longer, they’re happier and the companies are getting better results,” said Conti, Philadelphia market managing partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P.

Given their druthers, employers probably would rather not front their money for you to learn low-fat cooking or the history of Abstract Expressionism. And if you don’t get at least a “C” in the course, the company often won’t pay for a poor grade.

I wonder whether this kind of effort has a chance of moving forward when the U.S. economy is sputtering. But I’ll take Conti at his word when he says that CEOs are concerned enough about their talent management strategies to make this a priority.

So if your boss wants to you to hit the books and is willing to pay for it, I’d say sharpen your pencils.
Posted by Mike Armstrong @ 3:05 AM  Permalink | Post a comment
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About Mike Armstrong
Mike Armstrong, a business editor and writer for nearly two decades, is the Inquirer's business columnist and PhillyInc blog editor. Contact Mike via e-mail or at 215-854-2980
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