The Case for the Employer Sponsored MBA

We recently came across this article. The Dean of Loyola Marymount’s business school wrote it. He eloquently makes a case. Investing in employees’ continuing education pays off. Employers can cultivate a higher-performing workforce. They can also build a more committed workforce. We agree and want to add our two cents. We are two women who have benefitted from access to top MBA programs. We now coach others on their journeys. We help them do the same. Here is why we feel there is a strong case to be made for the employer sponsored MBA. 

I think we can all agree on something. On a societal level, COVID did a number on people’s loyalty. It hurt their connection to employers. It also damaged their connection to workplace communities. It’s so hard to build relationships via Zoom. In speaking with our clients, we hear something definitive. Many of them began their jobs during the pandemic. They have missed out on much. They missed mentorship opportunities. They also missed ‘learning by osmosis.’ We both enjoyed these in our early careers.

The current state of the economy is troubling. New headlines emerge seemingly every day. They report substantial layoffs. This will further sever employee loyalty. That loyalty was already dwindling. This is not new news. The discussion about ‘quiet quitting’ feels stale. It even feels a bit stale at this point.

What hasn’t been discussed enough, however, is this. Where do we go from here? Our clients are the business leaders of the future. Most of them are two to three years out of college. What they do matters. How they lead also matters. This will define their own careers. It will also define the careers of the generation that follows.

Part of our engagement involves something specific. We work with high-potential, young professional clients. We challenge them to share something. They must share their most ambitious dreams. They must also share their goals. They are a passionate and inspiring bunch. They have visions of improving healthcare sustainability. They want to transform workforce readiness. They also want to overhaul the current educational model. They want to make it more equitable. They want to make it more accessible. Passion and work ethic are not dead. We just need to redefine how we nurture them. We also need to redefine how we harness them.

Ensuring these young people succeed is important. We must set them up to actualize these plans. This is great on a societal level. It also makes good business sense. Companies benefit from this. What company wouldn’t want this? They want ambitious people. These people have transformative ideas swirling in their heads. They also have innate confidence. They can say their ideas out loud. They can answer when asked: ‘What is your long-term dream job?

That said, ideas are not enough. As we move into a post-pandemic world with what appears to be a shakeout in the tech sector, the firms poised to benefit most are those who have upskilled their workforces correctly. In addition to having great ideas, our future business leaders must be able to determine whether they are financially viable, communicate them powerfully, and motivate a team to implement them. As MBAs ourselves, we can say something wholeheartedly. Skills like these were critical. They were among the most critical things we took away. We learned them during our two years on campus. This is where the employer sponsored MBA comes in.

By encouraging and subsidizing employees to further their education with an MBA, whether that is through tuition reimbursement, application coaching or both, companies convey the message that they want a growth-minded, ambitious workforce. Not only will such people self-select into those organizations, they are more apt to be highly engaged and stay there.

The case for the employer sponsored MBA extends beyond a part-time schooling model, where employees remain employed while furthering their skills. It may be less direct and sound counterintuitive, but companies can benefit from encouraging employees to ‘fly the coop’ and attend a full time MBA program. As Sting put it best, “if you love someone, set them free.” Of course, with the right incentives, employees may return to their pre-MBA employer after business school. The top management consulting firms, who offer retroactive tuition reimbursement to high-performing associates who ‘round trip’, have proven this to be the case.

However, the less obvious but perhaps most long-term benefit comes from what we’ll call the ‘network effect’ that is particularly powerful amongst the MBA community. By sending their best and brightest off to the top MBA programs, companies deploy strong advocates and ambassadors – evangelists, even – of their corporate culture and the growth opportunities they offer to employees. In turn, employers strengthen their position in the fight for top talent.  

About the Authors

Katie McQuarrie is Vantage Point MBA’s Director of Marketing and a Senior Admissions Consultant

 

 

 

 

 

Melody Jones is Vantage Point MBA’s Co-Founder and President