How can you request funding for training?

By Hana Gray, CEO, The Office Management Group…

It’s something we have seen so often; it’s been over social media and in the press across the board in the administrative profession – there is a distinct lack of support by businesses for professional development and funding in these roles.

Learning and development at work is crucial for career progression and a survey by Total Jobs** found that over two-thirds (67%) of employees believe training is more important today than it was two years ago.

Nine in 10 employees want their employer to offer more training courses (or a suitable budget) to develop new skills, and the office management profession is no exception.

So why the lack of funding and support, plus likely proactive encouragement for training in administrative roles?

 There was a hashtag going around started by Lucy Brazier #AskForTraining which was a fairly successful campaign. However, this tended to focus more on the Assistant roles than the office management role. And, when we started to look into training available to the typical office manager, not a whole lot came up.

Any office managers reading this will know that those in this profession are highly skilled multi-taskers who excel at adapting and engaging with numerous stakeholders and teams within their business. This agility requires constant learning, and a structured and formal approach to this development ensures everything applied is up to date and accurate.

So what training is available for those in the office management profession? Well as we mention above, until recently not a lot.

But things have changed with the launch of The Office Management Course.

The Course is designed with the office management role in mind. Want to feel empowered, confident, and well-informed in your office management role? Then this is the Course for you.

So how can you go about requesting funding for training?

We’ve created some top tips support you when approaching your manager and feel comfortable in requesting the training your deserve:

1. Pick the right time. Find out when the yearly budgets run and when funding is likely to be available. Prepare your request in advance so you are ready to strike
2. Create a proposal. Include information on the benefits for the business, the outcomes for you, the investment required and how this will add value to your role. Have a clear list of positive outcomes to demonstrate the value for you, the team and the wider business
3. Be prepared. For questions, concerns and compromise.

This unique course has been developed by Hana Gray who has almost 20 years experience in office management and assistant roles for both corporate and small, start-up businesses.

Find out more at www.theofficemanagementgroup.com/the-course

** Total Jobs Two in three workers quit due to a lack of learning and development opportunities