Advancing Your Career
Professional Development Request Resources
Find tips and suggested text to use when asking your employer to fund your professional development
Making the case for professional development
Employees are often reluctant or anxious about asking their employer to pay for their professional development. No need to feel that way! It’s a signal that you are committed to your career growth and organization — and it’s an opportunity for your company to cultivate its pipeline.
Here are some key tips that will boost the chances that your employer will support your professional development.
- Meet in person or virtually. By meeting face-to-face rather making the request via email, you have an opportunity for an in-depth conversation and questions.
- Arrive with details. Provide dates, cost, format, credentials, if travel and accommodations are required.
- Explain the “why.” Articulate your career goals and how the program will help you achieve them and explain how the organization will benefit
- Follow up. Write a thank-you email and provide links and any other information about the program.
Below you will find suggested language to use when meeting with human resources or your supervisor about funding your professional development.
Sample script when meeting with your supervisor or human resources about our certificate programs
Strategic Leadership Accelerator
“Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I’m eager to advance my career, expand my network, and better understand how gender and other social identities affect leadership, which I know is a priority of our organization [feel free to insert other career goals]. I found a certificate program for women through the Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership that perfectly aligns with my goals. The Strategic Leadership Accelerator focuses on helping women lead as their best selves, manage stress, and network strategically. It also takes a deep dive into how gender and other social identities influence leaders. These topics are of great interest to most women, and I’ll share my learning and key takeaways with our team. The eight-week program is fully virtual and includes two executive coaching sessions. It gets rave reviews! 100% of participants would recommend it and 99% said it strengthened their ability to lead with confidence and impact and prepared them for increased leadership responsibilities. It costs $4,999. Simmons is renowned for fostering equity and inclusion and hosts the annual Simmons Leadership Conference, one of the longest-running and most-respected women’s conferences in the world.”
Impactful Practices to Thrive as a Leader
“Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. As you know, women in senior positions face many challenges, including high rates of burnout and overwhelm. I’m one of those women. I found a certificate program for women through the Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership that solves for these challenges. Impactful Practices to Thrive as a Leader is a high-impact certificate program that provides senior women leaders a powerful peer community and the tools to overcome burnout, lead with authenticity and courage, and create a healthy team environment. I realize these issues are a priority for our organization, and I’ll share my learning and key takeaways with our team. The program is based on the Wall Street Journal best-selling book Arrive and Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership. Susan MacKenty Brady, one of the authors, teaches the course — an amazing opportunity to learn from an authority on women’s leadership who’s deeply invested in the content. The eight-week program is fully virtual and includes two executive coaching sessions. The program costs $4,999. Simmons is renowned for fostering equity and inclusion and hosts the annual Simmons Leadership Conference, one of the longest-running and most-respected women’s conferences in the world.”
If you are unable to meet in person, these scripts can be adapted for an email conversation.
Sample script when meeting with your supervisor or human resources about attending the Simmons Leadership Conference
Simmons Leadership Conference
“Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. As part of my professional development plan, I would be thrilled to attend the Simmons Leadership Conference on April 3, 2024. The high-impact day is an amazing opportunity to learn from inspiring speakers, participate in leadership skill-building, network with peers from around the world, and emerge as a stronger leader ready to perform at a higher level. The conference attracts a world-class lineup of speakers. Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Simone Biles, and Brené Brown have all taken to the conference stage. The conference consistently gets rave reviews — 97% plan to attend it again and would recommend it and 93% rate it as good or excellent. In addition, it’s the largest one-day fundraiser for Simmons University. The proceeds from the event support student scholarships and other strategic priorities. I’ll share key takeaways and lessons with our team. Attendance options include in-person in Boston for $1,299 or online for $399. There’s group pricing incentives if you’re interested in sending a group from our organization.”
If you are unable to meet in person, this script can be adapted for an email conversation.
Program Fact Sheet
Strategic Leadership Accelerator
Download an easy one-page fact sheet to share the details of this program.
Program Fact Sheet
Impactful Practices to Thrive as a Leader
Download an easy one-page fact sheet to share the details of this program.