¶ … Organizational Benefits of Tuition Reimbursement
Tuition reimbursement has been a mainstay in employee compensation packages in contemporary American professional business organizations (Compdata, 2011). Its rate has declined somewhat since the onset of the current economic recession, but continues in most organizations (Compdata, 2011). On one hand, tuition compensation has traditionally been regarded as one incentive to increase employee retention, but unless it is managed carefully, it can actually provide opportunities promoting turnover, especially in organizations where there are insufficient openings at the level of newly-graduated employees. Nevertheless, where tuition reimbursement programs are properly managed, they can provide a positive return on investment. Some of the factors that organizations should consider carefully in conjunction with tuition reimbursement programs that add value to the organization include stricter eligibility criteria and requirements that employees taking advantage of those opportunities remain with the organization for minimum employment periods following the award of their degrees and pursue courses of study that are maximally beneficial to the organization, such as bachelors degrees in business and communications.
Understanding the Perspective of Employees
Career Advancement Opportunities and Career Earning Potential
From the perspective of employees, tuition reimbursement programs offer a tremendous opportunity to advance their careers and increase their earning potential (Compdata, 2011). In general, achievement of a bachelor's degree is statistically associated with the lifetime difference of nearly one million dollars over the course of a typical professional career as between employees with a college degree and employees without college degrees (Compdata, 2011). Additionally, the ever-increasing cost of tuition in American colleges has put the goal of continued education beyond the reach of many employees unless they have some form of...
Ideally, providing educational opportunities for employees improves their proficiency at work and allows every employee to rise to the highest level of contribution within the organization (Pattie, Benson, & Baruch, 2006). However, that presumes that employees will pursue educational degrees that are relevant to their current employers, such as degrees in business and communications with obvious benefits to virtually all business organizations (Locker, 2006).
Communications proficiency across al media, but especially in writing, is invaluable in professional business and better educated employees represent their organizations better externally, even at the same relative level of technical competence and operational performance (Andrews & Higson, 2008). Not all courses of undergraduate study necessarily provide a positive return on investment for the organization, and none provides less benefit than degrees sought specifically in preparation for a career change to a new employer or to a different industry altogether. The return on investment for organizations also presumes that there will be sufficient openings for all of those employees at employment levels that correspond to their increased abilities. That is because there is no benefit and only un-rewarded costs associated with every employee who leaves the organization shortly after completing the undergraduate degree that the organization helped make achievable. Therefore, most importantly, that expectation presumes that employees will not use the tuition reimbursement programs of their current employers as no more than a tool to prepare for a different career altogether that they intend to pursue…
