How to Ask Your Boss for More Training

Linear career paths are increasingly becoming a thing of the past, with emerging technologies, workforce diversification, and new partnerships reshaping industries. This means employers must prioritize investing in employee development to stay competitive.

Employees are clearly thinking about the changing dynamics of the workplace too, with a recent survey carried out by LHH on LinkedIn showing that a staggering 89% are planning to upskill this year to be better prepared for future roles.

With so many eager to gain new skills, it’s important not to fall behind. Letting your skills stagnate can limit career advancement opportunities, whether within your current organization or when seeking new roles.

If you want to learn new skills that make you more valuable to your employer, and you want them to take an active role in your development by giving you the time, resources, and funds to learn, then it's important to know how to ask. You want to position yourself as someone with an appetite for learning, someone who will repay the investment with excellent work, ideas, and commitment.

Here’s how you approach your desire for skills development:

• Find out what your company's polices are towards employee education. A chat with the HR team or even your line manager should be enough to get the ball rolling and give you an idea where you stand in terms of opportunities, budgets, and time allowances.
• Prepare a case. It's not enough to just pick a topic, you need to show your higher-ups exactly how your upskilling and career advancement will help you support the company's business objectives and give good ROI. Include concrete ideas of the type of tasks that new skills will allow you carry out.
• Show how you’ve previously demonstrated that you’re keen to learn, grow, and take on new responsibilities. Examples from your time with the company will help your employer to see that you're worth investing in.
• Present your plan for how upskilling can be beneficial to you and the company clearly and concisely. A focus on goals and expectations, and how upskilling will achieve them, will be welcome proof that you've taken serious consideration over how and why you should upskill.

No matter what changes are happening in the job market, maintaining a growth mindset and taking the initiative to learn new skills will ensure your career path is fit for future. If you haven’t already, now is the time to ask your boss for training and education.