EDHEC Distance Learning Within Your Career Development Plan

Are you interested in pursuing distance learning, and have you already identified a course which aligns with your professional goals? It’s time to discuss it with your management team, in the context of your career development plan. Be persuasive and prepare arguments which show your company that fully supporting you through this process, both financially and from a planning perspective, is worth their while. Read on to discover our five tips for successfully proposing your plan.

1/ Put forward a professional project that presents a win-win

Approaching your line manager or human resources department to suggest a continuing education project can be intimidating. Your request may be interpreted as a desire to leave the company and to learn more, “at its expense”, about a profession which you plan to practise elsewhere. It is therefore vital to immediately reassure your company about your aims, and to demonstrate your desire to develop and hopes of bringing new skills to your company or team.

For this reason, it is important to present your training plan from a “win-win” perspective. This allows your managers to view support for your training as an important means of building loyalty and a strategic investment.

2/ Explain your choice

To reach this point, you have made decisions about schools, courses, learning methods, and more. You must now be able to easily explain these choices and show that they fit within your win-win approach. It is your responsibility to clearly set out the ways in which your chosen training course is linked to your company’s area of activity, its development strategy, or the duties which you hope to take on in the future.

Your choice of teaching body also has an impact — if you have opted for a prestigious business school, present the compelling arguments of its results, accreditations, and quality teaching staff. Draw attention to the businesses who have put their trust in the school for the training of their staff; EDHEC’s list of notable previous partnerships include Nice Métropole, ENEDIS, Krys, EDF, and Decathlon. Demonstrate the value of the course you want to take, to add value to the company which will support you!

3/ Highlight the distance learning option

Distance learning clearly presents a compelling argument in and of itself, as it allows you to continue working throughout the duration of your course and to obtain an immediate return on investment. However, this learning method also possesses other advantages to emphasise, such as the ability to work remotely, to use a variety of communication and collaborative working tools, to carry out group projects without even needing to be in the same room, and much more.

As new technologies and globalisation exert their influence on the working world, these are capabilities which every worker of the future must master.

4/ Mention co-financing

Don’t be afraid to bring up the question of financing your course, and to suggest combining various funding sources. You have access to a Compte personnel de formation (CPF; a French continuing professional development programme, successor to the Droit individuel à la formation [DIF; Individual Training Entitlement]) and until 2020 to use hours accrued under the Individual Training Entitlement: there’s no time to lose! Your own funds, annual leave, RTT (additional days of holiday), and other potential contributions can also be entered into the equation.

Showing your own readiness to make a financial investment in your career development plan offers proof of your motivation and allows you, your company, and your management team to embark on this professional venture in a spirit of trust and partnership.

5/ Underline the consulting aspect

EDHEC training programmes include a consulting project which involves working on a concrete issue brought forward by a participant. Why not suggest to your management team that they select your consulting project proposal in advance? Even as you pursue your studies, you may have the chance to simultaneously present your company with a deliverable with significant added value, supporting its development.