Free secretarial training: Get employers to fund your training!

At Pitman Training Hammersmith a number of secretaries wish to upgrade their training by taking an advanced secretarial course but are unsure how to get funding for such a course.  

This article seeks to explain how existing secretaries can justify to their employer taking such a secretarial course whether it be the commencement of an advanced secretarial course or the commencement of a component of such a course.    

The secretary, without realising it, has already overcome one of the most difficult hurdles: realising that further secretarial courses would be of benefit to them and that they should pursue them. The realisation that training is required is an excellent first step because the secretary has accepted that additional effort and time will be required by them to acquire additional skills. Instantly, this shows an employer that the secretary is willing to advance, to do something which makes them better at their job or to take on new responsibility. The messages are all positive.

The alternative is a secretary who chooses to remain with their current skills; refusing to consider the prospect of updating their skills; wishing instead to do their current role without doing anything additional. This approach is frankly scary in a climate where companies are trying to minimise their costs and maximise, ever more, what is possible from their existing staff. For the secretary themselves, it means that they are in danger of stagnating and feeling demotivated in their current position. In this scenario the messages are somewhat negative.

Once the secretary has realised that there is a need to undertake further secretarial courses, their next task is to get a copy of their last appraisal. Somewhere in that document there should be a section covering the areas the secretary needs to work on and an action plan detailing how to achieve it. The action plan will detail how the secretary will address each of the needs identified. The secretary needs to look for any references to secretary courses or training. If training is stated, then the secretary can request the updated secretary courses on the basis that such a course has already been agreed and approved by their employer under the appraisal.

If the appraisal does not refer to a further secretarial courses then the secretary needs to look carefully at the areas of development outlined. There are various options here. If the appraisal does not mention training or further secretary courses then the secretary needs to see whether they can link further courses to any of the areas identified. If they can’t, the secretary can always argue that a recent need can only be addressed through further secretarial courses. If the secretary cannot use either option, their employer is likely to be reluctant to allow the secretary to take an updated secretarial course.  However, all is not lost. Even in this case, an employer will be more sympathetic if the secretary can provide a business case for the updated courses they wish to take.

In future articles we will look at how to repaper such a business case for training.

Mike Connolly is a well known author who writes on the topics related with secretarial courses and secretarial training and other administration and vocation courses. See http://www.pitmanhammersmith.com/ for more such articles.