Back to School – What Does It Mean for Employers?

Back to school means a lot of different things to each of us. If you have school-aged children, shopping for school supplies, new clothes that fit, and trying to manage the bus schedule may be at the forefront of your mind. Perhaps dropping your young adult off at college is on the agenda for this back-to-school season. Or, just maybe, it’s you who is taking the leap and heading back to the classroom.

I recently gained a valuable opportunity to reflect on my experiences as an adult learner thanks to the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL). Check out At the Crossroads: My Adult Learner Story to see if you can relate to navigating the unchartered territory of returning to school as an adult. It’s a huge undertaking, and there are so many pathways that can lead us to achieve our goals in our careers and lives.

A special place my adult learner journey led me was back to the classroom but in a different capacity than before. Since completing my degree programs, I have the privilege of working with students as an adjunct instructor at both the university and community college levels. Course participants range from traditional college freshmen just out of high school to my adult peers seeking to finish a degree or make a career pivot.

One adult student shared with me that she was back in school at community college as a pathway to her MBA. She graduated from a top HBCU and had a blast her senior year. Unfortunately, along with this great time came a drop in her GPA. She is enrolled in my employment law course this fall with the goal of completing the HRM certificate program, maintaining a high GPA, and then applying for an MBA program. This is a great plan because she can leverage the HRM certificate in her career while working towards her MBA.

As I head into my fourth year of the teaching gig, the span of student demographics is as diverse as ever before. We’ve seen this growing trend for a while, especially regarding student age. Bonita Brown, the new chancellor at Winston-Salem State University, recently touched on this in her keynote at Greater Winston-Salem Inc.’s State of Education event. Chancellor Brown spoke about challenges in higher ed, including managing the evolution of the student population. She noted the increase in adult students while acknowledging a drop in 18-year-olds ready to go into college.

So, what does all of this mean for employers? Just like the adult students in my employment law class, the majority of traditional and non-traditional students enroll in college to kick start and advance in their careers. Here are a few ideas to help support employees who are actively furthering their education and how employers can leverage educational endeavors.

• First off, remember that learning is not one-size-fits-all. Meet employees where they are on their journey. Whether it is a certificate or master’s program, each step taken is a step towards learning something new, including new knowledge, skills, and ideas they can bring to the table to enhance their work in your business.
• Bring on the succession planning! Succession planning is essential for the longevity of a business. However, it remains a challenge for many companies. It doesn’t have to be. Have coaching conversations on a regular basis. Find out who is interested in and committed to learning and advancing in your business. Aspects of this may include earning a professional certification, micro-credentials to gain applicable knowledge and skills on how different areas of the business operate, finishing a degree, or earning an advanced degree.
• Offer continuous opportunities for professional development, including tuition assistance. It’s a small price to pay to encourage employees to grow into the best versions of themselves. You want those versions to show up at your place of business each day.
• Yes, continuing education is an investment of time, but that doesn’t mean it has to be on company time. Extend a reasonable amount of autonomy to employees. This helps all employees strive to integrate work/life activities, especially those choosing to continue their education.
• Finally, Richard Branson said it best. “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” This quote captures the value of investing in employee learning and the meaning it has to the individual, especially the adult learner.

My son is a recent high school graduate who just started a two-year transfer program at our local community college. As I was typing this blog, he walked by my office door and randomly told me about one of his classmates, a man in his upper fifties who had recently moved to the area from Wisconsin. His granddaughter took some time off from the UW School of Nursing. They made a deal. If she goes back, he will go back. That’s just what he did, along with sharing an inspiring story that my son will remember.

That’s what learning is. It’s stories. It’s challenges. It’s pivots. It’s wins. It’s what keeps us in motion. This also sounds a lot like the various stages of a business. Recognizing this interconnectedness of expectation and experience can bring a higher level of awareness when it comes to how we apply the meaning of back to school for employees and employers.