Making the case for lifelong learning

When organizations support employee learning, they expand their internal knowledge and increase their competitive advantage. Organizations that invest in employee training outperform the competition.

Before you talk to your manager about investing in your training, here are some key points to help you make the case:

Wharton Interactive’s Alternate Reality Courses (ARCs) align with the goals of your organization. Check out the course objectives and make a case for how these align with the strategic goals of your organization.

ARCs are designed for working professionals. Our experiences provide flexible options that can easily fit into the lives of busy working professionals; you won’t have to take time off.

Our team-based experiences teach you crucial collaboration skills that will help your organization. You’ll practice navigating team dynamics, learning how to share unique information, harness collective intelligence, and make wise team decisions.

Your ability to contribute to the organization will be enhanced if you combine your current skills and add durable new skills that help your organization move quickly and adapt. The skills you’ll learn through our games will help your organization succeed.

Here is how:

This is a unique experience because you’ll learn by doing; you’ll get practice and learn skills that you can immediately use to help your organization. Our experiences don’t just give you instruction; they challenge you to practice the skills you will need to succeed at work – including pitching, experimenting, negotiating, scaling, and developing winning strategies. You’ll be able to use these skills to help your organization innovate because you got hands-on practice through the game.

Show that your learning goals align with the goals of the organization. Discuss how you’ll immediately be able to help the organization with what you’ve learned. For instance, if learning to pitch and persuade customers or stakeholders can help your team succeed, say so; if learning to experiment to make data-driven business decisions can help your organization, point out that our courses teach you to do just that; and if learning how to work with and build a team that delivers innovation is important to your organization, make sure to frame your argument for taking the course in light of this goal.

Be clear about your ambition because investing in internal talent is a win-win. Retaining and training employees is cheaper, faster, and ultimately more rewarding than spending money hiring and onboarding new hires. Your talent and growing skillset is not just your competitive advantage, it’s your company’s competitive advantage as well.

Be confident about what you’ll gain from practicing in a simulated environment. Your ability to perform under pressure—when faced with a tough business decision, a difficult choice, a key presentation—can give your organization a critical edge. How can you get that edge? By practicing skills under carefully calibrated pressure. You’ll be able to perform at work under pressure because the game's stresses prepare you to tackle real-world challenges. The competition may buckle under pressure, but you won’t.

Explain that you’ll share your unique knowledge. To succeed, organizations need to adapt and innovate; new ideas and a skills infusion help organizations do just that. You’ll play a key role in helping your organization adapt, and what you learn won’t just stay with you—a rising tide lifts all boats.

Be open about your motivation; it is contagious, in a good way! Investing in durable skills helps organizations harden their skills base. When organizations invest in their employees, a virtuous cycle begins that benefits everyone: you’re motivated to learn—the organization invests in you—other employees jump on board—ideas cross-polinate—there is an increase in employee motivation and engagement—everyone wants to keep learning.