The computer services industry is a highly competitive field with fluid and changing technological advancements. It is more than fair to expect employees to continue their education as they progress through the fields, but is it fair to ask them to pay the expense out of pocket?

Larger firms are financially able to cover the cost of employee education, thus many of the serious go getters are always on the look out for an opening with a large firm. Alternatively, small firms and smaller computer services companies often offer a more pleasant work environment with fewer office politics and low end cut throat behavior. While the benefits of working for a smaller firm are a significant draw for many computer services specialists, tuition reimbursement is an area of hot debate, and the small computer services company that doesn’t offer it is bound to lose their better employees to larger firms that do.

If you are going to require your employees to continue their education, which you should if you’re going to stay competitive, you do have to take a serious look at whether or not you can afford to offer even partial reimbursement. This makes you a more attractive employer for higher quality employees who are more likely to stay under your employment for a longer period of time. Some smaller employers offer reimbursement for certification fees provided the certification is passed if they can’t offer tuition reimbursement.

While governmental regulations are also fluid and prone to abrupt changes in laws, regulations, and restrictions, many small businesses are able to apply for governmental assistance in order to offer reimbursement.  For some small companies, this notion has become a life saver and has significantly improved employee performance as well as employee retention.

In the world of the computer services industry, every small company needs to acquire a seriously competitive edge. Whether that means scaling down the staff in order to provide the best possible benefits and perks for the staff or asking for financial assistance via government programs, finding methods of offering employees as much as possible toward their continuing education creates an even playing field for retaining high quality, well educated, capable employees.

It is vital that you require your employees to continue their education, even if it simply one class per semester or two certifications per year. This is considered the bare minimum in the computer services industry. If you’re not going to offer any type of reimbursement, then you can’t expect too much from your employees.  In the fast paced computer service industry, how on top of their game are your employees if you don’t help them continue their education?  Requiring too much for too little is going to create a high turnover rate, which becomes expensive and time expensive for a small computer services company.

It’s not a bad idea to get caught up on what the competition is offering to their employees. Usually a simple phone call inquiring about education benefits is enough to answer the question. Offering at least as much if not more than your competition is likely to draw to your doorstep more qualified candidates as well as more capable employees.

-Zachary M. Morvik