There’s little doubt that employee engagement and satisfaction contribute to organizational success. Gartner, the research and advisory firm, reports that firms with high levels of employee engagement enjoy “substantially better customer engagement, higher productivity, better retention, fewer accidents and 21% higher profitability” than those with lower levels of engagement.
Tuition assistance is one of several factors that may contribute to employee engagement and satisfaction. “Employees want to develop their skills and continue challenging themselves,” writes Mike Kappel for Forbes. “Engaged employees constantly use their mind and enhance their skills.”
When organizations promote education and offer benefits like tuition assistance, they are demonstrating their commitment to their employees’ career growth and development. That can have a direct connection to engagement and satisfaction. In a 2018 briefing based on previous research, the Employee Benefit Research Institute describes a strong link between overall benefits satisfaction and job satisfaction.
For companies committed to engagement and satisfaction, tuition assistance should be an area of special consideration, because it’s something employees have expressed concern about. While job satisfaction is generally on the rise, “… workers feel quite disappointed with their job’s professional development aspects — a warning signal for any organization looking to attract and retain talent in today’s tight labor market,” according to a 2018 survey by the Conference Board. Only 36.2% of respondents said they were satisfied with the education component of their jobs.
Many workers say tuition assistance is one of the benefits they desire most from an employer. In a survey of 2,000 U.S. workers, 44 percent said they would take tuition assistance benefits into consideration when choosing a job, according to the Harvard Business Review.
The advantages of providing tuition assistance go beyond just employee engagement and satisfaction — and the results can be quantified. Organizations can measure their ROI by systematically examining recruitment, retention, career mobility and job performance metrics, according to consultant Dorothy Martin, writing for the Society for Human Resource Management. “Not only are the benefits of education substantial, but when seen as an investment the returns can also be considerable,” she writes.