4 Steps to Getting a “Yes” for your PMP Certification by the Management

To climb higher rungs of your professional development ladder, you need to be more professionally qualified, go in for more training hours, or sign up for another certification course—right? You are aware of the significance of upgrading yourself, but then, where are the financial resources to meet the tabs that come with the same? Remember, training and examination modules such as Project Management Professional (PMP) certification cost a lot of money and are difficult to be covered by your personal finances. What do you do?

Convince the Management to Invest in your PMP Certification

In this vastly competitive scenario, where organizations are also constantly struggling to keep pace with the exceeding demands of the industry, the act of investing in their workforce is surely the way to go. If you happen to be working with an organization that sponsors PMP certification, then get set to train yourself and crack the exam. On the contrary, if you can’t access any official sponsored certification programs through your company, don’t fret—these four proven steps will help you convince your management and make them understand the worth of investing in you. 

1. Get Ready to Share a Business Proposal

By now, you are aware that a business case mindset works better than anything else with your higher-ups. So, start building a compelling business proposal, a la the projects that keep you busy across the day. As the funding of your PMP Certification will necessitate an understanding of costs, benefits, and a return on investment; you will have to market your attempt in a way that your organization is convinced that it will benefit from the incurred investments. A word of warning, your ‘business’ proposal should be direct and short; without any added frills!

2. What are the Benefits? 

Use a bulleted list to highlight the advantages of gaining PMP credentials to your seniors. Here are the pointers that may help your cause:

  • Increases organization's domain knowledge and expertise with respect to project management processes, standards, formal techniques, etc. 
  • Improves your organization's overall project management maturity.
  • Establishes in-house resources for best practices, processes, and standards of project management.
  • Improves the education-based and development goals of employees. 

3: Identification of PMP Certification Costs

In this section, it is well advised to put in at least two different cost scenarios so that your prospective sponsor can determine the more suitable training budget. For instance:
Option 1: Costs for a four-day preparation module+ PMI testing fees
Option 2: Costs for online self-study modules + PMI testing fees

The act of narrating the two options provides flexibility to the decision-maker and improves your chances of getting a nod. When your proposal is being reviewed, be ready to deliver information on both alternatives and strive to discuss the one that makes more sense to you. Also, at an opportune time, convey that large-sized companies are now providing training opportunities and/ or mandating a minimum of 40 hours of training annually; this should get your PMP examination covered. Yes, if you are convincing enough, you will get access to the corporate training budget for funding your PMP classes. 

4: Return on Investment is Important too!

Your proposal’s ROI section should skilfully outline the time frame and financials that will make your organization leverage the benefits of the knowledge gained by you, in quantitative and qualitative terms alike. It’s obvious that your superiors will not like to invest in a person who may start looking for a different job after gaining the certification; for instance, let your HR and all those concerned know that you intend to apply the newly acquired knowledge in-house and/or facilitate the training sessions for other employees, peers and interested project managers.

Last Word

These steps will guide your way forward and help in convincing the management that by investing in your professional certification (think personal development) they will also be largely benefitted. It’s just that they need to know in most uncertain terms, “What’s in it for them.”

All the best!

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