Benefits of an EMBA #9 The Executive MBA and Colleagues

QS TopExecutive takes a look at the opportunities this business school degree provides for the EMBA candidate’s colleagues.

An Executive MBA gives the successful candidate numerous benefits but there are many more that reach beyond the immediate realm of the student.

Newly acquired strategic skills, leadership capacities and fresh perspectives learnt and developed in the Executive MBA classroom will inevitably benefit the career of any EMBA employee and his or her organization, but it also impacts on those in the immediate business environment, most notably an EMBA graduates colleagues and team members.

Oliver Matthews, Head of Marketing and Admissions for the St. Gallen MBA in Switzerland says colleagues are often expecting to see a marked improvement or a visible difference in the EMBA employee. “Colleagues or line-managers understand a significant amount of time and money is being invested in an individual's education and they are keen to see the results,” he says.

Onwards and upwards

The impact on business colleagues and team members of EMBA graduates who remain in the same organization is two-fold: on the one hand colleagues have the chance to learn new approaches and practices by being exposed to the novel perspectives the EMBA graduate is bound to introduce into the day-to-day business. On the other hand, as the EMBA employee moves upwards and onwards within the organization, he or she will leave roles and responsibilities vacant for others to fill.

Extensive benefits

It should not be underestimated how much colleagues and business affiliates draw from the newly acquired skills and knowledge an EMBA graduate can introduce to the workplace. As intrapreneurs, the EMBA-decorated employee has an unparalleled opportunity to initiate real change. This can occur within the team culture by implementing new management practices, as well as invoking organizational transformations that positively impact on a wide range of business operations.

Furthermore, it is from such change and new methods in strategic and creative thinking, as well as access to new networks the EMBA student might introduce, that fellow employees can draw real value for their own approaches to business, and not least for their own careers.

Succession-proof

With over a third of Executive MBA students receiving a promotion* while studying, there is tremendous opportunity for more capable team members to fill the shoes of the upward moving EMBA employee. Such succession might come in the form of:

•    taking on responsibilities the EMBA employee has delegated to others,
•    becoming involved in greater realms of task management,
•    being responsible for junior staff members, or
•    taking on a specific role or position the EMBA graduate has left vacant.

These opportunities aren’t just available while the EMBA student is studying, nor only post-graduation. They will continue for all stakeholders as long as the EMBA employee continues to reap the benefits of his or her study. A key benefit of the Executive MBA degree is that the knowledge, methods and networks established while studying are applicable to all aspects of the individual’s professional capacity, immediately upon graduation, and five, ten, even 20 years on.

Inspiring others

An EMBA student’s colleagues will witness firsthand the professional growth and development of their workmate as he or she embarks on this challenging degree. While they will certainly reap the benefits of their EMBA colleague implementing the latest management practices and business acumen learnt in the classroom, it could also prove to be motivation and inspiration-enough for team members to pursue their own Executive MBA.

* The Executive MBA Council reports 37% of EMBA students receive a promotion while studying.

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