The New HR Standard
Your Manager Wants You Future Ready. Here's How to Get Their Buy-In for the GHRE.
Investing in a new credential like the Global HR Excellence (GHRE) Certification is a career-defining move. We've made it easy for your manager to invest in your future as a full-stack HR professional.
Research-Backed Proof
What Your Manager Needs to Hear
Secure approval by leading with evidence. These research-backed benchmarks provide the clear ROI and strategic justification your leadership needs to see to greenlight your enrollment.
76% of employers cover professional certification and recertification fees for their staff.
Beyond Compliance
Why The GHRE Sets the Standard
Over 12 weeks, you'll move beyond testing for compliance and build real capability and confidence.
Successful GHRE candidates are certified across 95 capabilities within the Global HR Capability Framework — from HR strategy and AI transformation to workforce planning, talent density, and leadership development — in partnership with USC Marshall School of Business.
The program is built on thousands of studies, maturity models, and benchmarks drawn from the world's most respected HR research body. Unlike SHRM, CIPD, or other traditional credentials, its explicit purpose is to deliver a real-world view of what global excellence looks like.
Participants also gain ongoing access to Galileo®, weaving AI into the learning experience to help practitioners make smarter, faster, more data-driven decisions in the same platforms commonplace at work today.
Earning your GHRE doesn't require route memorization; it demands critical thinking and demonstration of strategic, systemic HR expertise through a graded assessment.
Winning Approval
What to Say (and Not Say)
Securing sponsorship for GHRE requires shifting the conversation from a personal request to a strategic business investment. Use these research-backed guidelines to align your pitch with organizational ROI while avoiding the common framing traps that can stall executive approval.
DO Say This
Lead with business value, not personal ambition. Frame the ask around what the organization gains — stronger HR capability, strategic partnership, and AI-readiness — all tied directly to revenue growth.
Connect it to your team's current priorities. Align the 12-week agenda to your annual and quarterly goals, emphasizing the topics that matter most to your team.
Reference the employer coverage norm. 76% of employers already routinely cover these costs — you're asking your organization to do what most already do.
Quantify the return. Josh Bersin Company research (15,100 respondents) shows a 10% improvement in leadership and strategic partnering capabilities can drive over $379M in market value for a $1B company.
Offer to share outcomes. Propose applying your learning to a current business challenge within 90 days, using Galileo Agent to turn the investment into a measurable result.
DON'T Say This
Don't imply you're leaving. Framing this as a personal career step that could take you elsewhere raises flags. Focus on what you will bring back to the team and how it aligns with your current role and your internal career path.
Don't position it as a personal perk. Certifications can feel like resume-builders to a skeptical manager. Ground every point in the business problem it solves.
Don't undersell the urgency. HR is being asked to transform nearly everything as AI reshapes work. The window for building these capabilities proactively — rather than reactively — is narrowing.
Don't go in without supporting materials. Your manager will want something they can take to their own budget conversation. Bring the one-pager and the white paper.
Don't limit the ask. The GHRE's cohort-based approach and group discounts make it a perfect development opportunity for the entire team. Leave the door open for group participation, not just solo enrollment.
The Roadmap
How to Navigate the Conversation.
Moving beyond tactical talking points requires a structured framework that aligns HR development with corporate performance. Use this three-step sequence to transition the conversation from a simple training request into a high-impact strategic investment.
Step 1
Acknowledge the gap. Research consistently shows that over the past 30+ years, companies have historically underinvested in HR professional development compared to every other function. Highlight your awareness that your team has been tasked with AI transformation, organizational redesign, and people strategy and emphasize that you have not had structured development in these areas.
Step 2
Highlight the program. Introduce the GHRE as a 12-week, case-based certification built by the world's most trusted HR advisors at The Josh Bersin Institute and USC Marshall Business School's world-class team. The cohort-based program covers 95 HR capabilities through structured experience with built-in AI tools, live virtual instruction, and simulation-based learning. The graded assessment validates your new skills, not just
Step 3
Calculate the return. Improvements in the exact capabilities this program develops — leadership, change agility, strategic consulting — are directly correlated to revenue growth and market value gains. You are not asking for a training budget. You are asking for a business investment.
Featured Whitepaper
What to Download and Share
The GHRE Program Overview and the JBI white paper on the Economic Value of HR Skills and Capability are designed to be shared directly with your manager or forwarded to a budget decision-maker. They answer the questions any skeptical leader will ask: Why this? Why now? What does the organization get back? Josh Bersin Institute offers the complimentary resources to answer those questions and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Navigating the Approval Conversation
Additional Questions? View Our Josh Bersin Institute FAQ Guide
Your Next Move
Make the Ask with Total Confidence
Armed with the JBI toolkit, you're ready to turn 'maybe' into yes.