Nordstrom

Hi there,

Nordstrom

You take good care of your employees and have a long history of promoting from within. An investment in education can help you further that goal—while building diverse talent pipelines for roles in high demand.

Digital transformation is accelerating. You need the workforce to support it.

The retail industry has been hit hard by COVID. Many HR and L&D leaders were already beginning to plan for the impact of automation and disruptive technologies on their workforce, and that timeline has only accelerated. Certain roles that are in-demand now are likely to be automated in the future, while tech talent is increasingly difficult (and expensive) to find across industries.

By 2030, 85 million jobs are projected to go unfilled,

resulting in $8.5T in lost revenue.

You need a way to continue to attract and retain the talent you need now, while building the skills you’ll need in the future.

Strategic education benefits can help you achieve both goals by boosting your employer brand and creating intentional career paths. Guild can help:

Assess where you have current and future talent gaps

Determine skills that your employees need to acquire to close talent gaps

Align programs to support acquisition of needed skills

Want to see an example of how a customer service rep relies on education benefits to transition to a technology-based role? Check out this infographic.

CASE STUDY

Chipotle uses education to create career paths for the frontline

Chipotle redesigned their tuition reimbursement program in 2016, transforming a legacy benefit into a best-in-class program aligned with strategic priorities. This year, to better support their diverse workforce, the company made headlines when they expanded the program to include Paul Quinn College, the nation's first urban work college and one of the oldest HBCUs in the country.

Even better, create career paths that align with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) goals.

You can build diverse talent pipelines by making education equitable and inclusive for all. Guild’s approach to tuition assistance systematically breaks down barriers to education for historically disadvantaged populations—including low-income Americans, single mothers, and people of color. To do so, we:

A major retailer that partners with Guild has found that Black associates are 2.1x more likely to be promoted if enrolled in education benefits compared to their peers, who are 1.8x more likely to be promoted.

2.1x

1.8x

How Walmart is helping its people prepare for the future of work

Walmart leveraged education benefits to accomplish their goal of becoming an employer of choice for America’s workforce. The program is also creating opportunity for diverse associates.

CASE STUDY

The dollar value of education benefits with Guild

The same approach that creates opportunity for more employees also increases the ROI of the program. When you offer a benefit that’s inclusive for your entire workforce, your business sees the most gains.

$2.84

For every $1 invested in education benefits...

...companies that partner with Guild realize an average of $2.84 in savings.

Our education benefits model drives stronger adoption and outcomes than tuition reimbursement, particularly for frontline populations.

higher adoption among frontline workers

lower cost per student when participating in in-network programs

of prospective students describe the Guild benefit as the reason they are now enrolling in school

higher return on investment for direct payment compared to tuition reimbursement

41%

88%

$0.91

Let’s talk partnership.

We’d love to see how Guild can deploy education to create career paths and build diverse talent pipelines for Nordstrom.

Larry Larsen

larry.larsen@guildeducation.com

Employees have enrolled in classes since launch

8,000

of program participants are crew members

85%

retention rate for those enrolled in the program

90%

retention rate for those enrolled in the program

7.5x

Eliminate ineffective and discriminatory policies like out-of-pocket costs. Our technology infrastructure and academic partnerships lower the cost of the benefit for employers, resulting in $10-30K less student loan debt for employees when compared to traditional education benefits.

Remove the need for employees to pay upfront

Rely on a high-quality, low-cost academic network that knows how to serve working adult learners and students of color. We partner with a variety of institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), military-friendly schools, and Hispanic-serving institutions. Programs range from advanced degrees to high school diplomas, college prep, stackable programs that build to bachelor’s degrees, and beyond.

Meet employees where they are in their education journey

Offer coaching support to every employee throughout the education journey, from program selection to completion, with a satisfaction score of 98.7%. We have deep experience working with diverse populations, as the demographics of our student base closely reflect a frontline workforce.

Provide dedicated coaching to ensure each employee thrives

Remove the need for employees to pay upfront

Meet employees where they are in their education journey

Provide dedicated coaching to ensure each employee thrives

of participants are associates of color

47%

of participants are women

68%

Participants are more likely to receive a role change or promotion

Dhanesh Patel Walmart Employee and Guild Student

LeeAnn Rogers Discover Employee and Guild Student

Leo Diaz Chipotle Employee and Guild Student

Ready to learn more?

Let's Connect

Want to see an example of how a customer service rep relies on education benefits to transition to a technology-based role? Check out this infographic.