Six Reasons You Should Care About Upskilling
#1 – Investing in the education, training, and development of your workers is good for your bottom line.
There is data to show that employers benefit from investing in the education, training, and development of their workers. Lumina Foundation funded a study by Accenture to gather data from major corporations on investments in employee education benefit programs. A series of reports issued in 2016 revealed the following (from order of highest return to lowest):
Discover Financial Services
- From 2010 to 2013, every dollar Discover Financial Services invested in its tuition reimbursement program was returned and generated an additional $1.44 in savings — a 144 percent return on investment.
- The return resulted from avoided talent management costs due to higher rates of promotion, transfers, and retention, and lower rates of absenteeism.
- Employees participating in the program received, on average, annual wage increases that were at least 41 percent greater than nonparticipating employees, while helping Discover save $10.9 million. [i] Read more.
Cigna
- From 2012 to 2014, every dollar Cigna invested in the Education Reimbursement Program was returned and generated an additional $1.29 in savings — a 129 percent return on investment.
- The Education Reimbursement Program increased career opportunity and employee retention.
- Program participants were 10 percent more likely to be promoted, 7.5 percent more likely to be transferred within Cigna, and 8 percent more likely to stay at the company, reducing across-the-board talent management and recruiting costs. [ii] Read more.
Large CommTech
- From 2012 to 2014, a large communications company provided employees $138 million through its tuition assistance program.
- Every dollar the company invested in the tuition assistance program resulted in $0.39 in savings or a 39.2 percent return on investment.
- Overall, the program generated $54.2 million in net savings resulting from avoided talent management costs.
- • The value created includes a 3.7 percent increase in promotions, a 4.2 percent increase in lateral transfers, and a 4.6 percent increase in retention. [iii] Read more.
Regional Bank
- From 2011 to 2015, every dollar Regional Bank invested in its tuition reimbursement program was returned and generated an additional $0.10 in savings — a 10 percent return on investment.
- Overall, the company received about $700,000 in net savings from the $6.7 million invested resulting from avoided talent management costs.
- Workers who participated in the program achieved increased career opportunities, including 25 percent more promotions and 8 percent more lateral transfers. Retention saw a slight drop of 2.9 percent. [iv] Read more.
Advocate Health Care
- From 2011 to 2015, every dollar Advocate Health Care invested in its education assistance program was returned and generated an additional $0.04 in savings — a 4 percent return on investment.
- However, for Advocate’s business and administrative workforce, the program generated a 58 percent return on investment.
- Overall, program participants were up to 4 percent more likely to be promoted, up to 0.6 percent more likely to be transferred within Advocate, and up to 3 percent more likely to stay at the company, which reduced talent management and recruiting costs.
- For employees, participation in the Education Assistance Program generated an average of at least a 17 percent increase in wage gains over nonparticipants. [v] Read more.
[i] “Talent Investments Pay Off: Discover Financial Services Realizes Returns for Investments in Tuition Reimbursement,” Lumina Foundation (2016).
[ii] “Talent Investments Pay Off: Cigna Realizes Return on Investment from Tuition Benefits,” Lumina Foundation (2016).
[iii] “Talent Investments Pay Off: Large Communications Technology Company Realizes Returns for Investments in Tuition Assistance,” Lumina foundation (2016).
[iv] “Talent Investments Pay Off: Regional Bank Realizes Returns on Investments in Education Assistance,” Lumina Foundation (2016).
[v] “Talent Investments Pay Off: Advocate Health Care Realizes Returns for Investments in Education Assistance,” Lumina Foundation (2016).
