Workforce Edge Blog

In the ever-changing, post-pandemic world, supporting administrative professionals is critical. For many, the pandemic highlighted widening skill gaps, which led to a renewed focus on developing talent. Leveraging educational benefits to fill these gaps and engage our administrative staff can lead to more resilient, adaptable, and accomplished professionals. Angela Elliott, an HR manager at Hormel Foods, recently shared her insights into supporting admin professionals through educational benefits.

Jonathan Kennedy, Senior Chef Tournant at Caesars’ Vanderpump à Paris Restaurant, is pursuing his Bachelor of Business Administration through Strayer University with support from his employer. Jonathan recently spoke about his experiences using Workforce Edge and what it’s been like to be a working adult pursuing additional education.

As a major food retailer, Food Lion prioritizes the personal growth and professional development of its associates, including providing support for their educational interests.

Ardent Health Services implemented a tuition assistance management tool to give employees a variety of professional development opportunities. Read more here.

The end of summer and beginning of fall have traditionally been a time for learners to go back to school. For working adults who may be enrolled in online programs, this remains true-and organizations across industries are seeing an uptick in education benefits use at a time that correlates with benefit open enrollment.

Going back to school can make all the difference in your career journey. Kudos to you for thinking about making the leap. Continuing your education and upskilling by earning a degree or certificate is a great way to boost your value in the workforce and progress in your career.

Education benefits can be a compelling tool to help organizations attract and retain talented, motivated employees. Many companies provide these benefits often in the form of tuition assistance, access to discounted degree programs, non-degree training opportunities, and more. But some organizations struggle to effectively communicate the details and value of what they offer. 

Implementing any new piece of software can be complicated, particularly in companies with a relatively large workforce. But in the Great Resignation landscape of recruitment and retention challenges, employers are evaluating the advantages of offering an education benefit to their employees—as well as what that implementation might entail.

Offering education benefits can be a great way to support your employees’ goals. It can also help you attract and retain an engaged workforce while developing individual and overall capacity to contribute to your organization.

Education can play a key role in helping learners achieve their career ambitions. This can be especially true for women, regardless of the stage of their careers, from those who are just starting out to those who hold C-suite roles within their organizations.

Two professors at the Jack Welch Management Institute (JWMI) - Kathryn Armstrong and Linda Miller - recently shared their insights into the impact education can have, particularly MBA degree programs.

Information technology and cybersecurity are fields that contain many opportunities for adult learners. Opportunities are available for those who are just starting their careers, those who are further along, and those who have many years of experience.

Maria Weber, M.S., director, cybersecurity at Saint Louis University (SLU) recently discussed her career in both education and IT and the benefits of pursuing degrees and certifications, particularly for women.

Expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a goal that aligns with the mission of many colleges and universities. DEI is also front of mind for many employers as they explore new ways to support the goals of their team.

Nicole Morris, senior dean of the Strayer University College of Arts and Sciences, recently discussed her career in education, her work with Strayer, and the ways that Strayer supports students, particularly those from diverse backgrounds.

When veterans decide to enter the civilian workforce, they may consider adding additional education credentials as a boost to their resumes. Online education can be a helpful tool to help make this transition smoother, for a variety of reasons: 

In the current job market, many workers are shifting or changing careers at a rapid rate. It’s a time, particularly for women, to reassess their goals and explore what other jobs might be a good fit.

If you’re looking at where to get your degree and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) aren’t on your list of possibilities, you may want to reconsider. HBCUs offer high-quality education in a supportive environment. If you’re interested in a top-notch education that’s affordable and offers diversity and community, look no further.

Many organizations approach DEI initiatives similarly; they make efforts to diversify candidate pools, form employee resource groups, and create intentional recruiting pipelines. But education and upskilling should also be central to a company’s DEI efforts.

The Great Resignation may have faded from the headlines, but employers are still dealing with big recruitment and retention challenges. Whether it’s employees who “quietly quit” while searching for their next role or others who decide to resign without a backup plan, the current job market remains in a state of flux.

As we celebrate International Women’s Month, it’s no secret that gender inequality can cause gaps in pay and advancement. “Historically, women have had difficulty acceding to positions of leadership in the workplace,” says Constance St. Germain, Ed.D, provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Capella University.

April is Career Administrative Professionals Month, a time to celebrate the hardworking administrative professionals everywhere who keep organizations running. Angela Elliott, an HR manager with Hormel Foods, recently explained how administrative professionals can pursue higher education and further their careers with support from tools like Workforce Edge.

For a constantly evolving workforce, the start of a new year means new opportunities for learning and development. A new year can also bring new trends to the forefront as businesses across industries explore ways to grow their teams’ potential.

Here are some learning and development trends to stay aware of throughout 2024.

Education benefits through tuition assistance or reimbursement can help improve employee retention due to increased job satisfaction and more. Check out the full list here.

Baptist Health, a Kentucky-based health system with nine hospitals and more than 23,000 employees, has made healthy work environments a top priority. To aid in their efforts, they’ve partnered with Workforce Edge to provide solutions and connect their employees with learning and development opportunities.

Nurse burnout. Compassion fatigue. Early retirement. These issues and more are straining our health care system and causing leaders to rethink how they can better support their nursing teams.

Ashley Young, Benefits Manager at Raising Cane’s, leads the organization’s benefits and leave of absence initiative, which focuses on holistic support for Raising Cane’s crewmembers. This strategic support includes education benefits, which led to the partnership with Workforce Edge.

With its Workforce Edge portal launching in March 2021, RS Group (formerly Allied Electronics) has used the platform for more than a year. Through it, the company manages its education benefits while minimizing the hands-on work done by their HR department.

During Pride Month and beyond, it’s helpful to spotlight employee resource groups (ERGs) and the role they play in organizations throughout the country.

As adult college students continue to balance work and school, online learning opportunities have become more abundant, especially with advances in AI technology. Here’s a look back at top online learning trends of 2023.

Unlike traditional academic degrees, short-form learning programs provide training in less than a year. These programs are a good option for employees who want to quickly gain in-demand skills. For those specifically interested in exploring a career in tech, coding bootcamps such as Hackbright Academy and Devmountain can be the start of a meaningful new path. And employers who offer this kind of learning opportunity can retain their current employees while recruiting a talented, diverse workforce.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology once seemed like something out of a science-fiction movie. Now, they’ve become more common than ever, including in academic environments.