Business Always Finds A Way – Part 2
As a follow-up to my article, Business Always Finds A Way, I’ve found some additional examples of corporate development programs, in addition to some news that broke last week. Well, it finally happened, no, not Sherrell’s She Shed burning, Corporate America has begun its purchase of existing schools/campuses to ensure their talent pipelines are filled. If you missed the news, United Airlines reported last Wednesday, February 5th that it has entered into an agreement to purchase the Westwind School of Aeronautics in Phoenix, Arizona. With a projected pilot shortage on the horizon, if nothing changes, airlines will be significantly impacted if they do not change the paradigm.
Of course, this is where I have to say I saw this coming a while back. Originally written and posted May 13, 2016 “Could it be that businesses start turning to recruiting top academic students much like athletes to ensure they get the best and the brightest? Or do businesses begin to take over colleges to ensure they have a steady supply of talent developed to meet their business needs?” Well, it would appear this is just the beginning.
As mentioned previously, my son is interested in becoming a pilot so my radar is tuned to this particular industry for updates. However, as I broaden the scope a bit to look elsewhere, its clear that other industries and organizations have decided to take matters into their own hands. Whether it is through a direct hand in purchasing an existing campus or directing through reimbursements and incentives talent to specified needs, companies are no longer relying solely on higher education to fill their pipelines. And true to the HR Perfect Storm, where will all this effort land – yup, HR.
Let’s look at a few of the programs that I’ve found so far that are leading the charge. As mentioned at the top, United has their Aviate Program that works with other schools, and now through their own school. Keeping with the airline theme, American Airlines has it’s Cadet Academy, Southwest has Destination 225 and Delta has Propel. Each of these programs are designed to develop their own pipelines of talent that adhere to their own culture and performance standards. Like I’ve said before, business will always find a way to solve a problem.
Moving beyond aviation, my other interest of course is Disney. By the way, last week’s Wednesday Words was on vacation as I was enjoying time with my family on the Disney Dream cruising in the Bahama’s. I highly recommend it! Of course, I’ve always stated that Disney has some of the highest standards in any industry for quality and satisfaction. Which stands to explain why they would also want to ensure a steady pipeline of talent. Enter Disney Aspire. Disney will actually pay 100% tuition up front at network schools for programs that will develop their employees, improve engagement and retention. Ultimately resulting in a workforce highly calibrated to their needs.
When it comes to the retail giants of Wal-Mart and Amazon, both have committed to huge upskilling initiatives for their employees along with very generous tuition reimbursement programs. Walmart’s program Live Better U as well as Amazon’s Career Choice offer pre-paid tuition options for a variety of programs. Walmart has curated programs specifically for Walmart employees. Amazon’s program is very similar but differs slightly as it appears a bit more altruistic than Walmart promoting support for disciplines it feels are good for society and not just the company.
Earlier in my career I was fortunate to run an educational reimbursement program. At the time, tuition reimbursement programs were just getting some momentum as an employee benefit. The programs noted above are a vast departure from a fringe benefit then to now a core business strategy. It’s unfortunate to see the downfall of the higher education system from what was a “finishing school” of sorts that would provide core foundational skills that could enable rapid development through experience. In the current business environment organizations must make the immediate, necessary moves to ensure they will have the talent to execute their strategy, even if it mean’s they have to build it themselves.