Most companies now offer tuition help for workers — but are they doing it right?

Tuduetso Marang entered CVS’s apprenticeship program as a displaced worker. Read more in Focus magazine’s Spring 2018 issue on employer-sponsored investment in employee education.

By Haley Glover

Each year, U.S. companies spend billions of dollars supporting college education for their employees. By better designing the programs that direct those dollars-not necessarily spending more-employers can significantly improve the talent within their own ranks, contribute to their communities, and help meet the nation’s talent goals.

Companies such as Chipotle, Disney, and Walmart are recent additions to the 56 percent of firms that offer a tuition benefit program. That figure, from the Society for Human Resource Management, is a sharp increase from just 2018, likely driven by acute talent shortages throughout the economy.

As skilled talent becomes harder to find, more companies are looking to grow from within. Further, a new report from Bright Horizons, a major tuition assistance support organization, highlights the popularity of these programs among employees, with half of survey respondents ranking tuition support as one of the best benefits provided by their company, and three-quarters indicating the provision of such support would make them more likely to stay on the job.

Over the last several years, I’ve pulled together a Top 10 List of questions employers should ask as they’re considering providing education support to employees. These questions are relevant for employers just starting out in considering a program, or for companies considering a shift in their strategy.

1. Limit the array of individuals who think the program is for them-if only middle management and above are getting approved, entry-level folks will not see themselves reflected, even if they are eligible.
2. Introduce potentially risky dynamics — if an early career employee takes part in the program and struggles at work or school, that employee could be opened up to additional scrutiny. Further, a manager who had one struggling employee might close things off to others based on his experience.
3. Direct resources to the top — Even if equity and fairness is a priority of the program, leaving decisions to individual managers will likely result in resources channeling to upper-level employees who are already performing very well. Our ROI analyses indicated that the best return on investment for companies comes from investments in front-line workers, rather than those who already have degrees.

Companies have found that talent investments pay off for everyone. But as with so many things in business and elsewhere, the details matter. And as this trend continues to spread in response to the nation’s shortage of talent, we’re sure to see even more refinements that increase the ROI both for companies and their employees.