Attending college these days can be daunting. For the majority of Americans without a college degree, the primary reason for not pursuing higher education was the astronomical cost.
To lower the financial hurdles for employees, some companies are offering benefits to reduce the cost of education, such as tuition reimbursement, student loan repayment, and in some cases free education. We are starting to provide it.
Pizza chain Papa John's is partnering with EdAssist, an education benefits provider owned by child care company Bright Horizons, to offer a free virtual education program called “Dough & Degrees” to its employees. Employees can also graduate from high school, earn professional certifications, and earn bachelor's and master's degrees. A worker can qualify for the program if 60 days have passed since employment and she worked at least 10 hours per week. To date, more than 600 of her employees have participated in “Dough & Degrees” since its initial launch in 2019.
The program is highly effective in recruiting front-line service workers, said Elias Reyna, Papa John's director of human resources and diversity. luck.
“Especially at the restaurant level, it has become a tool for attracting talent to organizations,” Reyna says.
This program has also proven to have excellent retention rates. Approximately 78% of those who took the course still work at Papa John's. Front-line service employees in restaurants make up 80% of program participants, and employees in this group stay with the company more than twice as long as non-participating employees. .
Many employees also use this program to earn promotions or improve their roles within the company. Approximately 35% of students have earned or completed a business degree, and approximately 29% of participants have been promoted after starting the program. Several management-level employees luck Officials said the program enabled him to excel as a supervisor.
“I had an associate's degree, so I wanted to learn how to better manage my department, whether it was understanding accounting better or understanding how to better manage employees. ,” says Kevin Moore, a production manager based at Papa John's Quality Control Center in Acworth. said Ga., who earned a bachelor's degree in business administration through the program. luck. He said it was his lifelong dream to be the first in his family to graduate from college. “Everything was helpful and rewarding.”
Many managers who earn their own degrees through this program encourage their team members to do the same.
“I tell my employees that [as] It's free education. Look around and see how much education costs,” says Daniel Ford, a maintenance manager also based in Acworth, Georgia. Although Mr. Ford already had a degree in electrical engineering, he earned his second bachelor's degree in cybersecurity through the Dough & Degrees program and is currently completing his bachelor's degree. He is working towards his master's degree in the same field.
With tuition fully covered, workers don't feel burdened to study something based on how much it costs or the career opportunities it offers, he said.
“Sure, it might just be something you're interested in and not something you'd actually do.” [professionally], but it's free,” he says. “Why not?”
Paige McGloughlin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@payment
Today's issue was edited by Emma Burley.
around the table
A roundup of the most important HR headlines.
– After Boeing and the union representing firefighters at the company's aircraft factories failed to negotiate a new contract, President Biden called on the parties to reconvene to reach an agreement. new york times
– Chinese tech giant Baidu's head of communications slams employees on social media, saying they need to generate business benefits regardless of how it affects their personal lives. said. financial times
– Argentina's largest trade union went on a massive strike yesterday in defiance of the liberal government and president, shutting down the country's public transport system for a day. washington post
water cooler
Everything you need to know luck.
Get after. Governor of Sweden's central bank says: European workers need to catch up The region's GDP is not growing at a competitive pace, impacting the productivity of the U.S. workforce. —ryan hogg
enemy of agriculture. hundreds of california Farm workers filed paperwork to form a union After new state laws made it easier for farm workers to organize. Their employers claim the transfers were fraudulent. —Amy Taxin, Associated Press
Concise words. The Manchester United co-owner demanded: Team employees fully return to the officeAnd if they refuse, “Look for alternative employment. ” —chloe burger
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