Insights & trends
What we learned about the future of work and HR from 170+ talent innovators across the Fortune 1000
On this resource page, you'll find:
→ On-demand session recording videos
→ Key takeaways from each session
→ Additional resources to explore key themes
Here’s the inspiration you need to keep your talent, business, and communities rising.
Imagine a future where talent goes from scarce to abundant. Where every job is a gateway to a career. Where opportunity is as ubiquitous and equitable as talent. So individuals, companies, learning institutions, and our economy as a whole can keep rising.
To make that future a reality, we brought together Fortune 1000 innovators across industries to tackle the most daunting challenges facing the workforce, HR, and employers today.
From AI to HR team structure to the need for career opportunity at scale — we walked away with big ideas to shape the future of work.
We wanted to share those ideas and resources so that you can build cultures of opportunity at your organization.
Table of contents
- Session 1: Talent rising: Reimagining Guild's member experience with AI
- Session 2: The impact of fostering cultures of opportunity
- Session 3: Strategic skilling: Innovative learning solutions for an agile and evolving workforce
- Session 4: When our talent rises, we all rise: How the frontline is our way forward
- Session 5: AI's impact on the future of work
- Session 6: Making the case for people investments in a volatile economic environment
- Session 7: Fireside chat with Tara Westover, bestselling author of EDUCATED
- Session 8: The education and career mobility fellowship
Session #1
Talent rising: Reimagining Guild's member experience with AI
See how Guild is leaning into AI to solve these challenges.
Keynote
Talent rising: Reimagining Guild's member experience with AI
Watch Bijal Shah, Guild's interim CEO, bring the vision for Guild's AI-powered future to life.
Frontline workers make up 70% of the US workforce — and are most likely to be impacted by automation.
We need to help remove all of the barriers that stand in the way of our path across the skills chasm that lays before us.
Guild has designed our Career Opportunity Platform to meet the needs of the frontline workforce — and we are using AI to accelerate our vision.
Our AI-powered product enhancements will feature:
- Easy-to-use experiences that seamlessly move between voice, text, and chat to save employees precious time and energy
- Real-time skills tracking for workers to understand what skills may stand in the way of career advancement with personalized education recommendations to close the gap
- Employer portals to track every individual's progress and skills development to match to open roles
- AI skilling bundles to address AI learning needs from the frontline to the c-suite
When opportunity presents itself and inspiration ignites, all a member has to do is type or speak their mind on the Guild platform to find the right, human-centered support. These are the moments that matter — and Guild will be there.
Session #2
The impact of fostering cultures of opportunity
See how investing in a culture of opportunity has transformed these companies into employers of choice with growing pipelines of talent.
Panel
The impact of fostering cultures of opportunity
Executives from SHRM, Sam's Club, The Walt Disney Company, and Bon Secours Mercy Health give in-depth examples of how they mobilize opportunity.
Long-term cultural changes can have short-term benefits.
Attempting to shift any work culture takes time, energy, and resources. But just because it's a long-term project, doesn't mean it doesn't garner short-term results.
"What ended up being a long-term view ended up helping us in the short-term in many ways," said Allan Calonge from BSMH.
After removing barriers to career growth by fully funding education programs, removing grade and contractual requirements (the old army model), or — in Disney's case — allowing cast members to study anything they wanted, these companies saw upticks in employee engagement, retention, and overall satisfaction.
Panelists also highlighted that when employees see other team members succeeding, there is a halo effect that opens up the minds and paves the way for other employees to grow.
It’s a virtuous cycle that helps not only frontline talent see themselves differently, but challenges executives to change the way they think about talent as a whole. They have stopped relying so heavily on hiring external talent and instead are bridging talent acquisition, talent management, and career development to develop strong talent pipelines from within.
“SHRM just conducted research and found there’s an empathy deficit in our country. What we’re hearing from the workers, especially generation Z, 83% of them say I would leave the job that I have where I’m totally happy to go to another place where the leaders are more empathetic.”
Johnny Taylor, President & CEO, SHRM
Resources to take action
Session #3
Strategic skilling: Innovative learning solutions for an agile and evolving workforce
Panel
Strategic skilling: Innovative learning solutions for an agile and evolving workforce
Leaders from University of Maryland Global Campus, Pathstream, Outlier, and Rocket Companies are paving the way in how they serve the evolving needs of working adult learners and prepare agile workforces at scale.
You know what your business needs look like. Do you know what your employees’ needs look like? Meet Danielle.
The traditional education model is not attainable for most American workers anymore. To illustrate this, the panel walked us through the story of Danielle, a Client Advocate at Rocket Central who — due to life circumstances — found herself unable to pursue higher education.
What can her next steps toward career mobility look like?
Step 1: Evaluation She joins the Rock Academy, Rocket Companies’ fully funded education benefit to help workers access career mobility. There, she accesses a Guild coach to help her identify her current skill set — organization and communication‚ and explore her interests in technology.
Step 2: Certificate Then, Guild support identifies a 100% tuition-free experiential Business Operations certificate from Pathstream where she practices launching a technical project and gets her feet wet planning, reporting, analyzing data, and writing internal communications.
In the certificate, a spark is ignited in Danielle to pursue a technical role at Rocket Companies. She moves into a gateway position where she uses her new skills, while continuing to pursue an Associate’s in Applied Computing from Outlier.
Step 3: The associate's degree The associate’s degree takes into account popular certificates — from Google, Meta, and Salesforce — and imbues them into her curriculum to offer value-adds that will help bolster Danielle’s resume.
Step 4: The bachelor's degree The Now that Danielle has gained confidence and several courses under her belt, she sees the bachelor’s in Computer Engineering at UMGC — also tuition-free — and decides to pursue her degree. Her previous courses count towards her Bachelor’s, as well as some credit for on-the-job training, so Rocket Companies doesn’t pay for redundant courses.
Danielle is now in a mid-level technical role, with new earning potential that impacts her family for generations to come.
This is what is possible when higher education and value-driven companies come together.
“Everyone has woken up. There’s this new energy and focus on we can’t hire our way out of the talent needs we have. We have to learn how to build. Actually build talent from within and look across our organization of where are there individuals who are one short format learning experience away of filling a need this organization has today?”
Eleanor Cooper, CEO, Pathstream
Resources to take action
Session #4
When our talent rises, we all rise: How the frontline is our way forward
Learner panel
When our talent rises, we all rise: How the frontline is our way forward
Meet the people who have the most to gain from your investment in education and upskilling programs: employees themselves.
Our frontline workers want to level up and leave a legacy. Will we help them get there?
Going back to school as an adult can come with a lot of hidden fears and baggage. Sherry Reese, a Product Supervisor at Tyson, shares her experience in the education system.
“I was a young mom. I didn't have the money. Scared to go back to school. I tried to do the high school night school, have your parents watch the kids while you are at school — it didn't work.”
Sherry’s experience is not unique for many Americans. What she did achieve through her employer-funded education at Tyson, however, was monumental for herself and her family.
When Tyson launched their Guild benefit, she went back to school and got her high school diploma — at 50 years old, right before her son graduated high school. Now, she and her son are excited to pursue college education together.
Or take Juanita Desplas, a Medical Assistant at Baylor Scott & White, who was eager to take her frontline job at the hospital and turn it into a career. She recounts when her employer first launched their Guild benefit.
“The first thing that popped up was certification for phlebotomy. I went ‘I need that. That's going to make what I do better.’”
As soon as she finished, inspired by gaining new skills, she jumped right into her next certification in allied healthcare, and is now certified in electronic health records, billing, and coding. With a wide range of relevant skills, Juanita is making herself an extremely valuable candidate for growth within the company.
Bottom line? Our frontline talent want opportunities for growth and advancement, and given the right resources, thrive, stay, and become unique assets to the businesses they serve.
“It was an eye-opener when [my son] came to me this year. He says I’m going to work at Tyson and go to Guild and we can figure out something together so we can study together. And that just made my whole world. But now I’m also seeing him talk to his friends about Guild. And I’m like what is this turning into?”
Sherry Reese, Production Supervisor, Tyson
Resources to take action
Session #5
AI's impact on the future of work
Peter Schwartz, Chief Futures Officer at Salesforce, brings an optimistic perspective and talks about ways AI might shape the future.
Keynote
AI's Impact on the Future of Work
As AI evolves, demand for entirely new business models and classes of human jobs will be created that will require reskilling.
Session #6
Making the case for people investments in a volatile economic environment
Panel
Making the case for people investments in a volatile economic environment
In a volatile and economically anxious climate, with a talent shortage on top, how do HR leaders appeal to their CEOs and CFOs to continue to invest in their workers?
How do HR and talent leaders balance severe market disruption with changing employee expectations?
From telecom to banking to the restaurant industry, the pandemic, supply chain issues, and the recent macroeconomic climate have dramatically impacted all of them.
Through this tumultuous time, employee expectations have evolved — particularly hourly workers. Employees now value:
- Flexibility
- Transparency
- Opportunities for mobility
But with people budgets being sliced, it’s up to HR leaders to make a compelling case about how investments in workers will benefit their bottom line.
Panelists advised that when talking to the CFO or Finance team, it’s key to:
- Always go back to data: If your story is not supported by data, they will think it is fluff.
- Partner on strategic workforce planning: Get more granularity on how much products and services cost the organization, and if we need the product/service, is there a more efficient way of doing it?
- Speak finance language: Know what the CFO’s pain points are and what they are responsible for to better understand what you want your HR partner to come and speak with them about.
- Start with internal alignment among operational leaders: Before approaching CFO and CEO, start by building relationships across the business (because it takes a village).
Overall, advocate for your employees and the long-term vision of where you want to take the organization. If attracting talent is a short-term goal, and retention is a longer-term objective, education benefits fit that space very well.
“People are an asset on your balance sheet, and if you don’t take care of them you will lose market share.”
Sarah King, Chief People & Diversity Officer, Darden
Resources to take action
Session #7
Fireside chat with Tara Westover, bestselling author of EDUCATED
Watch this wide-ranging discussion on overcoming barriers to opportunity, where a passion for learning can take you, the status of the American Dream, and more.
Keynote
Fireside chat with Tara Westover, bestselling author of EDUCATED
Tara Westover sits down with Terrence Cummings, Guild's Chief Opportunity Officer, for a conversation on the critical need and impact of equal access to education and mobility opportunities.
Session #8
The education and career mobility fellowship
Panel
Investing in the next generation of corporate education, skilling, and career leaders
Leaders from Walmart and USAA discuss how this opportunity will equip fellows with the skills they need to advance our shared goal of unlocking opportunity for America's workforce.
Guild Opportunity Summit 2024
Save the date
Save the date for next year's Opportunity Summit! We'll be in Nashville on October 8-10, 2024. Sign up for updates so you can be the first to register.
