Not all company investments in education are working

At the Exceptional Women Alliance (EWA), we enable high-level women to mentor each other. As the nonprofit organization’s founder, chair, and CEO, I am honored to interview and share insights from some of the thought leaders who are part of our peer-to-peer mentoring.

In this conversation, I speak with Michelle Westfort, chief product officer at InStride, a leading provider of strategic education and skilling solutions.

Q: Before we dive in, tell us about your role at InStride and what kinds of companies you work with.

Westfort: I lead product for our organization, which means I spend my days thinking about whether employee education programs and workforce development strategies are working. InStride partners with large employers across industries to offer debt-free education to their workforce. Medtronic, for example, has more than 3,000 employees enrolled in or graduated from its education program, which has generated over $13 million in retention savings.

Q: On the surface, a lot of corporate education programs look similar. Why do results vary?

Westfort: The difference in outcomes comes down to program design. In other words, how well the program connects employee growth to business needs is almost entirely a design question. Here’s what I mean. SSM Health saw 100% retention in some of its most critical clinical roles among employees participating in its education program. That doesn’t happen by accident.

On the flip side, we see programs where employees need HR approval just to enroll, where clawback provisions deter the people who need the benefit most. Mind you, from our data, 62% of top-performing programs require no HR approval at all. That becomes a design recommendation.

Q: Why do so many people plan to use tuition assistance, and then just don’t?

Westfort: Think about what working adults are carrying. A full-time job, a commute, kids, aging parents, and schedules that shift week to week. If getting started feels complicated—options are confusing, or the path to career development isn’t obvious—it’s very easy to think, “I’ll come back to this when things calm down.”

Take Karena, an employee working toward her degree through one of our clients. In her words, “The first time I tried college, I was working three jobs and barely sleeping. I didn’t finish a single class. This time, because my employer is sponsoring my degree, I can take one class at a time. I just ended my first term with a 4.0. It’s not that I wasn’t capable before. I didn’t have the tools, time, or resources. Now I do.”

Access makes participation possible, while program design makes it likely.

Q: You’ve developed what InStride calls a Program Design Score. What is it, and where did the idea come from?

Westfort: The Program Design Score is our proprietary framework for measuring how well employee education programs drive impact. It evaluates more than 20 factors to ensure programs truly connect employee growth to each organization’s business goals.

For instance, does the program tie to business priorities? Is it easy to navigate? How clearly does it connect to career paths? How consistently is it communicated to employees? How is success measured? It’s a benchmark and a diagnostic tool.

Q: And if a program isn’t designed well, what does that cost?

Westfort: More than most leaders realize, and it shows up in ways that are easy to miss.

Consider an employee who enrolled, hit a confusing step, and quietly dropped off. Or a manager who never considered the benefit because nobody explained it to them. Or the company that saw low participation, concluded the program wasn’t working, and cut it when the real problem was the design, not the idea.

Q: How does AI fit into all of this?

Westfort: Our recent survey on AI in the workplace found that 75% of us are concerned about job displacement. That fear has a direct effect on learning. Organizations with AI-anxious workers reported just 15% AI training effectiveness, whereas companies with employees who feel optimistic about AI see three times higher training effectiveness.

The same principles of our Program Design Score apply. Design it around people, connect it to big picture goals, and make it something employees can trust.

Q: If a leader reads this and wants to know whether their tuition program is working, where do they start?

Westfort: Start with a simple question: What is your education program meant to change in your business?

You should design around that goal, whether it’s improving retention, filling hard-to-hire roles, or leadership development. Then you should evaluate whether the program is built to drive that outcome.

The real shift is from asking “Are people using it?” to “Is it delivering results?” One tells you if people are participating. The other tells you if education is working for your workforce.

Larraine Segil is founder, chair, and CEO of The Exceptional Women Alliance.