Case Study: Walgreens achieves scalable, data‑driven talent development and succession planning with Cornerstone OnDemand

Walgreens creates a community of wellness for customers with a team of engaged, well-trained employees

Walgreens, a large U.S. retail pharmacy with 250K+ employees, faced talent and leadership challenges as it scaled and transformed its business. The company lacked a consistent leadership and learning model across the organization and had incomplete succession planning, limiting its ability to develop skills, identify gaps, and support global growth.

Walgreens selected Cornerstone OnDemand in 2009 and deployed Learning Cloud, Performance Cloud, and Succession modules to create Walgreens University (physical and virtual), implement continuous performance and 360‑degree reviews, and build a comprehensive succession plan. The program standardized leadership messaging, enabled just‑in‑time learning, surfaced skill gaps for targeted development and compensation modeling, and promoted more data‑driven decision making—helping reduce risk, speed value realization, and sustain growth.

Walgreens

Daniela Hautzinger

Director, Organizational Change Management