Case Study: Major U.S. Retailer achieves pathways to management for frontline workers with Guild Education

An innovative approach to learning design creates pathways to management for frontline workers

Major U.S. Retailer faced difficulty filling team lead and store manager roles despite a large frontline workforce. To close the gap, they partnered with Guild Education to develop targeted skilling pathways—notably the People & Business Leadership Certificate and the Frontline Manager Leadership Program—focused on the technical, HR, and soft management skills needed for frontline employees to advance.

Guild Education worked with Bellevue University and the University of Denver and used deep platform integrations to provide real-time support, early interventions (orientation sessions, digital-literacy webinars, and templates), and program optimization. As of February 2023, nearly 2,000 employees completed the People & Business Leadership certificate (about 500 of whom pursued degree study), nearly 1,000 completed the Frontline Manager Leadership Program, and the intervention strategy yielded a 20% increase in successful course completion.