Why I Left Big Blue for Greener Pastures
No Fake News Here!
According to my naysayers, I just left the coolest job in the world. And it was! Developing strategic partnerships for IBM Watson with some of the top tech companies in the world was incredibly rewarding and challenging. The technology, and especially the people at IBM, are truly top notch and world class. Sorry friends, you’ll find no scandalous nor acrimonious fake news about Big Blue here!
But two weeks ago, I did leave IBM for a game-changing strategic enterprise education company called InStride. This new opportunity really tugged at my optimistic and ambitious passion to help drive a movement, change people's lives and build one of America's most admired companies. If you are half as puzzled yet intrigued as I was when I first learned about InStride (what the heck does strategic enterprise education mean??), I’ll draw you the picture of what led me to leave a 100+ year old iconic American institution to this new and exciting venture.
The Challenge
Today, corporate America spends $28 billion per year in tuition assistance, yet less than 2% of employees take advantage of it. These programs are treated as a “check box” by many HR departments, even though recruiting, retention and upskilling continue to be a massive challenge for them.
At the same time, 44 million Americans owe approximately $1.5 trillion in student debt and 36 million working adults who started college did not finish. And half of those who graduated five years ago say their skills are lacking in their current role.
Finally, Universities are also facing big challenges. Even though 50% of work activities are being outpaced by technology and 40% of skilled labor is nearing retirement age, most do not have effective enrollment relationships with corporations who need their help.
So this complicated conundrum is a three-headed monster that simply will not be solved by the next Marvel superhero movie, nor by the winner of the dramatic saga that will conclude in November 2020. Queue InStride...
How InStride Will Solve the Problem
The three-headed monster can only be slain with a focus on driving career boosting outcomes for employees as well as key performance indicator (KPI) impact for their employers. InStride is going to lead the solution in 3 very unique ways:
- Deliver strategic objectives for CEOs through enterprise centric education - InStride not only helps educate learners and drive PR/branding for its partners but also delivers on CEO’s most important KPIs such as in-store experience improvement @ Starbucks, higher driver loyalty @ Uber and data proficient software developers @ Infosys.
- Join forces with only the most renowned and respected universities in the world - By partnering with institutions like Arizona State who have breadth & depth in online education and a proven reputation of driving professional outcomes for students, employers can achieve massive ROI. For example, the 3000+ graduates from the Starbucks College Achievement Plan were promoted 280% faster and stay 22 months longer than the industry average.
- Activate technology enabled end2end corporate+learner experience – InStride has a proprietary white-labeled platform that elegantly personalizes the experience for HR as well as learners. Employees have a one stop shop for all queries such as: am I eligible? how does it work?, and what programs are available to me?
So this is why I have embarked on my next career journey – to do well for myself and my family by participating early in the next big movement, and to do good for the world by helping solve a three-headed problem where everyone wins. Perhaps Marvel will make a movie out of our story after all...coming to theaters near you!
Marketing Strategy | Community Outreach | Crisis Communications | Strategic Creative | Leadership | Mentor
5 年Hi Mitch, it’s been a long time. Glad to see you back in education. You were clear to point out that only top universities would be part of this but I would at least like the opportunity to talk about how community colleges can meet a lot of labor education and training needs far more efficiently and economically than larger universities. Calbright is the 115th California community college. You really need to connect with CEO Heather Hiles. She has been researching best practices for online education delivery to serve the 25-35 (primarily) age group be trained for better jobs. Working with SalesForce and others to create curriculum modules that make sense was her first big hurdle—of many hurdles—and is just wrapping up the first “semester”; though it isn’t structured that way. Anyway, would love to reconnect to talk about this. I was elected to a third four-year term in 2018 to the Ventura County Community College District—Moorpark, Oxnard, and Ventura Colleges. I work on some statewide committees as well. Still do marketing as my day job, just finishing buyout to own the agency. Let’s talk. Dianne
Sr Mgmt Leader, Customer Success & Architecture, Technology Sales, Strategic Partners
5 年Congrats Mitch Gordon?on the new role, and I'm glad we had some good conversation within IBM prior to your departure!?
Technology Sales VP | Financial Services Market | Business Engagement Expert | Customer Success Champion | Relationship Building Focus
5 年Nice post Mitch. I am amazed at both the student loan crisis, and the ever-widening gap of skills against skills demand. Sounds like InStride is focused on both and for the overall good for our companies.
Business Owner at IR2EDU
5 年Makes sense to me. As usual you see the big rocks and clearly articulate the need. Carry on.