December 10, 2024 • 26 mins
Join Eloy Ortiz-Oakley for an interesting conversation with Bijal Shah, the trailblazing CEO of Guild, as we unravel the company's transformative journey in reshaping talent development. Want to uncover how a mailroom employee discovered their true potential as a pharmacy technician? This episode reveals the secret sauce behind Guild's innovative coaching services that unlock hidden talents and align them with career dreams, including the embrace of generative AI to stay ahead in today's fast-paced market. Bijal Shah shares her groundbreaking vision for Guild, illustrating how strategic educational partnerships are crucial in keeping employees and employers competitive.
Explore the pressing challenges of today's workforce, from the shortage of skilled workers to the critical need for upskilling, particularly in sectors like healthcare and manufacturing. Discover how Guild is stepping up to the plate, working hand-in-hand with local and state governments to create personalized pathways for economic mobility, bridging the skills gap, and fostering continuous learning nationwide. As we spotlight Colorado's forward-thinking workforce development initiatives, learn how Guild’s unique marketplace model is poised to transform regions lacking academic infrastructure. Whether you're an employer or an education provider, this episode is your gateway to understanding how Guild is unlocking opportunities and redefining the future of work in America.
www.guild.com
www.4leggedmedia.com
eloy@4leggedmedia.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hi, I'm Eloy Ortiz-Oakley and welcome back to
the Rent Podcast, the podcastwhere we pull back the curtain
and break down the people, thepolicies and the politics of our
higher education system.
In this episode I talk withBijal Shah, ceo of Guild.
Guild provides education,skilling and talent mobility
(00:31):
solutions for some of America'slargest employers.
I talk with Bijal about herplans for Guild and the recent
changes the company hasexperienced.
So with that backdrop, bijal,welcome to the Rant Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Well, it's great to have you and appreciate you
taking the time out of your busyschedule.
I know you have a lot going onat Guild.
Guild has a lot going on in themarketplace and we will get
into that.
But first, you've been with thecompany since 2018.
First as its chief productofficer and now as CEO.
Tell us about your journey withGuild and how the company has
(01:13):
evolved over the years.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I've played quite a few different roles at Guild
over my time.
I've been here for roughly sixyears, as you mentioned, and the
company has evolvedsignificantly during that time.
I did start off owning productand analytics inside of the
company but as the companycontinued to grow, I took on a
variety of different rolesacross our marketplace and our
business.
We also went from being abusiness focused on providing
(01:39):
traditional tuition assistanceand education assistance and
kind of disrupting the tuitionreimbursement market to now very
much looking at ourselves ashow do we help employers find
the latent talent inside oftheir organization and really
develop and skill them and helpthem find new opportunities
inside that same organization,and so have very much taken
(02:02):
focus and a shift evolving overtime, just based on our
employers' needs to help ensurethat they can find that talent
and grow that talent insidetheir organization.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Well, that is a's set in between the employer and the
education provider findingopportunities to upskill,
reskill or help employees gainthat educational opportunities.
Where do you see yourself inthe marketplace now?
You mentioned helping employersfind talent within.
(02:44):
How do you help your employersfind the talent and then how do
you provide those employees theupskilling opportunity that you
just mentioned?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah, so still the same ethos behind the business
we want to help unlockopportunity for America's
workforce.
The way that we go about doingthat is providing education and
skilling, as you mentioned, andso we actually work with
employees inside of employers tobetter understand their
starting point, what their skillsets are today, what their
(03:15):
interests are, go forward andthen what opportunities might
exist inside of the employer.
And we use that information totry and understand, therefore,
what's the right next step forthat specific individual inside
of their organization.
So, as an example, we had awoman who worked inside the
mailroom inside of one of ourhealth systems that we work with
(03:37):
very closely, and she has beenworking in that mailroom for
over 20 years and she knew thatshe wanted to do more and that
she wanted to be patient-facing.
So we got an understanding ofwhat her skills were, what she
already knew, where there mightbe opportunities for her and
then, more specifically, whatthe employer needed in terms of
(03:57):
allied health roles, and shewent from being a mailroom
attendant to actually being afarm tech that focused on
compounding inside of a pharmacy.
And so those are the types ofpathways that we're trying to
help employees unlock, inalignment with what employers
need, but ensuring that we areactually providing the pathways
(04:18):
and the skills along the way andthe support services required
to be able to get from point Ato point B, to point C, to point
D.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Well, what you just mentioned is really what
Americans across this countrywant to have the opportunity for
, that economic mobility,regardless of where they're
starting out with an employer.
They see themselves wantingmore, wanting to have a career,
a career path that reallyprovides them the economic
opportunity that they're seeking.
How do you work with theemployee to find that right
(04:50):
pathway?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
A lot of it is.
You know, we have coachingservices, so we have
pre-enrollment coaching servicesas well as coaching services as
someone persists in theirprogram.
And we use those services tohelp ask questions around what
is the individual interested in,what are they hoping to get out
of their life or their career,what types of things excite them
(05:12):
, what types of things do theybelieve they're good at, and
what is their prior educationalor learning history?
And we use those pieces ofinformation, call them together
and then provide recommendations, either synchronously or
asynchronously, back to the userso they have a sense for what
the possibilities might be likeinside of their organization.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That's great, and those are the kinds of stories
that we all want to hear aboutis how those employees got that
opportunity.
So I appreciate the work thatyou're leading there.
At Guild, back in April, youtook over for the founding CEO,
rachel Romer.
Many of us on this end knowRachel as the chief evangelist
(05:53):
for Guild.
She really got people excitedabout your model.
So, since she stepped down asCEO and now that Guild is really
a much more mature company thanwhen she got this thing started
with the help of many of yourteam members, how are you
thinking about positioning Guildin the marketplace?
You mentioned some of thatalready, but as you go forward,
(06:16):
how are you thinking about thatpositioning?
And, with the push forgenerative AI and the use of
technology now on both theemployer side and the education
provider side, how are youthinking about, or how has AI
influenced your trajectory oryour plans for the future?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Sure, One of the biggest things we think about at
Guild is how we use ourmarketplace to help employers
and their employees continue tostay relevant as the job market
and the market evolves.
And so one of the things I'mmost proud of is, in the last
year, we actually launched AIprogramming inside of our
marketplace by working with abunch of the learning
(06:55):
institutions that are alreadypartners of Guild learning
institutions that are alreadypartners of Guild.
Also by bringing on newpartners that are super
innovative in how they thinkabout teaching AI, how they
think about helping peopleunderstand the applications of
AI inside of their organizations.
And so that is one of thebeauties of Guild is that we are
a marketplace business andtherefore, because we're not
(07:16):
creating the content ourselvesas the market needs evolve, we
have the ability to go find thebest providers in the space and
being the best and brightest tobear inside of our marketplace
to help organizations evolve.
And when I think about theimpact AI is going to have,
you're already seeing it today.
You know the half-life of skillshas gone from five to seven
(07:37):
years to two to five years, andthat piece is going to continue
to increase, and so we have toreally think about what skills
are going to persist for ouremployees but, honestly, more
broadly, for our workforce andfor broader society, as we think
about the impacts of AI, and sowe spend a lot of time
internally asking ourselvesthose questions, talking with
(08:01):
researchers at institutions whoare very focused on
understanding the impacts of AIand what it means for the
workforce to try and understand.
What are those resilient skillsthat we can be offering
employees, like things likeproblem solving, the ability to
design and develop frameworks,the ability to actually connect
(08:21):
with another human and haveempathy.
Those are the types of thingsthat we believe are going to
continue to persist, and so howdo we make sure we have the
right programming to allow forthat to happen?
As the workforce evolves Ithink at a faster pace than any
of us have seen in prior history?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Well, it's certainly progressing at a fast pace.
I mean, I think everyone in themarketplace feels that.
Now I know that employers likeWalmart were very big and
influential in your beginnings.
Who are some of your newestemployers that you're working
with, and can you describe someof their needs?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, so we started off very much, I think, focused
on retail and what I woulddescribe as a quick service a
quick service base as theorganization and Guild has
evolved.
Actually, our fastest growingsectors are financial services,
healthcare, as well asmanufacturing, and when you
think about some of the needs ofthose specific industries, they
(09:21):
have very bifurcated workforces.
Those workforces tend to needdifferent things.
The impact of AI inside ofthose organizations is clear.
They have a lot of frontlineworkers or folks who are in
front of patients.
They are on production linestrying to work alongside
technology to help create thebest experience for the end user
(09:45):
, and so, when we think aboutwhere we started versus where
we're going, we are very focusedon industries that actually
have a need for a lot of talent,but there isn't enough talent
on the market today to servicethe needs of those industries
because of how quickly thoseindustries are evolving, and so
(10:06):
our offerings have also had toevolve to meet the demands of
those industries.
We have way more allied healthcontent in our marketplace.
We are working with ourhealthcare employers to do last
mile facilitation of hands-ontraining that these employees
need in order to actually getcertified, to move into roles
(10:27):
like phlebotomy, to become amedical tech, to be able to take
on medical assistance jobs, andso we are very focused on
trying to ensure that we don'tjust stop at some point in terms
of delivering that education,but again that we can work and
use our marketplace and bring tobear the ability to actually
(10:48):
get people the hands-on learningthey need to move into new
opportunities.
That is also true for placeslike manufacturing.
When you think about high-techmanufacturing and manufacturing.
Coming back to the US, one ofthe biggest needs are skilled
trades and the ability toactually help people get the
hands-on training they need sothat when they show up for their
(11:09):
first day of work and when theyembark on their new opportunity
, they have already had somepractical application of those
skill sets inside the workforce.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
You talk a lot about that employee experience and as
you're thinking about upskillingthem.
So, for example, the exampleyou mentioned earlier about the
mailroom person who got a chanceto get into a farm tech Do you
allow them to think about theirnext step beyond that, and how
(11:40):
do you think about personalizingthat education journey for that
employee?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah.
So we work really closely withthe employer and we started
doing this roughly two years ago.
So we work really closely withthe employer and we sit down
with them and say what is alogical pathway for your
employees to embark on ifthey're really interested in
becoming a nurse?
How do we go from them having anon-patient care job into
(12:06):
something that would help themeventually become a nurse, and
what are the right pathways andhow we break down the steps to
getting from where they are toactually becoming that nurse?
And so, at PharmTech, as anexample, if they are interested
in becoming a nurse, the nextsteps would be like great.
What does it take to get frombeing that farm tech to getting
(12:27):
your associates in nursing, togetting your backers in nursing,
to then being able to get thecertification you need to become
a nurse inside of yourorganization?
And so we really do sit downwith each of the organizations
that we work with.
Not all pathways are the same.
Inside of employers we donotice similar pathways.
We also bring best practices toour employer partners on what
(12:50):
we've seen across the industry.
To get tactical and practicalwith our employer partners on,
here are 10 pathways.
Here's what it looks like toget from point A to point B.
On those pathways, let's talkabout what will work inside of
your organization, what thebarriers will be, what issues
you'll face, whether you havethe right spots and
opportunities for people to geton the hands-on learning that
(13:11):
they need, or whether we need togo find that elsewhere to help
support your employee population.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Why do you think it's essential for employers today
to invest in skills building andto collaborate with partners to
develop talent internally?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yeah, if I take a step back and I just look at the
broader workforce inside theUnited States, you know, even if
you took the unemployment ratetoday and you took all of the
individuals who are unemployedand then you looked at the
number of open jobs in thiscountry, so there's roughly 8
million open jobs.
There's roughly 6.8 millionunemployed people.
Even if those people wereunemployed had the exact skill
(13:49):
sets to get into those 8 millionjobs you'd still have 1.2
million open jobs inside thiscountry.
So if you combine that with thefact that you are seeing a rapid
change in skills and the needfor skills for the future,
combined with what is happeningwith immigration inside this
country and then a largepopulation of boomers who are
(14:11):
retiring, we just don't have theworkforce to power the future
of what this country needs.
We just don't have the workforceto power the future of what
this country needs.
Neither do we have the numberof people that we need, nor do
we have the actual skills weneed to be able to power that
future no-transcript that existinside this country.
(14:50):
I fundamentally believe that alot of those tensions are due to
a lack of opportunity insidethis country and people not have
skills to get the jobs theyneed to be able to actually put
food on the table for theirfamilies, to be able to find
those pathways that provide, youknow, self-confidence and
motivation and the ability tofeel good about yourself.
(15:11):
And so I think it's soimportant, not just for
employers, but I think, for usas a country, to be talking
about how.
And so I think it's soimportant, not just for
employers, but I think, for usas a country, to be talking
about?
How do we help people get theskills they need and how do we
teach them how to be continuouslearners so that they can
continue to evolve as ourworkforce evolves quite rapidly?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, I think you hit the nail right on the head.
It's about opportunity in thiscountry and people are very
frustrated that they don't feellike they have opportunities.
So I think the more thatemployers can partner with you,
find ways to support thoseemployees, give them opportunity
within their own company, Ithink would go a long way in
this country to help heal someof the divide Now.
(15:54):
Heal some of the divide Now.
I'm old enough to have seenGuild's growth over the years
and I will admit that even mydaughter participated in a Guild
partnership.
She was working at Disneyseveral years ago and
participated in Disney Aspire,one of the employers that you've
worked with, one of theprograms that you helped support
(16:15):
and during those early years itwas all about sort of a pathway
toward a bachelor's degree.
You've mentioned some of theupskilling opportunities in this
conversation.
What kind of partners are youlooking for now?
And I guess let me ask you thiswhat do your education partners
look like today?
What do your education partnerslook like today.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
So we work with a wide variety of education
partners.
I personally deeply stillbelieve in the value of the
bachelor's degree.
It is less about the degree andmore about the ability to learn
and master multiple differentdisciplines.
That is what I think the beautyof a degree is.
It teaches you about how tothink deeply.
It teaches you about how tothink deeply.
(16:57):
It teaches you about how tolearn for the sake of learning.
It teaches you aboutpersistence and grit and a whole
bunch of things that I thinkare really important.
However, I also believe that, asthe economy has evolved and as
America has evolved, I believethat, more importantly, we need
to break things down into morecomponents, more bite-sized
(17:19):
components for people to be ableto consume and to be able to
get certificates along the wayand to be able to stack the
things they're doing in a waythat eventually gets them to a
pathway towards a degree.
And so we do service and have awide variety of learning
partners inside of ourmarketplace, everything from
finishing your high schooldiploma all the way through
(17:41):
going through a boot camp oncybersecurity to being able to
become a farm tech, as Imentioned before, or
phlebotomist.
We also have high skills inmanufacturing that we offer.
In manufacturing that we offer,you know, there's a new fluid
dynamics class that we offerinside of GILS for those trying
to better understand how youcombine production manufacturing
(18:02):
with thinking about high tech,and so we have evolved quite
rapidly in terms of what weoffer inside of our marketplace,
and not every employer takesadvantage of everything that's
there, but we are trying toensure that people are getting
the skills they need now to beable to continue to evolve and
meet the needs of the workforcefor the future.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You recently announced a new acquisition.
Guild recently acquired NomadicLearning.
Tell us about that acquisitionand how does Nomadic's
capabilities complement the workthat you're doing with
employers?
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Yeah, so one of the biggest questions employers were
asking us and have been askingus for a while is is there a way
to take what Guild does, but toput it in a cohorted learning
capability?
and to allow us to take a groupof our employees who we've
identified, or who raised theirhand and say they're interested,
(19:01):
and help them get along ajourney together, and to help
create community and the abilityfor them to learn, as well as
to be able to provide specificinformation that is relevant to
me as the employer that I thinkour employees need to know, and
so we didn't have that offeringin-house at Guild.
We focused on providing andbringing the best marketplace to
(19:23):
bear, and so we don't thinkabout learning content or
learning journeys in that way.
However, nomadic has built aphenomenal product, with
engagement rates above 89%.
They have really great feedbackon the outcomes of their
cohorted learning programs, aswell as on their ability to help
(19:43):
people actually master theskills that they need by going
through their content, and sowe're super excited to bring
them in-house and to have thembe a part of Guild Families so
we could continue to build outthe suite of products and
capabilities that we offer toour employer partners and, more
specifically, their employees.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
So you mentioned a lot of the evolution, a lot of
what you've got going on today,how you're positioning yourself
as you think about theenvironment here in the country
and I know you mentioned alittle bit of this is your
strategy focused on findingthose employers?
Do you have a strategy by stateor by region in this country,
(20:26):
and are there some states thatyou feel that you're working in
are doing better than others interms of working with the
employers, working with theeducation providers, providing
the right regulatory environmentto make this work?
Do you have any thoughts abouthow this is working across the
country?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So, to answer the first part of your question, we
are just entering the foray ofworking directly with what I
would describe as local andstate governments.
That hasn't historically been aplace where Guild has spent time
.
However, as we've been able tobring a marketplace approach to
the solution or to solving theproblem we are trying to solve,
(21:06):
we've been approached by moreand more state and local
governments to figure out howthey could use something like
Guild to get their populationsinside of their cities and
states from again from point Ato point B.
We historically have not playedin that space, but we are now
testing strategies for how wecould do that well and making
sure we can really deliver onthe value prop of what the you
(21:30):
know, on the pain point of whatthe state and local governments
are feeling, and so we'refeeling our way into.
That is what I would say.
And local governments arefeeling, and so we're feeling
our way into.
That is what I would say.
In terms of places where we'veseen innovation, I actually
think if you look across thecountry, there are a lot of
cities and states who are doingreally innovative things in
workforce development.
I'm based in Colorado.
There is a lot of innovativestuff happening in Colorado to
(21:54):
help drive workforce developmentand partnership between
community college, localcolleges, national colleges as
well, as you know, other typesof technical trade institutions
and the state as well as thecity of Denver, and so I think
you can look across the countryfor pockets of and areas of the
country where folks are doing areally great job.
(22:15):
I think if there isn't theacademic infrastructure inside
of a state or inside of a cityin particular, it becomes a lot
harder for those states to beable to create and crack how to
do this well, and that is aplace, I believe, where Guild
can partner with those citiesand states.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Bijal, what's next for Guild?
Where would you like to see thecompany over the next, say,
five years?
What's the thinking today?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
When I think about the future for Guild.
So, first and foremost, ourmission is to unlock opportunity
for America's workforce.
Our job is to understand wherethose opportunities exist and to
help bring to bear at scale theplaces where we can help meet
employees and or individuals andhelp get them upskilled and
reskilled for the future of work.
(23:06):
And so, when I think about whereGuild is headed, we are very
much focused on industries thathave large skilled gaps or
shortages, because those tend tobe the places where there is a
lot of opportunity.
We are focused on employers whoreally believe in continuous
learning and investing in theiremployees to help them continue
(23:27):
to persist and find newopportunities.
And, as I mentioned, we are nowfocused on other parts of the
country or other places where webelieve there's opportunity for
us to help match supply anddemand and help individuals who
are looking to find work andfind opportunities understand
(23:49):
what skills they need and how tomatch them to employers who
have opportunities for thoseindividuals.
And so I hope you see Guildcontinue to evolve in terms of
the players we work with in thespace, continuing to show and
prove and demonstrate outcomesfor the work that we do,
continuing to bring the mostinnovative learning to bear
(24:11):
inside of our country and makingsure that people get that last
mile of learning what I think of, that hands-on learning that
they need to do their jobs,that's what I think about, all
in service of unlockingopportunity inside of America.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
So if an employer or an education provider are
listening to this and they'reinterested in connecting with
Guild, how will they do that?
How do they find you or how doyou find them?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
It goes both ways.
So when employers or we noticethere are skills gaps or needs
inside of our marketplace thatwe can't bring to bear, we reach
out to learning institutions.
You can also reach out to us.
You can learn more at guildcomFor employer partners.
Same thing If you're anemployer partner who's looking
at how you want to unlock talentwe think of it as latent talent
(25:02):
inside of your organization andyou want to make sure you're
investing in your employees forthe future and that you're
giving them opportunities thatthey might not have had
elsewhere, please reach out andyou can find more information on
our website and get in touchwith us that way.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Great.
Well, we'll also provide yourweb address in this episode,
down at the bottom in thecomment section.
Listen, I know you've got a lotgoing on, so I really do
appreciate you taking the timeto come on, talk to us about GIL
, talk to us about its evolution, where you're headed and how
you're thinking about leadingthe company into the future.
(25:37):
So, bijal, thank you for beingon the RAND podcast and
appreciate your leadership inthe marketplace.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Thank you for having me Eloy.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
All right, well, thanks for joining me everyone.
I hope you've enjoyed myconversation with Bijal Shah,
ceo of Guild.
Her and her team are leadingupskilling, the upskilling of
thousands of employees acrossAmerica, partnering with some of
the largest employers inAmerica.
Thanks everyone for joining mehere on the Rant Podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,please hit the like button,
(26:08):
continue to follow us on yourfavorite podcast platform and
hit subscribe on this YouTubechannel.
We'll be back with you shortlywith another great episode.
Hi, I'm Eloy Ortiz-Oakley and welcome back to
the Rent Podcast, the podcastwhere we pull back the curtain
and break down the people, thepolicies and the politics of our
higher education system.
In this episode I talk withBijal Shah, ceo of Guild.
Guild provides education,skilling and talent mobility
(00:31):
solutions for some of America'slargest employers.
I talk with Bijal about herplans for Guild and the recent
changes the company hasexperienced.
So with that backdrop, bijal,welcome to the Rant Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Well, it's great to have you and appreciate you
taking the time out of your busyschedule.
I know you have a lot going onat Guild.
Guild has a lot going on in themarketplace and we will get
into that.
But first, you've been with thecompany since 2018.
First as its chief productofficer and now as CEO.
Tell us about your journey withGuild and how the company has
(01:13):
evolved over the years.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I've played quite a few different roles at Guild
over my time.
I've been here for roughly sixyears, as you mentioned, and the
company has evolvedsignificantly during that time.
I did start off owning productand analytics inside of the
company but as the companycontinued to grow, I took on a
variety of different rolesacross our marketplace and our
business.
We also went from being abusiness focused on providing
(01:39):
traditional tuition assistanceand education assistance and
kind of disrupting the tuitionreimbursement market to now very
much looking at ourselves ashow do we help employers find
the latent talent inside oftheir organization and really
develop and skill them and helpthem find new opportunities
inside that same organization,and so have very much taken
(02:02):
focus and a shift evolving overtime, just based on our
employers' needs to help ensurethat they can find that talent
and grow that talent insidetheir organization.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Well, that is a's set in between the employer and the
education provider findingopportunities to upskill,
reskill or help employees gainthat educational opportunities.
Where do you see yourself inthe marketplace now?
You mentioned helping employersfind talent within.
(02:44):
How do you help your employersfind the talent and then how do
you provide those employees theupskilling opportunity that you
just mentioned?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah, so still the same ethos behind the business
we want to help unlockopportunity for America's
workforce.
The way that we go about doingthat is providing education and
skilling, as you mentioned, andso we actually work with
employees inside of employers tobetter understand their
starting point, what their skillsets are today, what their
(03:15):
interests are, go forward andthen what opportunities might
exist inside of the employer.
And we use that information totry and understand, therefore,
what's the right next step forthat specific individual inside
of their organization.
So, as an example, we had awoman who worked inside the
mailroom inside of one of ourhealth systems that we work with
(03:37):
very closely, and she has beenworking in that mailroom for
over 20 years and she knew thatshe wanted to do more and that
she wanted to be patient-facing.
So we got an understanding ofwhat her skills were, what she
already knew, where there mightbe opportunities for her and
then, more specifically, whatthe employer needed in terms of
(03:57):
allied health roles, and shewent from being a mailroom
attendant to actually being afarm tech that focused on
compounding inside of a pharmacy.
And so those are the types ofpathways that we're trying to
help employees unlock, inalignment with what employers
need, but ensuring that we areactually providing the pathways
(04:18):
and the skills along the way andthe support services required
to be able to get from point Ato point B, to point C, to point
D.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Well, what you just mentioned is really what
Americans across this countrywant to have the opportunity for
, that economic mobility,regardless of where they're
starting out with an employer.
They see themselves wantingmore, wanting to have a career,
a career path that reallyprovides them the economic
opportunity that they're seeking.
How do you work with theemployee to find that right
(04:50):
pathway?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
A lot of it is.
You know, we have coachingservices, so we have
pre-enrollment coaching servicesas well as coaching services as
someone persists in theirprogram.
And we use those services tohelp ask questions around what
is the individual interested in,what are they hoping to get out
of their life or their career,what types of things excite them
(05:12):
, what types of things do theybelieve they're good at, and
what is their prior educationalor learning history?
And we use those pieces ofinformation, call them together
and then provide recommendations, either synchronously or
asynchronously, back to the userso they have a sense for what
the possibilities might be likeinside of their organization.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That's great, and those are the kinds of stories
that we all want to hear aboutis how those employees got that
opportunity.
So I appreciate the work thatyou're leading there.
At Guild, back in April, youtook over for the founding CEO,
rachel Romer.
Many of us on this end knowRachel as the chief evangelist
(05:53):
for Guild.
She really got people excitedabout your model.
So, since she stepped down asCEO and now that Guild is really
a much more mature company thanwhen she got this thing started
with the help of many of yourteam members, how are you
thinking about positioning Guildin the marketplace?
You mentioned some of thatalready, but as you go forward,
(06:16):
how are you thinking about thatpositioning?
And, with the push forgenerative AI and the use of
technology now on both theemployer side and the education
provider side, how are youthinking about, or how has AI
influenced your trajectory oryour plans for the future?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Sure, One of the biggest things we think about at
Guild is how we use ourmarketplace to help employers
and their employees continue tostay relevant as the job market
and the market evolves.
And so one of the things I'mmost proud of is, in the last
year, we actually launched AIprogramming inside of our
marketplace by working with abunch of the learning
(06:55):
institutions that are alreadypartners of Guild learning
institutions that are alreadypartners of Guild.
Also by bringing on newpartners that are super
innovative in how they thinkabout teaching AI, how they
think about helping peopleunderstand the applications of
AI inside of their organizations.
And so that is one of thebeauties of Guild is that we are
a marketplace business andtherefore, because we're not
(07:16):
creating the content ourselvesas the market needs evolve, we
have the ability to go find thebest providers in the space and
being the best and brightest tobear inside of our marketplace
to help organizations evolve.
And when I think about theimpact AI is going to have,
you're already seeing it today.
You know the half-life of skillshas gone from five to seven
(07:37):
years to two to five years, andthat piece is going to continue
to increase, and so we have toreally think about what skills
are going to persist for ouremployees but, honestly, more
broadly, for our workforce andfor broader society, as we think
about the impacts of AI, and sowe spend a lot of time
internally asking ourselvesthose questions, talking with
(08:01):
researchers at institutions whoare very focused on
understanding the impacts of AIand what it means for the
workforce to try and understand.
What are those resilient skillsthat we can be offering
employees, like things likeproblem solving, the ability to
design and develop frameworks,the ability to actually connect
(08:21):
with another human and haveempathy.
Those are the types of thingsthat we believe are going to
continue to persist, and so howdo we make sure we have the
right programming to allow forthat to happen?
As the workforce evolves Ithink at a faster pace than any
of us have seen in prior history?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Well, it's certainly progressing at a fast pace.
I mean, I think everyone in themarketplace feels that.
Now I know that employers likeWalmart were very big and
influential in your beginnings.
Who are some of your newestemployers that you're working
with, and can you describe someof their needs?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, so we started off very much, I think, focused
on retail and what I woulddescribe as a quick service a
quick service base as theorganization and Guild has
evolved.
Actually, our fastest growingsectors are financial services,
healthcare, as well asmanufacturing, and when you
think about some of the needs ofthose specific industries, they
(09:21):
have very bifurcated workforces.
Those workforces tend to needdifferent things.
The impact of AI inside ofthose organizations is clear.
They have a lot of frontlineworkers or folks who are in
front of patients.
They are on production linestrying to work alongside
technology to help create thebest experience for the end user
(09:45):
, and so, when we think aboutwhere we started versus where
we're going, we are very focusedon industries that actually
have a need for a lot of talent,but there isn't enough talent
on the market today to servicethe needs of those industries
because of how quickly thoseindustries are evolving, and so
(10:06):
our offerings have also had toevolve to meet the demands of
those industries.
We have way more allied healthcontent in our marketplace.
We are working with ourhealthcare employers to do last
mile facilitation of hands-ontraining that these employees
need in order to actually getcertified, to move into roles
(10:27):
like phlebotomy, to become amedical tech, to be able to take
on medical assistance jobs, andso we are very focused on
trying to ensure that we don'tjust stop at some point in terms
of delivering that education,but again that we can work and
use our marketplace and bring tobear the ability to actually
(10:48):
get people the hands-on learningthey need to move into new
opportunities.
That is also true for placeslike manufacturing.
When you think about high-techmanufacturing and manufacturing.
Coming back to the US, one ofthe biggest needs are skilled
trades and the ability toactually help people get the
hands-on training they need sothat when they show up for their
(11:09):
first day of work and when theyembark on their new opportunity
, they have already had somepractical application of those
skill sets inside the workforce.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
You talk a lot about that employee experience and as
you're thinking about upskillingthem.
So, for example, the exampleyou mentioned earlier about the
mailroom person who got a chanceto get into a farm tech Do you
allow them to think about theirnext step beyond that, and how
(11:40):
do you think about personalizingthat education journey for that
employee?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah.
So we work really closely withthe employer and we started
doing this roughly two years ago.
So we work really closely withthe employer and we sit down
with them and say what is alogical pathway for your
employees to embark on ifthey're really interested in
becoming a nurse?
How do we go from them having anon-patient care job into
(12:06):
something that would help themeventually become a nurse, and
what are the right pathways andhow we break down the steps to
getting from where they are toactually becoming that nurse?
And so, at PharmTech, as anexample, if they are interested
in becoming a nurse, the nextsteps would be like great.
What does it take to get frombeing that farm tech to getting
(12:27):
your associates in nursing, togetting your backers in nursing,
to then being able to get thecertification you need to become
a nurse inside of yourorganization?
And so we really do sit downwith each of the organizations
that we work with.
Not all pathways are the same.
Inside of employers we donotice similar pathways.
We also bring best practices toour employer partners on what
(12:50):
we've seen across the industry.
To get tactical and practicalwith our employer partners on,
here are 10 pathways.
Here's what it looks like toget from point A to point B.
On those pathways, let's talkabout what will work inside of
your organization, what thebarriers will be, what issues
you'll face, whether you havethe right spots and
opportunities for people to geton the hands-on learning that
(13:11):
they need, or whether we need togo find that elsewhere to help
support your employee population.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Why do you think it's essential for employers today
to invest in skills building andto collaborate with partners to
develop talent internally?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yeah, if I take a step back and I just look at the
broader workforce inside theUnited States, you know, even if
you took the unemployment ratetoday and you took all of the
individuals who are unemployedand then you looked at the
number of open jobs in thiscountry, so there's roughly 8
million open jobs.
There's roughly 6.8 millionunemployed people.
Even if those people wereunemployed had the exact skill
(13:49):
sets to get into those 8 millionjobs you'd still have 1.2
million open jobs inside thiscountry.
So if you combine that with thefact that you are seeing a rapid
change in skills and the needfor skills for the future,
combined with what is happeningwith immigration inside this
country and then a largepopulation of boomers who are
(14:11):
retiring, we just don't have theworkforce to power the future
of what this country needs.
We just don't have the workforceto power the future of what
this country needs.
Neither do we have the numberof people that we need, nor do
we have the actual skills weneed to be able to power that
future no-transcript that existinside this country.
(14:50):
I fundamentally believe that alot of those tensions are due to
a lack of opportunity insidethis country and people not have
skills to get the jobs theyneed to be able to actually put
food on the table for theirfamilies, to be able to find
those pathways that provide, youknow, self-confidence and
motivation and the ability tofeel good about yourself.
(15:11):
And so I think it's soimportant, not just for
employers, but I think, for usas a country, to be talking
about how.
And so I think it's soimportant, not just for
employers, but I think, for usas a country, to be talking
about?
How do we help people get theskills they need and how do we
teach them how to be continuouslearners so that they can
continue to evolve as ourworkforce evolves quite rapidly?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, I think you hit the nail right on the head.
It's about opportunity in thiscountry and people are very
frustrated that they don't feellike they have opportunities.
So I think the more thatemployers can partner with you,
find ways to support thoseemployees, give them opportunity
within their own company, Ithink would go a long way in
this country to help heal someof the divide Now.
(15:54):
Heal some of the divide Now.
I'm old enough to have seenGuild's growth over the years
and I will admit that even mydaughter participated in a Guild
partnership.
She was working at Disneyseveral years ago and
participated in Disney Aspire,one of the employers that you've
worked with, one of theprograms that you helped support
(16:15):
and during those early years itwas all about sort of a pathway
toward a bachelor's degree.
You've mentioned some of theupskilling opportunities in this
conversation.
What kind of partners are youlooking for now?
And I guess let me ask you thiswhat do your education partners
look like today?
What do your education partnerslook like today.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
So we work with a wide variety of education
partners.
I personally deeply stillbelieve in the value of the
bachelor's degree.
It is less about the degree andmore about the ability to learn
and master multiple differentdisciplines.
That is what I think the beautyof a degree is.
It teaches you about how tothink deeply.
It teaches you about how tothink deeply.
(16:57):
It teaches you about how tolearn for the sake of learning.
It teaches you aboutpersistence and grit and a whole
bunch of things that I thinkare really important.
However, I also believe that, asthe economy has evolved and as
America has evolved, I believethat, more importantly, we need
to break things down into morecomponents, more bite-sized
(17:19):
components for people to be ableto consume and to be able to
get certificates along the wayand to be able to stack the
things they're doing in a waythat eventually gets them to a
pathway towards a degree.
And so we do service and have awide variety of learning
partners inside of ourmarketplace, everything from
finishing your high schooldiploma all the way through
(17:41):
going through a boot camp oncybersecurity to being able to
become a farm tech, as Imentioned before, or
phlebotomist.
We also have high skills inmanufacturing that we offer.
In manufacturing that we offer,you know, there's a new fluid
dynamics class that we offerinside of GILS for those trying
to better understand how youcombine production manufacturing
(18:02):
with thinking about high tech,and so we have evolved quite
rapidly in terms of what weoffer inside of our marketplace,
and not every employer takesadvantage of everything that's
there, but we are trying toensure that people are getting
the skills they need now to beable to continue to evolve and
meet the needs of the workforcefor the future.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You recently announced a new acquisition.
Guild recently acquired NomadicLearning.
Tell us about that acquisitionand how does Nomadic's
capabilities complement the workthat you're doing with
employers?
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Yeah, so one of the biggest questions employers were
asking us and have been askingus for a while is is there a way
to take what Guild does, but toput it in a cohorted learning
capability?
and to allow us to take a groupof our employees who we've
identified, or who raised theirhand and say they're interested,
(19:01):
and help them get along ajourney together, and to help
create community and the abilityfor them to learn, as well as
to be able to provide specificinformation that is relevant to
me as the employer that I thinkour employees need to know, and
so we didn't have that offeringin-house at Guild.
We focused on providing andbringing the best marketplace to
(19:23):
bear, and so we don't thinkabout learning content or
learning journeys in that way.
However, nomadic has built aphenomenal product, with
engagement rates above 89%.
They have really great feedbackon the outcomes of their
cohorted learning programs, aswell as on their ability to help
(19:43):
people actually master theskills that they need by going
through their content, and sowe're super excited to bring
them in-house and to have thembe a part of Guild Families so
we could continue to build outthe suite of products and
capabilities that we offer toour employer partners and, more
specifically, their employees.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
So you mentioned a lot of the evolution, a lot of
what you've got going on today,how you're positioning yourself
as you think about theenvironment here in the country
and I know you mentioned alittle bit of this is your
strategy focused on findingthose employers?
Do you have a strategy by stateor by region in this country,
(20:26):
and are there some states thatyou feel that you're working in
are doing better than others interms of working with the
employers, working with theeducation providers, providing
the right regulatory environmentto make this work?
Do you have any thoughts abouthow this is working across the
country?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So, to answer the first part of your question, we
are just entering the foray ofworking directly with what I
would describe as local andstate governments.
That hasn't historically been aplace where Guild has spent time
.
However, as we've been able tobring a marketplace approach to
the solution or to solving theproblem we are trying to solve,
(21:06):
we've been approached by moreand more state and local
governments to figure out howthey could use something like
Guild to get their populationsinside of their cities and
states from again from point Ato point B.
We historically have not playedin that space, but we are now
testing strategies for how wecould do that well and making
sure we can really deliver onthe value prop of what the you
(21:30):
know, on the pain point of whatthe state and local governments
are feeling, and so we'refeeling our way into.
That is what I would say.
And local governments arefeeling, and so we're feeling
our way into.
That is what I would say.
In terms of places where we'veseen innovation, I actually
think if you look across thecountry, there are a lot of
cities and states who are doingreally innovative things in
workforce development.
I'm based in Colorado.
There is a lot of innovativestuff happening in Colorado to
(21:54):
help drive workforce developmentand partnership between
community college, localcolleges, national colleges as
well, as you know, other typesof technical trade institutions
and the state as well as thecity of Denver, and so I think
you can look across the countryfor pockets of and areas of the
country where folks are doing areally great job.
(22:15):
I think if there isn't theacademic infrastructure inside
of a state or inside of a cityin particular, it becomes a lot
harder for those states to beable to create and crack how to
do this well, and that is aplace, I believe, where Guild
can partner with those citiesand states.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Bijal, what's next for Guild?
Where would you like to see thecompany over the next, say,
five years?
What's the thinking today?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
When I think about the future for Guild.
So, first and foremost, ourmission is to unlock opportunity
for America's workforce.
Our job is to understand wherethose opportunities exist and to
help bring to bear at scale theplaces where we can help meet
employees and or individuals andhelp get them upskilled and
reskilled for the future of work.
(23:06):
And so, when I think about whereGuild is headed, we are very
much focused on industries thathave large skilled gaps or
shortages, because those tend tobe the places where there is a
lot of opportunity.
We are focused on employers whoreally believe in continuous
learning and investing in theiremployees to help them continue
(23:27):
to persist and find newopportunities.
And, as I mentioned, we are nowfocused on other parts of the
country or other places where webelieve there's opportunity for
us to help match supply anddemand and help individuals who
are looking to find work andfind opportunities understand
(23:49):
what skills they need and how tomatch them to employers who
have opportunities for thoseindividuals.
And so I hope you see Guildcontinue to evolve in terms of
the players we work with in thespace, continuing to show and
prove and demonstrate outcomesfor the work that we do,
continuing to bring the mostinnovative learning to bear
(24:11):
inside of our country and makingsure that people get that last
mile of learning what I think of, that hands-on learning that
they need to do their jobs,that's what I think about, all
in service of unlockingopportunity inside of America.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
So if an employer or an education provider are
listening to this and they'reinterested in connecting with
Guild, how will they do that?
How do they find you or how doyou find them?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
It goes both ways.
So when employers or we noticethere are skills gaps or needs
inside of our marketplace thatwe can't bring to bear, we reach
out to learning institutions.
You can also reach out to us.
You can learn more at guildcomFor employer partners.
Same thing If you're anemployer partner who's looking
at how you want to unlock talentwe think of it as latent talent
(25:02):
inside of your organization andyou want to make sure you're
investing in your employees forthe future and that you're
giving them opportunities thatthey might not have had
elsewhere, please reach out andyou can find more information on
our website and get in touchwith us that way.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Great.
Well, we'll also provide yourweb address in this episode,
down at the bottom in thecomment section.
Listen, I know you've got a lotgoing on, so I really do
appreciate you taking the timeto come on, talk to us about GIL
, talk to us about its evolution, where you're headed and how
you're thinking about leadingthe company into the future.
(25:37):
So, bijal, thank you for beingon the RAND podcast and
appreciate your leadership inthe marketplace.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Thank you for having me Eloy.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
All right, well, thanks for joining me everyone.
I hope you've enjoyed myconversation with Bijal Shah,
ceo of Guild.
Her and her team are leadingupskilling, the upskilling of
thousands of employees acrossAmerica, partnering with some of
the largest employers inAmerica.
Thanks everyone for joining mehere on the Rant Podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,please hit the like button,
(26:08):
continue to follow us on yourfavorite podcast platform and
hit subscribe on this YouTubechannel.
We'll be back with you shortlywith another great episode.
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