Workshop by Dr. Kent Blumberg highlights how the University worked with employer ManpowerGroup to build skills pathways for employees

University of Phoenix announces that Kent Blumberg, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, national account manager, Workforce Solutions, and senior faculty in the College of Business and Information Technology, led a workshop exploring findings of the University’s Career Institute® Career Optimism Index® study and implications for employers at the 2024 CAEL (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) Annual Conference on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, in New Orleans, LA.

“We know that employers are challenged to find talent with the needed skills, employees want to gain those skills, and educators can be part of the solution to that gap,” stated Blumberg. “This workshop was designed to help participants think through how to start employer-educator collaborations of their own.”

The 2024 Career Optimism Index® found that workers and employers are facing a critical moment of talent stagnation with nearly two-thirds of workers, 64%, saying their company does not offer opportunities for internal mobility. Meanwhile, 44% of employers say their top challenge to finding talent in the past year is a lack of well-qualified applicants.

In the workshop, titled, “The great talent stagnation: how to stop overlooking potential in the workforce you already have,” Blumberg provided an overview of the findings of the 2024 Career Optimism Index® study, how employers might be overlooking workforce potential, and explored the workings of effective collaborations between higher education institutions and employers, using a case study of University of Phoenix working with ManpowerGroup (Manpower).

Earlier this year, University of Phoenix and Manpower, the employment agency dedicated to enriching people's lives with meaningful employment and development opportunities for more than 60 years, issued a case study highlighting their academic alliance as a successful collaboration on an employee upskilling program. The case study provides a closer look at University of Phoenix alliance with Manpower on the shared efforts to support more than 2,500 Manpower Associates in gaining new skills and expanding career opportunities, with participants able to pursue a degree in business, health care, technology, criminal justice, human services, communications or sciences.

​“We worked closely with the University of Phoenix to build talent development solutions that successfully enable our Associates to acquire new skills in various pathways,” said Nimo Shah, Director of MyPath at ManpowerGroup. “These pathways are a part of our MyPath program and focus on connecting our Associates to meaningful career opportunities.”

The alliance was recognized with the 2023 Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Learning in Practice Award in the category, Excellence in Academic Partnerships. The CLO Learning in Practice Awards honor learning and development leaders for their work in designing and delivering exemplary employee development programs.

University of Phoenix's commitment to career-minded learning is evident through its innovative skills-tagged curriculum and digital badging model to meet working adult learners’ need to demonstrate skills attainment for workplace relevancy. The University has issued over 600,000 badges since September 2021, for skills obtained in undergraduate, graduate, and professional development courses. Currently, 100% of the University’s associate, bachelor’s and master’s programs open for new enrollment are now fully skills mapped.

Blumberg has been a faculty member with the University since 2008, and currently teaches management and human resources courses in the Master of Business Administration program. He has held roles in academic leadership, campus leadership, and account management at the University, and previously spent 30 years leading pulp and paper manufacturing operations in the U.S., New Zealand and Thailand. He is trained and certified as an executive coach and built a consultancy in organizational development and executive coaching. He serves on the University of Phoenix President’s Council on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, and leads the Community Engagement and Partnerships working group. Blumberg earned his doctorate in Leadership Development and Workforce Education from Louisiana State University. He earned a Master of Science in Management from Marylhurst University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. Blumberg holds Senior Certified Professional certification from the Society of Human Resource Management, along with the SHRM Inclusive Workplace Culture specialty credential. He earned a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace certificate from University of South Florida.

The CAEL conference celebrates 50 years at this year’s event, offering a space where leaders connect and network with industry experts from postsecondary education, workforce and economic development, and industry. Attendees can learn from educators, employers, and community leaders focused on aligning learning and work for adults to achieve continuous economic advancement.

Read the Manpower and University of Phoenix case study here.

About University of Phoenix

University of Phoenix innovates to help working adults enhance their careers and develop skills in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, skills-mapped curriculum for our bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and a Career Services for Life® commitment help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit phoenix.edu.

About University of Phoenix Workforce Solutions

University of Phoenix Workforce Solutions helps organizations address critical skills gaps, engage workforces, and support talent agility. Workforce Solutions provides adaptable skills solutions, including shared education savings, to enable continuous skill building and a Professional Development Skills Center to help motivate and engage employees. Backed by decades of experience in online adult learning, Workforce Solutions leverages adaptable skills solutions to help unleash the full skills potential of an organization to meet the demands of the changing workplace. This includes support and services to build a skills-centric foundation and support employee success. Learn more at phoenix.edu/workforce-solutions.

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