Area: Building the future of work

Cisco | Skills-to-jobs at scale

Cisco | Skills-to-jobs at scale

How Cisco Networking Academy is transforming the lives of learners

The idea for Cisco Networking Academy was born in 1997. Cisco employees returned to an under-resourced school where they had donated state-of-the-art networking equipment. They were excited to see how students and educators were being empowered by the technology. Instead, they found the equipment sitting unused. The lesson learned that day was that technology alone is not enough; without the knowledge and skills to use it, even the best equipment’s potential will go untapped. 

Cisco recognized that for networking technology to truly expand and thrive, there needed to be a workforce capable of installing, configuring, and maintaining those networks. There was a critical skills gap: educators and students lacked the training to leverage the new technology, and there was no established pathway to build that expertise at scale.

Beyond just technical skills, Cisco also saw an opportunity to transform lives by providing inclusive access to technology education. Cisco sought to use its own technology and vast networking expertise to create clear pathways for both new learners and those reskilling or upskilling, ensuring they become prepared for the jobs of today and tomorrow. Thus, Networking Academy was launched.

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Chobani | Impact through product innovation

Chobani | Impact through product innovation

CASE STUDY
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How Chobani’s Super Milk is redefining disaster relief and food security

Chobani’s idea for Super Milk came out of two urgent challenges: the growing number of climate-related disasters and a steep rise in food insecurity across the U.S. Today, billion-dollar disasters are hitting every couple of weeks, displacing families and driving up demand for shelf-stable, nutrient-dense food. At the same time, in 2023 food insecurity affected approximately 20% of households, putting even more strain on food banks. While milk is one of the most requested items, it’s also one of the hardest to get out quickly—it needs refrigeration and doesn’t last long, often arriving just before it expires.

To overcome these challenges, Chobani marshaled its in-house expertise in dairy innovation, supply chain management, and community impact to create a shelf-stable, nutrient-dense milk specifically designed for disaster relief and hunger alleviation. Produced at Chobani’s Idaho plant, Chobani Super Milk is made with a blend of real milk and ultrafiltered milk to achieve an excellent source of high-quality protein, with less sugar than traditional milk. An enzyme naturally converts sugars into galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), a high-quality prebiotic fiber, that contributes to gut health and digestion. Chobani Super Milk is aseptically processed, which allows for a 9-month shelf life without refrigeration and without any added preservatives, resulting in a product that is accessible, nutritious, and highly transportable to the communities who need it most.

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LinkedIn | Bridging skills & network gaps

LinkedIn | Bridging skills & network gaps

How LinkedIn is using its data and platform to help professionals overcome barriers to employment

The world of work is rapidly evolving. According to LinkedIn’s data, 70% of the skills needed for most jobs will have changed by the year 2030, creating an urgent and widening skills gap in today’s workforce. As swift technological advancements continue to reshape entire industries, this transformed landscape will be felt most acutely by those from underserved communities or backgrounds who already face barriers to professional development or upskilling opportunities.

In furtherance of the company’s mission to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce, LinkedIn’s social impact team works with professionals overcoming barriers to provide them with yearlong gratis memberships to  LinkedIn Premium, which includes access to LinkedIn Learning’s catalog of nearly 25,000 courses. By focusing on getting LinkedIn Learning into the hands of the communities who most lack access to upskilling opportunities, LinkedIn hopes to close the skills gap and provide professionals with the tools and training they need to level the playing field.

 

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Getting Started with Gen AI

Getting Started with Gen AI

Generative AI is rapidly reshaping how work gets done, including social impact functions. Getting Started with Gen AI is a practical guide designed for purpose-driven professionals who want to harness AI’s potential without getting overwhelmed.

Inside, you’ll find suggested use cases, sample prompts, real-world examples, and other actionable guidance to help you boost efficiency, create capacity, improve communication, and more. Whether you’re synthesizing information for decision makers, summarizing grantee or partner reports, or tailoring messages for key audiences, this guide offers a grounded, accessible path to building confidence and capacity with AI in your day-to-day work.

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Making corporate DEIB more durable

Making corporate DEIB more durable

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING
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Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) professionals are facing heightened political and legal opposition to their day-to-day work. At times, it’s challenging to truly know if and how companies, and DEIB leaders themselves, are shifting their commitments or approaches. 

The reality is that some businesses are pausing or re-evaluating their DEIB strategies. A number of companies are reducing investments in DEIB or choosing to proceed more quietly. But the pendulum is swinging in both directions. There is evidence that the material work of DEIB has endured and will continue to endure. 

Based on interviews with chief diversity officers and other DEIB executives, this report is intended to support leaders and organizations in confidently charting a path forward at a moment of heightened scrutiny.

The resource teaches the four components of a resilient approach to corporate DEIB and includes tactical guidance, real-world examples, and implementation tools.

The four components:

  • Leverage data as the backbone of your commitment
  • Cultivate and activate accountable champions at all levels of the organization
  • Center transparency, honor progress, and strive for continuous improvement
  • Get intentional about future-proofing DEIB
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Investing in employee well-being: innovative policies and benefits

Investing in employee well-being: innovative policies and benefits

CURATED COLLECTION
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The COVID-19 pandemic served as catalyst for employers to invest more deeply and creatively in employee wellbeing, driven by fundamental changes to workplaces (e.g. remote work), implications for healthcare, family and childcare support, financial outlook, and more. Simultaneously, increased focus on racial justice and equity has heightened private sector commitments to inclusive workplace policies for marginalized communities. More recently, policy changes in the U.S. –  including the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the “childcare cliff” – have escalated the need for employers to increase benefits that supplement lack of government supports. 

Employees and companies alike are placing workplace wellbeing higher on their priority lists. 91% of employees find that their job plays a role in determining their wellbeing, and 57% report seriously considering quitting for a more supportive workplace. 76% of U.S. executives feel that expectations about workforce wellbeing are higher than in previous years, and 87% say that workforce wellbeing gives their company a competitive advantage. In addition to productivity and retention advantages, companies with higher employee wellbeing scores fare better financially, showing a superior return on assets, higher profits, and higher valuations.

When balanced with other core aspects of employee experience (including leadership behaviors and job design), inclusive employee policies and benefits can play a significant role in supporting holistic wellbeing. This Curated Collection provides the business rationale for and innovative examples of private sector wellbeing policies and benefits across five key areas: reproductive health, family care, paid leave, financial wellbeing, and mental health.

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Employee Impact

Skilling the future workforce: 8 recs for corporate leaders

Skilling the future workforce: 8 recs for corporate leaders

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING
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Private sector engagement with skills-based hiring is increasing in response to employment gaps and escalating economic precarity. Between 2017 and 2019, 46% of middle-skill and 31% of high-skill occupations experienced material degree resets. And in 2022, 79% of HR professionals reported that scores on skills assessments are just as or more important than traditional criteria in hiring decisions.

These are positive trends from an economic and a social perspective. Skills-based hiring is critical to increasing equity and diversity in the workplace, as traditional credential-based hiring tends to screen out, disqualify, or exclude applicants without a four year degree.

While increased commitment to skills-based hiring is an important step toward a more prepared and more inclusive workforce, many companies are learning that in-demand skills do not exist in adequate supply. Some of those businesses are taking it upon themselves to develop the skill-based talent pipeline that will be necessary to power their organizations, industries, and broader market into the future.

To better understand how companies are investing in the skills-based training ecosystem, before hiring even comes into frame, we dug deep with nine organizations on the cutting edge of workforce development.

Through our conversations with leaders and practitioners, we uncovered a depth of contributions to changing and scaling the learning systems that are preparing workers for quality jobs. Our report compiles eight recommendations to provide guidance for private sector employers who are committed to skilling the future workforce and ultimately contributing meaningfully to a more just and equitable workplace. 

The eight recommendations:

 

  • Decide if you aim to be influential at a systems, sector, or company level
  • Position your strategy correctly within your company’s infrastructure
  • Lean into (and use) your company’s strengths
  • Build a well-balanced partner portfolio
  • Design for replicability and scalability
  • Mind the non-skills gap between learner and earner
  • Engage in pre-competitive transparency and collaboration
  • Bring rigor and patience to impact measurement
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Datasets for economic mobility

Datasets for economic mobility

CURATED COLLECTION
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Wealth inequality and income inequality in the United States are significantly higher than in other OECD countries. And economic mobility is rigid. The likelihood of an individual moving from low wealth status to high wealth status over the course of their lifetime is low. Income disparity and wealth inequality are rooted in an array of social and economic factors, including race and geography. These factors create what is known as the economic opportunity gap.

This Curated Collection provides social impact leaders in the public and private sectors with a roundup of data-driven tools to strengthen their decision-making processes in addressing the economic opportunity gap. The resources provide specific consideration for indicators of racial equity and social justice and factors that promote mobility for disadvantaged groups across neighborhoods, communities, and states.

Resources include (but are not limited to) the following: 

  • Tools that allow companies to benchmark themselves against others on strategy and progress; 
  • Datasets that support deciding which communities would benefit most from company investments to increase equity;
  • Resources that encourage companies to prioritize racial and social factors that affect indicators of wealth (e.g., access to education and employment, and asset ownership).
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How employees value social impact

How employees value social impact

NATIONSWELL PRIMER
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Business performance and brand value are increasingly understood as connected to an organization’s social purpose and impact. In fact, 89% of business leaders believe companies that lead with purpose have a competitive advantage in today’s marketplace, and 85% agree being a purpose-driven company drives profit (Porter Novelli, 2020). One of the groups at the root of this advantage are employees, who exert significant influence over a company’s success. In an environment where leaders overestimate customer trust by 38% and employee trust by 45% (Deloitte, 2021), it’s important to understand how these stakeholders factor social impact into their decisions about which corporations to buy from and work for.

This one-page primer compiles illustrative data about the ways employees are driving up the value of corporate social impact. Download to learn more.

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The state of play: DEIB

The state of play: DEIB

Organizations have taken a larger interest in the practice of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging since COVID-19, the murder of George Floyd, and other pivotal events brought long-entrenched societal inequities into the spotlight. While their arc of progress is uneven, the simple fact remains: injustice occurs as prominently in workplaces as anywhere else, affording companies the opportunity – perhaps the responsibility – to model solutions that could ultimately yield a wider societal benefit. This trend report describes five key trends for DEIB in 2022:

The trends: 

  • With high expectations from current and prospective employees, companies are revamping recruitment to meet diversity goals; they are struggling to employ complete strategies.
  • To advance equity and inclusion, companies are leaning into stronger benefits, policy updates, and employee resource groups; data on efficacy is scarce, but makes clear that the work is just beginning.
  • Employee perspectives on DEIB effectiveness vary in ways that are unsurprising; company leadership has a responsibility for more open and reciprocal communications to better respond to these differences.
  • Reporting and disclosures around DEIB are improving, but the data is inconsistent and incomplete.
  • DEIB executives are turning over at an increasingly high rate; lack of resourcing, insufficient company-wide engagement, and burnout are major contributors.
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