The rise and fall of the fortunes of the University of Phoenix over the last half century are well documented. After stabilizing several years ago as a much smaller and more focused university, Phoenix had been pursuing a sale to a flagship public institution. But the university’s holding company went public last week.
Even in its modest current iteration, the university is probably worth watching. After pioneering how to reach working learners decades ago, Phoenix has gone all in on skills mapping and now in many ways looks like a workforce development organization.
Raghu Krishnaiah, the university’s COO, doesn’t quibble with that characterization, saying he thinks of Phoenix as being more than a teaching institution: “Our whole premise is to help individuals succeed in the workforce.”
The university’s multiyear skills-mapping effort created a foundational capability, says Krishnaiah. The learning outcomes for each course are tied to skills, proven through assessments, which are aligned to accreditation requirements and validated by industry councils.
What’s potentially novel, however, is how Phoenix has gone beyond that capacity to develop an AI-powered skills-intelligence tool to reach into the workforce. Dubbed Skillmore, the affiliated platform is for employers, who use it to evaluate job skills—to assess a worker’s capabilities on an ongoing basis.
The tool analyzes job descriptions and employee skills to identify gaps across the business. Companies use that information for internal upskilling and reskilling—with targeted learning and support. That, in turn, can drive employee productivity and reduce turnover.
It’s up to the employer to decide what sort of education and training work best to close skills gaps. That could be courses from Phoenix, which are mapped to the platform. Or it could be skills development from Udemy or LinkedIn, or even an apprenticeship program. Skillmore is agnostic on the training provider.
“We took the philosophy that this tool is going to be employer-centric, not university-centric,” Krishnaiah says.
Phoenix has partnered with Jobs for the Future to evaluate Skillmore in collaboration with employers. The goal is to analyze how this sort of skills-focused tool can improve worker development, retention, and mobility, while also addressing algorithmic transparency and data accountability.
It’s challenging work for companies to be skills-forward, particularly at scale, says Alison Lands, JFF’s VP of employer and workforce solutions. “The decision to use this technology is really the easiest part of it,” she says.
The project with Phoenix gives JFF a chance to inform HR tech by helping to shape technology that meets a workforce need. The nonprofit group will conduct a landscape scan and do benchmarking through the partnership, Lands says, with an eye toward what it takes to get large numbers of employers on the platform.
Phoenix collaborates with 2K+ employers through its workforce assessments and Skillmore, an affiliate where the for-profit is a majority owner along with a venture firm. While the tool is aimed at skills assessment and training for an incumbent workforce, Phoenix also has been testing a skills-based hiring platform with companies in industries ranging from healthcare to retail and banking.
The company takes a long-term view with its skills tools, Krishnaiah says, and will continue to invest in working with both sides of the education-to-work marketplace.
“How do you help anyone who’s trying to get into these types of jobs and to advance in these jobs?” he says. “How do you help the employers make it easier for that to happen?”