Multiple Pathways Initiative – MPI (Business Roundtable)

The Multiple Pathways Initiative (MPI) launched in December 2020 by the Business Roundtable to provide resources to help employers reform hiring and advancement practices to emphasize the value of skills, rather than just degrees. The resources include company best practices, success stories, and a “how-to” guide.

The impetus for MPI is recognition that skills-based talent strategies are key to expanding jobs and economic opportunity to more Americans, including by increasing diversity and equity in employment. As companies open new skills-based pathways to employment and advancement, the talent pool is expected to be larger and more diverse.

Since launch, chief human resource officers of nearly 80 Business Roundtable companies have been working with experts to:

• Reform their talent management strategies to better recognize and evaluate skills of all job seekers.
• Identify upward career paths that employees can navigate by acquiring new and/or different skills.
• Developing and updating training programs to help employees gain the skills they need to advance.
• Catalogue best practices and develop resources for companies focused on core components of skills-based talent strategies (innovation, internal mobility, metrics, and talent acquisition)

Business Roundtable partners with Jobs for the Future (JFF) to lead the development of resources across four Working Groups:

• Innovation
• Internal Mobility
• Metrics
• Talent Acquisition

Other experts consulted include Opportunity@Work on innovation, FSG on internal mobility, Grads of Life on metrics, and Education Design Lab on talent acquisition.

In fall 2022, the Business Roundtable released the following tools to expand its assistance to more large employers to implement skills-based talent management strategies:

• Skills-based success stories from over 50 companies
• Guides on innovation, internal mobility and metrics
• Innovative Skills-Based Talent Practices
• Skills-Based Internal Mobility Playbook & Executive Summary
• Measuring the Impact of Skills-Based Talent Practices
• A Guide to Improving Recruitment, Retention, Advancement and Equity developed by Business Roundtable, The Burning Glass Institute, and Lightcast

Partners:

• Jobs for the Future; Opportunity@Work; FSG; Grads of Life; Education Design Lab; The Burning Glass Institute; Lightcast
• Participating companies include: Abbott, Accenture, ADP, The AES Corporation, Aflac Incorporated, Alliant Energy Corporation, Altec, Inc., American Express Company, American Tower Corporation, Aon, Assurant, Inc., AT&T Inc., Bank of America Corporation, Baxter International Inc., Bechtel Group, Inc., Best Buy Co. Inc., BorgWarner, CF Industries, Chevron Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., Cummins Inc., Cushman & Wakefield, CVS Health, Dell Technologies, Delta Air Lines, Dow, Duke Energy Corporation, DXC Technology, Eastman, Edison International, EY, FedEx Corporation, Flex, Fiserv, Flex, Gap Inc., General Dynamics Corporation, General Motors Company, Hearst, Humana, IBM Corporation, Interpublic Group, JPMorgan Chase, KeyCorp, Land O’Lakes, Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation, Mastercard, Mattel, McKinsey & Company, Medtronic, Inc., MetLife, Inc., Moody’s, Northrop Grumman Corporation, PepsiCo, Pfizer Inc., Pitney Bowes Inc., Principal, Progressive Insurance, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, SAP, SAS, Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc., State Farm, Steelcase Inc., Synchrony, Target Corporation, Tractor Supply Co., United Airlines, Verisk Analytics, Verizon Communications, Visa, Inc., Vistra Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., Walmart, Wells Fargo & Company, Western Union, Workday, World Wide Technology, Inc., Xylem Inc., Zebra Technologies and Zoetis. For more information, visit.

Link to Resources:

• https://www.businessroundtable.org
• www.brt.org/workforceskills