Company's retention needs lead to enrollment boost

Abstract

CHICAGO — A few years ago, supervisors at FedEx realized they had a retention problem. For employees who worked at the company, turnover was about 92%. For the Memphis warehouse, which employed about 12,000 people, that meant replacing approximately 10,000 employees annually. “It cost them about $3,500 to train a new employee,” said Courtney Brafford, Coordinator of Student Success Initiatives and Retention Specialist at the University of Memphis. As an initiative to retain employees and build lasting skills, FedEx partnered with UM to develop online pathways to degrees available to employees with no upfront tuition cost.