Lumen Technologies prides itself on its mission to ‘unleash the world’s digital potential’. As an organization of 19,000 employees, delivering on this promise requires a workforce that’s as cutting edge as its products. To retain and attract top talent, Lumen offers a wide array of valuable benefits to cater to the needs of employees and maintain its status as an employer of choice.

For Charles Ho, Lead Benefits Analyst at Lumen, supporting employees requires a holistic approach. “We really want to care for our Lumens employees, 360 degrees, from the day they enter the workforce to the day they exit the workforce with benefit programs across the board and at each life stage cycle for whatever they may need,” he says. Having an expansive Total Rewards package that addresses needs at all chapters, Lumen has made it possible for its entire workforce to build their careers and families simultaneously.

A Full-Service Partner

Choosing best-in-class partners has been mission critical for Lumen, which is why the organization began partnering with Bright Horizons in 2015 and expanded their offering to include multiple Bright Horizons programs from a brand employees trust.

“We found tremendous value and economies of scale in having different programs all under the same umbrella, because there's brand recognition with Bright Horizons,” Ho explains. “When I talk about life stages of an employee, perhaps they’re going to use EdAssist to get their degree. A couple years down the road, they’re going to need Backup Care. Maybe several years later, they may need College Coach for that kid. There’s brand recognition with Bright Horizons.”

Being able to offer both family care and educational assistance programs through one vendor has been a gamechanger for Lumen. The goal is for our employees to look at our offerings and say, ‘There’s something here for me.’ We feel confident that we’ve achieved that goal,” explains Ho. 

Gaining an Edge with Education

Since 2015, Lumen has used EdAssist by Bright Horizons to facilitate tuition reimbursement and direct billing for targeted schools. A recently introduced non-degree program allows employees to obtain valuable professional certifications, as part of the organization’s broader initiative to attract, retain, and upskill employees.“We want to showcase our dedication to always improving, honing, and sharpening employees’ skills. Nothing says that more than offering a robust education assistance program” says Ho.

Lumen chose to start offering non-degree certifications under their education assistance program to showcase to employees how easy it is to continue their education and sometimes at no upfront cost to them, according to Ho.

“We want to make it simple for our employees to go through the process of improving their skills and we love when employees discover certifications they didn't know we cover. It’s important for our employees to know that we value their skill sets and we value continuing education.”

One of the main philosophies behind Lumen’s education assistance program is offering employees autonomy in determining their professional growth path. “There’s something to be said about the time and the commitment involved in going to a four-year university and getting a four-year degree. It’s increasingly difficult and more expensive. We read in the news about the question – ‘is it worth it anymore?’ That’s not really for us to decide, but we want our employees to have that option to let them decide for themselves,” says Ho.

To further enhance Lumen’s education assistance benefits, the organization began offering Career Pathways by Bright Horizons, which allows employees to see what’s professionally possible and visualize their long-term potential at Lumen.

“A grand plan is important for everyone, and whatever goals that they set for themselves – whether that's a financial goal, a fitness goal, or an education goal – knowing where you're going requires a road map,” Ho explains. With this approach, Ho believes that you can help keep people engaged on that path all the way to the top.

To help employees envision a future with Lumen, the organization now offers eight curated career pathways, which define the competencies needed to advance into their next roles. These pathways promote upskilling and reskilling in business-critical areas such as data and business analytics, software engineering, and project management and scrum master. By linking their pathways to the right education partner, Lumen is building a talent pipeline to address their in-demand jobs today and in the future.

Lumen doesn’t want to just help people figure out their professional path alone, they want to ensure employees do so efficiently, which is why the organization also offers one-on-one career coaching as a core element of their education assistance programming.

“One-on-one coaching is critical for getting a true understanding of what is entailed with utilizing the education assistance programs. We want to cut the time out that's involved with all the research. If an employee can pick up the phone, talk to an expert, and get the answers directly and quickly, that saves not only time, but stress,” Ho explains. “Often times, employees don't even know what questions to ask, so a one-on-one coach can help facilitate that conversation.”

The program has been extremely well-received with a 63% increase in utilization of coaching in 2023 and an impressive 89% retention rate for employees in the program.When asked about the recent program rollout that included non-degree certification programs and career pathways, Ho’s only regret is that he “wishes we did it sooner.”

Paying the Way

With Lumen’s commitment to workforce development and a holistic approach to employee benefits, it only made sense to expand their education assistance program to also include certifications, which has proven highly effective in driving program utilization.

Lumen decided to move their certification reimbursement program costs under their human resources benefits budget instead of the individual business units who historically had covered those expenses. “Prior to that, it was up to managers to decide if it was worth it for an employee to get a particular degree [or certification]. Now, that cost barrier has been removed from that organizational structure,” Ho explains. The move has proven successful. Ho shares that freeing up the funds has improved the engagement with certifications. The decision has also shifted the conversation from ‘does your business unit have enough money left over at the end of year to support you?’ to ‘we support you and your decision’. “I think that’s an important distinction”, Ho states.

A Positive Experience

The foundation to any successful partnership is ample support and guidance – for both benefits administrators and employees alike. Ho shares his positive experience working with Bright Horizons stating, “I'm honestly so thankful for the support that the Bright Horizon teams provides myself and our employees.”

Ho explains that he enjoyed getting first-hand experience with the EdAssist platform, stating that “Going through the certification and implementation, I got to see the inner workings of how the platform works, how the system is coded, and all the decision points along the way. I was super impressed with the implementation team, and like I said, I got just a kick out of pulling back the curtain and seeing how all that magic behind the scenes works.”

Lumen employees also had positive words to share about their experience with EdAssist, with one employee calling it a “once in a lifetime opportunity” and another sharing that “Without the education assistance program, I would not have been able to afford to seek out my MBA. For a single mom, this is very important.”

Mario, a Lumen employee using EdAssist to pursue his bachelor’s degree, had much praise for the program stating:

“Today's world requires more than work experience if you are looking to achieve your goals personally and professionally. It comes down to where you want to be and what steps you are willing to take to get there. This program allows you to have balance, to not be overwhelmed. I would encourage anyone that is willing and looking for change to take advantage. The process was stress-free and the transition was very smooth. I would like to thank everyone to contributed.”

Testimonials like these showcase the powerful impact that education assistance programs can have for both employers and employees alike. Bright Horizons is proud to partner with Lumen to help their organization build a workforce of the future with benefits that empower employees to reach their career aspirations.