Turning Education Benefits into Workforce Strategy

About Grainger

Grainger is a Fortune 500 industrial supply company and leading distributor of Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) products and services. Operating across North America, Japan and the UK, it offers more than 30 million products to over 4.5 million customers worldwide. With 26,000 team members and $17.2B in annual sales, Grainger fulfills its mission—We Keep The World Working®—by helping businesses operate efficiently.

The Business Challenge

Like many large employers, Grainger was facing increasing pressure to:

• Build leadership pipelines faster
• Retain frontline and high-potential talent
• Upskill employees without pulling them off the job
• Provide education that works across shifts and time zones

However, traditional education programs often move too slowly and require rigid schedules that force employees to step away from the job to complete coursework. Grainger needed a model that matched how its workforce operates—fast-moving, spread across locations and time zones, and responsible for keeping operations running.

The Strategy

In 2022, Grainger partnered with Western Governors University (WGU), a nonprofit, accredited online university offering degree programs across business, technology, health, and education.

The goal was to move beyond tuition assistance as a benefit and activate education as a strategic workforce lever.

What made WGU stand out was its competency-based model. Says Catie Blackburn, Talent Consultant at Grainger, “Employees advance by demonstrating mastery instead of sitting in class. That creates a faster path to skills and clearer ROI for the business.”

Equally critical was flexibility. “We have third shift employees and teams across time zones. Flexibility isn’t optional; it’s essential.” Through the partnership, employees progress at their own pace, accelerate through familiar material, and immediately apply learning on the job.

Workforce Impact

Accelerating Leadership Readiness

District Sales Manager Victor Licea completed his bachelor’s degree with WGU in just six months. Already experienced in sales and leadership, he focused on advanced management, analytics and strategy skills, applying them immediately in his role. “I could go faster when I needed more time, and still deliver for my team at Grainger,” he says. Currently, Victor is pursuing his MBA with WGU.

Victor’s experience demonstrates the impact of flexible, competency-based learning. For Grainger, that translates into faster leadership development without slowing operations or pulling talent off the job.

Elevating Frontline Leadership

Ashley Davis, a Customer Service Experience Supervisor, completed her BS in Business Management degree while leading a contact center team. “The courses on management and organizational behavior gave me tools I use every day,” she says. When speaking with team members and candidates, Ashley highlights how Grainger invests in its employees, reinforcing both retention and recruiting efforts.

That commitment to development makes advancement tangible, strengthening retention and supporting internal mobility.

Embedding Growth into the Organization

Heather Fowler, an Enterprise Learning & Development Consultant, enrolled in WGU’s BS in Management program to deepen her leadership expertise and bring a fresh perspective to her role. She translated that learning into stronger training programs, demonstrating the value of investing in internal talent. “This adds credibility when I talk with leaders about supporting their teams’ growth.”

After completing her degree, Heather continued building her leadership impact by enrolling in WGU’s MBA program.