HRTech Interview with Nisha Smales, Vice President of Workforce Solutions and Corporate Strategy at Instride

Nisha, we’re delighted to have you on HRTech Cube! Could you please start by sharing your professional journey and how it led you to your current role as VP at InStride?
My professional journey has been fueled by a deep belief in the transformative power of education. I began my career working directly with underserved students, first as a science teacher in South Los Angeles and then as an assistant principal at a new charter school in St. Louis. I witnessed firsthand the barriers many Americans face in accessing high-quality education, as well as what’s possible when those barriers are removed. These experiences solidified my conviction that education is often the key to lifting people out of poverty.

I wanted to drive systemic change, and for that I needed to upskill. This led me to pursue an MBA at the University of Chicago, where I focused on building technical knowledge in economics and strategy. I then transitioned into strategy consulting, first at McKinsey & Company, where I helped C-Suite leaders across industries and geographies tackle their most complex challenges, and later at Bellwether, where I deepened my understanding of the U.S. education landscape.

Today, as a VP at InStride, I’m proud to be part of a movement to bring debt-free, employer-sponsored education to workers across America. Our work opens doors for individuals to earn life-changing degrees or certifications, in some cases offering them a second chance at the career they’ve always dreamed of. My team sits at the intersection of workforce and learning during a time of unprecedented technological change. It’s a dynamic and exciting space to be in, and I’m deeply motivated by the impact we can have in shaping the future of work and learning for all.

How does InStride work with organizations to align workforce education programs with broader business goals like talent development and employee retention?
At InStride, we take a consultative approach to designing workforce education programs that align closely with a company’s business goals. We start by understanding the business goals – for example, opening more locations or expanding into a new product category. Next, we work with the company to determine its talent goals: what does its workforce need to look like in order to enable or drive its business goals? Then, we want to understand where the workforce is today and what is working and not working when it comes to the company’s existing learning ecosystem. This typically involves the analysis of workforce data. With a solid understanding of what the company aims to accomplish and where its workforce is today, we then design an education program tailored to the company’s unique context.

Our solutions range from Career Education Paths (CEPs), which guide employees into high-need roles, to Skills Paths, which focus on developing “just in time” skills. For companies aiming to diversify their workforce, our InSkilling solution shifts the focus from degree-based hiring to skills-based promotion, helping tap into overlooked talent. We also collaborate on pre-hire programs, ensuring businesses have a pipeline of trained candidates for specialized roles.

When companies face unique talent challenges, we create specialized solutions, like those we’ve developed for our franchise partners These innovations are often built from the ground up to meet distinct needs.

With the right solutions in place, we track key metrics like promotion and retention rates to help organizations ensure their education initiatives align with evolving business goals and deliver long-term success.

InStride designs tailored learning paths for organizations. How do you ensure these paths meet the specific needs of the workforce and align with company objectives?
We ensure that our Career Education Paths (CEPs) and Skills Paths align with both workforce needs and strategic goals by using a data-driven approach that connects education programs to career outcomes.

In building CEPs, we partner with employers to identify high-demand roles, based on business needs, as well as potential pathways for internal mobility. This often includes a review of job descriptions and labor market data, and it sometimes includes interviews with relevant business unit leaders at the company. For example, a healthcare system might be beefing up its data security or need more mental health professionals, necessitating a CEP in Cybersecurity or Social Work, with relevant degrees, bootcamps, and professional certificates. Tying the education to the high-need role gives employees a clear, actionable pathway for career advancement. Skills Paths, on the other hand, focus on near-term needs, helping employees quickly gain competencies that can be applied immediately in their roles. For example, a Skill Path for first-time managers might include short courses on situational leadership, performance management, and employee motivation. These paths are pre-curated based on company feedback, ensuring they are both relevant and scalable without overwhelming employees with too many choices.
Ultimately, these learning paths help companies meet their business and talent goals while providing employees with clear opportunities for advancement.

How do you ensure these partnerships result in high-quality, relevant, and accessible programs for employees?
Our 2024 Workforce Education Motivations Survey found that 93% of Gen Z workers prefer education benefits from nationally recognized public universities—an important factor in what employees consider to be quality in an education program. To meet this expectation, we partner with top-tier academic institutions, offering a catalog of over 3,000 programs across various industries. This ensures our offerings not only meet high standards but also align with what employees value most in their education.
In terms of relevance, we collaborate closely with companies to curate learning options that address specific workforce challenges and talent gaps, ensuring the programs support both career growth and broader business objectives. For example, we have a Health System Catalog that includes education options for any role you’d find in a health system, HVAC technician certification to a doctorate in nursing.
And to maximize accessibility, we use a direct-bill tuition model, removing upfront costs for employees. We also provide ongoing support to these employees through Personal Education Advisors. Finally, we have a variety of on-ramps to ensure all employees have a path to a degree, if that’s their goal – from high school diploma to “earned admission” programs.

What key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics do you consider essential in measuring the success of education programs, both in terms of business impact and employee satisfaction?
InStride measures success through a mix of business-focused and employee-focused KPIs, providing a holistic view of a program’s impact. On the business side, we align the KPIs to the company’s business goals, which often involves looking at promotion rates, internal mobility, and retention rates among program participants compared to non-participants. Several of our partners have diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) goals, in which case we closely track participation, retention, and internal mobility for under-represented minorities. Finally, we track cost savings related to turnover and recruitment to ensure that the program is delivering a measurable return on investment.

On the employee side, we focus on completion rates, learner engagement and Net Promoter Scores (NPS), which help us understand how employees feel about the program and its impact on their careers. Regular check-ins with our corporate partners ensure that we’re not only meeting but exceeding expectations, and that the program evolves in step with both employee and business needs​
“The future of work is one where continuous learning plays a central role. In other words, it’s time to get serious about lifelong learning.”

What personal strategies have you found most effective in leading workforce solutions and driving strategic initiatives at InStride?
I’d highlight 3 strategies I try to apply regularly:

• Grounding in the Problem We’re Solving: One of the most important strategies is to continually anchor myself and my team in the problem we’re solving for our partners. As we design workforce education solutions, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest ideas or trends, but we always come back to the company’s specific business objectives and talent goals. What does success look like for them? Whether they are aiming to improve retention, fill critical skills gaps, or diversify their workforce, keeping these goals at the forefront ensures that the solutions we create are aligned with the company’s strategic direction.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Workforce education programs are inherently complex, involving multiple goals, diverse employee profiles, and varying workplace environments. This complexity makes data an indispensable tool. Without data to guide our decisions—whether it’s understanding employee education levels, measuring engagement, or tracking program impact—we could easily lose focus. By grounding our decisions in data, we can identify what works and where we need to adjust.
• Balancing Pattern Recognition with Tailored Solutions: While we’ve gained valuable insights from working across different industries and companies, I’ve learned that pattern recognition alone is not enough. Each company has its own unique context—whether it’s their culture, workforce dynamics, or market challenges—and the solutions we design must reflect that. It’s important to draw from what we’ve learned in similar scenarios, but we don’t apply a one-size-fits-all approach.

Based on your experience, what advice would you give to business leaders looking to enhance their workforce education programs and align them with broader business objectives?
My advice would be to treat workforce education as a strategic investment, not a peripheral benefit. Start by aligning the program with the company’s most critical goals, such as closing skill gaps, developing leadership, or improving retention.

Make sure the program is accessible, whether that means removing financial barriers or providing support services. And finally, regularly track and measure the success of the program, looking at both business outcomes and employee satisfaction to ensure it evolves alongside company and workforce needs.

What are your final thoughts on the evolving role of workforce education in shaping the future of work, and how do you see InStride contributing to this transformation?
The future of work is one where continuous learning plays a central role. In other words, it’s time to get serious about lifelong learning. As industries evolve and new technologies emerge, companies with agile workforces are the ones who will be able to meet the moment.

Companies, therefore, need not only to provide education today but also to create an environment where learning is embedded in the fabric of an organization, so that employees continuously adapt and maintain relevance as the business landscape changes. By making education more accessible and aligned – with both business and employee needs – InStride is helping shape a future where learning drives both business and social impact.