LifeGuides Receives Strategic Investment from SHRM for Manager Training Program

LifeGuides, the leading provider of Professional Mentoring for managers and leaders, has announced a strategic investment from SHRM, the world's largest HR professional society. This investment marks the next chapter in a five-year relationship that began when SHRM first became a LifeGuides client for its 500 employees. In 2025, SHRM launched a strategic partnership to embed LifeGuides as a key component of its manager training program, resulting in the People Manager Qualification + Professional Mentoring by LifeGuides (PMQ+).

PMQ+ is a joint learning and development offering that pairs Professional Mentors with award-winning, skill-building, and edutainment content. The program has shown a documented 4x to 11x return on investment (ROI) per cohort, validated against SHRM and Wharton School benchmarks. This ROI is significant, as it reflects the tangible impact of the program on both individuals and organizations.

LifeGuides CEO Derek Lundsten noted, "The results we are seeing from our Professional Mentoring services, partnered with SHRM, are proof of a bigger shift in talent management. Organizations are done treating manager development as a box to check. They are realizing their frontline managers are the single biggest lever for breakthrough business outcomes, and that skills alone do not change behaviors. Proactive, ongoing mentoring does."

The investment from SHRM is part of a broader strategy to address the "manager effectiveness gap," which has cost U.S. employers $223 billion in turnover over the past five years. Replacing a manager can cost 50% to 200% of their salary, including additional training, onboarding, and lost productivity. SHRM's own research shows that one in three workers say their manager cannot effectively lead a team, and 60% of new managers fail within their first 24 months. This contributes to the significant financial loss for employers.

SHRM's Chief Human Resources Officer, Jim Link, commented, "We at SHRM have seen firsthand what LifeGuides means for our own employees and their families. It's become one of our most-used employee benefits, just behind traditional healthcare, because it meets people where they are, in the middle of real life. When something works this well for our own team, investing in LifeGuides is more than strategic, it's good business."

LifeGuides has seen its revenue grow by more than 100% per year over the past few years, a testament to the value it creates. The company is expanding its Professional Mentoring into new industries and manager populations, with a focus on hiring managers from the same industry as the clients served. This approach aims to magnify the value of relatability and experience.

SHRM's investment reflects its conviction that the workplace of the future needs to sustain a deeply human component alongside the technology reshaping it. SHRM's President and CEO, Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., stated, "Our PMQ+ offering has shown us the direct value of pairing skill-building with fully human Professional Mentors, not just a bot or AI. This model supports people managers, not just with the training, but with the mentorship and support to put ideas into practice."

LifeGuides offers its services to organizations as part of a benefits package or as an enterprise's learning and development program. The company's services are used by a breadth of Fortune 2000 enterprises, with an impeccable client retention rate.

LifeGuides is expanding its Professional Mentoring to serve the masses, with a focus on hiring managers from the same industry as the clients served. The company is building toward a future where every people manager, not just the lucky ones in a forward-thinking organization, has a talented mentor in their corner. Professional Mentoring is no longer a nice-to-have layered on top of training; it's becoming the infrastructure organizations build their people strategy on.