SHRM Highlights Its Strategic Investment in LifeGuides to Expand Professional Mentoring

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — SHRM is highlighting its strategic investment in LifeGuides, announced Sept. 18, 2026, as part of a five-year relationship between the organizations. The investment supports LifeGuides plans to expand its Professional Mentoring services and builds on the organizations’ joint manager development offering, SHRM’s People Manager Qualification + Professional Mentoring by LifeGuides (PMQ+). 

PMQ+ pairs SHRM’s People Manager Qualification training with 12 months of on-demand access to a LifeGuides Professional Mentor. The program is designed to help early career and front-line managers apply and reinforce their learning as they navigate the challenges of leading people. 

The investment comes as organizations seek new ways to support managers. SHRM’s 2024 report, Effective People Managers: The Linchpin of Organizational Success, found that 36% of U.S. workers rated their manager as average or ineffective, including 8% who rated their manager ineffective. LifeGuides reports that PMQ+ delivers a documented 4x return on investment per cohort, with full-model estimates as high as 11x. Ninety-five percent of program graduates say they are more likely to stay with their organization. 

“People managers shape the day-to-day experience of work, and they need support as they put leadership skills into practice," said Jim Link, SHRM's chief human resources officer. "PMQ+ brings together SHRM’s practical manager development with LifeGuides one-on-one mentoring to help managers navigate real workplace challenges. Our investment reflects the value we see in this approach and our shared commitment to helping more managers succeed.” 

SHRM’s relationship with LifeGuides began when SHRM became a LifeGuides client for its employees. In 2025, the organizations launched a strategic partnership integrating LifeGuides Professional Mentoring with SHRM’s People Manager Qualification. That offering has since become PMQ+. 

The investment will support LifeGuides plans to expand its Professional Mentoring services into new industries and manager populations. PMQ+ connects SHRM’s manager training with ongoing, one-on-one mentoring to help participants put their learning into practice as they encounter real workplace situations. 

“LifeGuides was built on a simple belief: no one should have to navigate life alone. Yet one of the most defining moments in a career, becoming a manager, is one most people face with almost no support," said Derek Lundsten, CEO of LifeGuides. "Sixty percent of new managers fail within their first two years, and most never receive real support. PMQ+ changes that. Ninety-five percent of our graduates say they’re more likely to stay with their organization, and the program returns up to 11x its cost per cohort. SHRM’s investment lets us expand that human connection to far more of the people leading our workforce." 

About LifeGuides 

LifeGuides® is the category-defining provider of Professional Mentoring for early-career managers and people leaders. As part of LifeGuides professional mentoring services, the company is defining the category for Non-Clinical Mental Health ("NCMH") for its healthcare and employee benefits partners. LifeGuides is taking peer support to new heights of professionalism—as it addresses strategic opportunities across the spectrum of human capital management by connecting members with certified Mentors and Guides, who have navigated the same or similar career and life events as the member is navigating today. Satisfied clients include a breadth of Fortune 2000 enterprises. Discover LifeGuides at www.lifeguides.com.

About SHRM 

SHRM is a member-driven catalyst for creating better workplaces where people and businesses thrive together. As the trusted authority on all things work, SHRM is the foremost expert, researcher, advocate and thought leader on issues and innovations impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With nearly 340,000 members in 174 countries, SHRM touches the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally. Learn more at SHRM.org.