Building Stronger Talent Pipelines: SHRM’s E² Initiative in Action in Nebraska

Employers across the country are navigating a difficult talent environment. Skills needs are changing, workforce shortages remain persistent, and traditional pathways between education and employment do not always align with the needs of today’s workplace.

Through its Education-to-Employment Pipeline (E²) Initiative, SHRM is working to close those gaps by bringing employers, educators, policymakers, workforce leaders, and community partners together to strengthen the pathways between learning and work, with employers playing a more active role in shaping the systems that prepare, connect, and develop talent. 

That effort was recently on display in Lincoln, Neb., where SHRM Chief Administrative Officer Emily M. Dickens joined Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Nebraska Commissioner of Labor Katie Thurber, Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG), JAG Nebraska, powered by United Way of the Midlands, employers, higher education leaders, workforce partners, and students for a series of engagements focused on strengthening Nebraska’s education-to-employment pipeline.

“Too often, we treat the challenges employers and workers face as separate,” Dickens said. “They are the same challenge.”

The day began at the Nebraska State Capitol, where Pillen signed a proclamation recognizing Nebraska’s commitment to strengthening education-to-employment pathways and the importance of collaboration among employers, educators, policymakers, and workforce partners.

The proclamation also highlighted the state’s Good Life, Great Careers Initiative, which is focused on expanding apprenticeships, strengthening workforce pathways, and better connecting Nebraskans with in-demand careers. Enacted through Executive Order, the initiative aims to create 6,000 new registered apprenticeship opportunities by the end of 2030.

Later that afternoon, SHRM convened an E² roundtable featuring Commissioner Thurber and representatives from leading Nebraska employers, higher education institutions, JAG and JAG Nebraska, workforce organizations, and students. The conversation focused on a central question: How can employers become more active partners in building the talent pipelines they ultimately depend on?

From Proclamation to Workforce Action

During the proclamation signing, Governor Jim Pillen underscored both the scale of Nebraska’s workforce opportunity and the importance of preparing the next generation for meaningful careers.

“Over the last 20 years, the state has seen a 16% increase in the number of K-12 students,” Pillen said.

That growth creates both an opportunity and an obligation for employers, educators, policymakers, and workforce leaders to ensure students have clearer pathways from education into the workplace. It is also central to SHRM’s E² Initiative, which is focused on bringing those groups together to better align education, skills, and workforce demand.

Programs such as JAG Nebraska, powered by the United Way of the Midlands, provide one example of how those connections can translate into real employment outcomes. Recent high school graduate Aiden Richardson described how his participation in JAG helped connect him directly with an employer.

“My last year of high school was my first year of the JAG program,” Richardson said. “I ended up at a job shadow because of it, after which I was hired full-time by the company.”

For SHRM and the HR leaders participating in the Nebraska engagement, stories like Richardson’s demonstrate the larger opportunity: Employers can play a much more active role in shaping the talent pipelines they ultimately depend on.

That need is becoming increasingly urgent. According to SHRM’s 2026 CHRO Priorities and Perspectives report, 40% of CHROs cited talent shortages as a top macroeconomic challenge, behind wage inflation (50%) and economic uncertainty (49%).

Solving that challenge will require more than recruiting from the existing talent pool. It will require employers to become more active participants in developing the talent pipelines they ultimately depend on. 

The SHRM E² roundtable that followed the proclamation signing put that idea into practice, bringing together Nebraska employers, higher education leaders, workforce partners, policymakers, and students to explore practical ways to strengthen the state’s talent pipeline.

Employers Can’t Wait at the End of the Pipeline

One theme emerged repeatedly throughout the roundtable discussion with Commissioner Thurber: Employers cannot afford to treat workforce development as something that happens before talent reaches them.

“Employers cannot simply wait at the end of the pipeline and hope the right talent arrives,” Dickens said. “We have to help build the pipeline.”

That means engaging earlier with schools, workforce organizations, apprenticeship programs, and community partners to help students and workers understand where opportunities exist and what skills employers need.

LandMark Implement, a John Deere dealership operating across Nebraska and northern Kansas, offered one example of that approach.

Deanna Hagen, the company’s corporate recruiting and training specialist, described how LandMark works with JAG and other partners to expose students to career opportunities before graduation through job shadowing, part-time work, and summer employment.

“We created a program for students where we work with JAG and at 16 years old, students can start shadowing with us part-time, whether it’s after school or over the summer,” Hagen said. “It’s a good trial basis.”

For employers, those relationships can help create a more direct connection between education and workforce demand while introducing potential workers to careers they may not otherwise consider.

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Building Talent Means Developing the Workforce You Already Have

Participants also emphasized that stronger talent pipelines cannot focus exclusively on attracting new workers.

Once employees enter an organization, continued development becomes an equally important part of the equation.

Angela Tucci, SHRM-SCP, director of HR and compliance for Telesis Inc. and SHRM Executive Network member, described how the Lincoln-based organization develops employees across businesses spanning hospitality, brewing, manufacturing, technology, and agriculture-related operations.

“We teach our processes and the spirit of customer service,” Tucci said.

Employees who build those foundational skills can then pursue new opportunities across the organization.

“Some employees start in the restaurant and move up,” she said. “In fact, I did that myself.”

For employers facing talent shortages, that kind of internal mobility can be particularly valuable. Rather than looking exclusively outside the organization for new skills, employers can create pathways that allow existing workers to grow into new roles.

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Engagement Matters Across the Employee Lifecycle

The roundtable also highlighted the importance of maintaining strong connections with employees after they join an organization.

Parker McKenna, chief human resources officer at Mosaic and a member of the SHRM Executive Network, described the challenge of recruiting and developing a large frontline workforce.

“We are in a position where we are hiring a tremendous amount of frontline workers,” McKenna said. “But we really try to build a relationship with our workforce and give them the skills they need.”

For Mosaic, employee development is tied closely to engagement and purpose. Helping employees understand how their work contributes to the organization’s mission, while continuing to build durable skills, can support both performance and retention.

That reflects a broader lesson for HR leaders: Education-to-employment pathways do not end when someone is hired. The strongest pipelines continue throughout the employee lifecycle, creating opportunities for workers to develop, advance, and remain connected to meaningful work.

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Connecting the Workforce Ecosystem

Nebraska Commissioner of Labor Katie Thurber brought an important state workforce perspective to the discussion, particularly as Nebraska continues implementing efforts to expand apprenticeships, strengthen employer participation, and align workforce programs with high-demand occupations.

The roundtable reinforced how interconnected those efforts are. As Commissioner Thurber noted “When educators, employers and community partners collaborate, students have a much clearer path from classroom to employment.”

Employers need access to workers with the right skills. Education providers need a clearer understanding of workforce demand. Workforce organizations help connect individuals with training and opportunity. Policymakers can help create an environment where those partnerships can grow.

SHRM’s E² Initiative is designed to help bring those groups together while ensuring that the employer perspective remains central to the conversation.

“Talent exists in every community,” Dickens said. “Our job is to make sure every opportunity does too, and doing that takes all of us.”

The lesson from Nebraska was clear: Building a stronger workforce cannot be the responsibility of any one institution. It requires employers to engage earlier, invest continuously, and work alongside education, government, and workforce partners to create stronger connections between learning and work. That is the opportunity SHRM’s E² Initiative is working to advance.

Get Involved

For SHRM members, the opportunity is to help bring this work to life in their own communities. Whether that means partnering with a local school or workforce organization, creating work-based learning opportunities, engaging policymakers, or helping connect emerging talent with employers, HR professionals can play a direct role in strengthening the education-to-employment pipeline. 

Members interested in getting more involved can learn more about SHRM’s E² Initiative and opportunities to engage at shrm.org/advocacy/e2-initiative.