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The investment deepens a five-year relationship and comes as PMQ+ delivers a documented 4x to 11x ROI per cohort.
LifeGuides, the category-defining provider of Professional Mentoring for managers and leaders, has received a strategic investment from SHRM, the world's largest HR professional society. The investment builds on a five-year relationship that grew from client to strategic partner to investor, and lands as SHRM and LifeGuides combined L&D offering for frontline managers, SHRM's People Manager Qualification + Professional Mentoring by LifeGuides (PMQ+), delivers a documented 4x ROI per cohort, with full-model estimates as high as 11x, validated against SHRM and Wharton School benchmarks.
The investment comes at a moment when the "manager effectiveness gap" has become an expensive, well-documented problem for employers: SHRM's own research shows one in three workers say their manager can't effectively lead a team, and 60% of new managers fail within their first 24 months, contributing to $223 billion in U.S. turnover costs over the past five years. PMQ+ pairs SHRM's award-winning manager training with 12 months of unlimited, one-on-one access to a LifeGuides Professional Mentor, and 95% of graduates say they're more likely to stay with their organization as a result.
Read the full press release here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is LifeGuides? LifeGuides is the category-defining provider of Professional Mentoring for managers and leaders. As a subset of its Professional Mentoring services, LifeGuides also defines the category for Non-Clinical Mental Health (NCMH) support for its partners in healthcare and employee benefits.
What is PMQ+? PMQ+ (SHRM's People Manager Qualification + Professional Mentoring by LifeGuides) is a joint learning and development program that pairs SHRM's award-winning manager training course with 12 months of unlimited, on-demand access to a LifeGuides Professional Mentor.
What problem does PMQ+ solve? One in three workers say their manager can't effectively lead a team, and 60% of new managers fail within their first 24 months, contributing to $223 billion in turnover costs for U.S. employers over the past five years. PMQ+ is built to close that manager effectiveness gap.
What ROI does PMQ+ deliver? PMQ+ delivers a documented 4x ROI per cohort, with full-model estimates showing returns as high as 11x, validated against SHRM and Wharton School benchmarks.
How long has LifeGuides worked with SHRM? The relationship began five years ago when SHRM became a LifeGuides client for its own 500 employees. In 2025, the two organizations launched a strategic partnership around SHRM's People Manager Qualification, which evolved into PMQ+.