At the end of the period discussed, according to Lumina calculations, educational reimbursement programs earned back almost a third more than the original cost for an ROI of 129 percent.

The think tank's investigation, in their own words, “demonstrated that ERP is a valuable business investment – all three factors – promotions, transfer, and turnover – resulted in positive benefits, which translates into quantifiable cost avoidance for Cigna.”

Eventual survey data indicated a few troubling conclusions from the evident miscommunication between corporate proponents of higher education and the workers themselves. Despite the concerted beliefs of Cigna employees outside the ERP program, the students felt that their efforts were disregarded by management and unlikely to open future opportunities within the company.

The wage gains shown through Lumina's exhaustive research, though, should quickly erase any qualms about ERPs usefulness for ambitious members of the workforce as well as the outsized rewards enjoyed by their employer. Even beyond the obvious advantages any business should accrue by accentuating the base of knowledge and skill sets of their team, the reputation of the firm as a whole will also reap the benefits of facilitating upward mobility.

Indeed, few strategies combine corporate self-interest with societal welfare. These forward-thinking companies, as Lumina Foundation head Jamie Merisotis noted, “help themselves as a business by educating some portion of their own future leadership ranks. And they help the communities where they operate.”