How Pearson is Using a GPS System for Career Progression

Pearson’s CHRO, Ali Bebo, has created a new “GPS navigation system” to give employees a clearer and more transparent roadmap for their careers.

In an interview with Raconteur, Ali reflected on the company’s “outdated” approach, which she said left employees “blind to their growth potential”. In order to mitigate the challenges this presented, she set out to rebuild the company’s performance system from the ground up.

These changes came because Pearson identified a need for clarity on how employees can move forward in the workplace in a more constructive and effective way.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos in January 2026, CEO Omar Abbosh discussed how the workplace is changing: “Traditional education that slingshots people into their careers is no longer enough," he said.

“Learning how to learn will become the focus for students, workers and employers to help people adapt and re-skill throughout their careers and their learning journey.”

Providing greater career clarity

Ali and her team designed a the GPS framework by adopting a four-phase diagnostic process. 

Its aim is to map roles clearly, define what success looks like for employees and the organisation, and set clearer expectations and goals. 

The GPS process begins by identifying which skills are most essential to a role, then tailors areas for individual growth by embedding learning opportunities directly into the daily workflow.

As an example of this approach in action, Ali references Cara, an AI agent embedded in Pearson’s Microsoft Teams. She says that the digital companion “assesses clarity, range of expression and how ideas are built.”

She says: “Employees receive a one-to-five star score, alongside immediate guidance on aspects such as pronunciation and structure.”

Employee development is mapped through psychometric assessments, measuring progress against a proficiency scale to allow for prioritisation of those skills which will most significantly impact individual growth.

Ali describes the approach as a “transparent, actionable performance ecosystem” that inspires a culture of learning, allowing employees to navigate their unique career paths with confidence.

The importance of identifying skills 

Discussing the programme on LinkedIn, Ali wrote: “With so many workers needing reskilling and early-career paths shifting, we owe it to everyone to create systems that support growth, opportunity and dignity across an entire career.”

“Pearson has the unique role of connecting learning and work. And what I’ve seen, again and again, is that when those worlds truly collaborate, real change happens.”

For a global workforce facing increasing change as AI dominates the market, Ali recommends an approach underpinned by “three core power skills".

She advocates for learning to learn, a fundamental skill that forms the foundation for further career development and progression.

Next, in order to thrive in an ever-changing landscape, she says that adaptability is key for resilience in the workplace. 

Finally, AI literacy is key. Employees need to “understand how AI works, how it’s governed, and ultimately how to build and work with their own large language models".

These three skills cement the foundations of Pearson’s vision for a future-proof workforce defined by a forward-looking approach, says Ali.

Intentional career planning

To effectively communicate examples of innovative career progression in action, Pearson has published career stories from employees to illustrate the role of the GPS system. 

Ali says the content helps to create a clear contrast, demonstrating the scope for development before and after the new framework and illustrating how intentional career planning impacts future growth.

Pearson is also committed to nurturing junior talent in collaboration with the Early Careers Company (ECC), developing initiatives to support candidates moving through assessment centres into long-term roles.

The collaboration responded to employee retention challenges that arose as a result of capability misalignment.

The solution, according to the ECC, was a four-phased approach, beginning with the psychometric profiling of 20 top performers at Pearson to provide insights into optimal behaviours and characteristics. 

These findings provided the company with a Core Characteristics Framework for the hiring of junior talent, which was implemented at an assessment centre created to align with Pearson’s recruitment strategy. The process deployed a variety of methods to assess candidates against the framework.

The ECC then launched an outreach campaign to identify junior talent in accordance with hiring goals, identifying 1,371 candidates, of which 20 were invited to the assessment centre.

The initiative saw eight candidates hired and, in a vast improvement to previous recruitment cycles, achieved an 88% six-month-retention rate. 

Pearson and Deloitte collaboration

Pearson has recently collaborated with Deloitte to provide AI-powered learning products for its own workforce training, while assisting Pearson in advancing AI adoption across its portfolio.

Discussing the collaboration, Joe Ucuzoglu, Deloitte Global CEO, says: “Developing a future-ready workforce is at the forefront of every organisation’s strategic agenda.”

“Through this collaboration, we are bringing to market Deloitte’s leading capabilities spanning engineering, reimagining the future of talent and skills, workforce design experience, and Pearson’s world-class learning and skills solutions. Together, we will help clients shape and adapt to the changing nature of work and build sustainable, innovative workforces for the future.”

In a press release announcing the partnership, Omar said: “technology is reshaping the workplace faster than ever, and the most critical skill today is the ability to learn.”

“As the half-life of skills shortens, organisations need learning that’s continuous, adaptive, and embedded in the flow of work.”