Marco’s Pizza kicked off the first quarter of 2023 by rolling out a different kind of ingredient—college-level educational courses for its franchise supervisors and shift leaders.

Sixteen Marco’s Pizza franchise supervisors from markets across the country were selected to participate in a pilot people and business leadership certificate program through the pizza brand’s partnership with Bellevue University’s College of Technology, Engineering and Management.

“Ultimately, we’re trying to add value to our people,” says Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer for Marco’s Pizza Rod Sanders. “We’re a performance brand and we know we succeed only when we value everyone and help our people to succeed. This program is another ingredient that we believe will contribute to our team members by preparing them for a lifetime of success, inside or outside of Marco’s Pizza.”

“The class really taught me to see the bigger picture, that there are different ways to train and communicate with my team,” adds Elizabeth Fields, a Marco’s Pizza General Manager in Illinois. “I loved that the course was online, and I plan to take what I’ve learned and put it into action at my store.”

According to Dr. Matt Davis, Bellevue University Executive Vice President and Dean of the College, the certificate program, where students master essential business management and leadership skills in two six-week courses, is built to be accessible to front-line workers like those at Marco’s Pizza.

“Great management and leadership skills can be learned,” says Dr. Davis, noting that the certificate program’s curriculum is based on a program used successfully by one of the nation’s leading retailers. “Now we’ve taken it to the next level with a mobile-first course design that incorporates relevance, rigor, and respect for the learner’s time.”

For the Marco’s Pizza team members who successfully complete the program, the eight credit hours they earn can be applied toward an undergraduate, four-year college degree. The pizza brand is already looking ahead to opening the program to a new class of supervisors.

“Marco’s will look to evaluate the program’s long-term impact using feedback from participants and we hope to track retention over time,” adds Sanders.

The ultimate goal of the program is to upskill Marco’s Pizza employees while also boosting the company’s overall employee satisfaction and engagement.

“This educational opportunity not only helps our stores as team members are learning skills they can apply on the job, they’re also learning skills that they’ll take with them throughout their lives – it’s truly a win-win situation,” affirms Sanders.