Create a plan to improve the retention of tuition-aid recipients.

During the past 14 years, Garden Gate Inc. has grown from a small local garden supply company into a diversified corporation with stores in 36 states and net sales of almost $1.4 billion. The company currently employs 26,500 people and has been expanding at a 12 percent annual rate. Garden Gate expects to continue this pace of growth for at least five more years. The company has a talent philosophy of treating its employees as investors and spends heavily on their training and development. The firm also has a generous tuition-aid program that allows qualified employees to pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees part time if the degree they are pursuing is consistent with their career plans established in conjunction with their supervisors.