3 Best Practices for Employers to Roll Out an Award-Winning Digital Credentialing Program

As a result, you’ve decided to create an employee recognition program at your organization to improve employee retention, increase employee engagement, and save your company money. And that makes sense. According to Glint, having opportunities to learn and grow is now the most important factor that people say defines an exceptional work environment. You’ve built an extensive learning library of powerful training sessions and proficiency verification exams, and you want to make sure the program catches on. The pressure is immense. Everything is riding on a successful rollout.  

Employee Recognition = Digital credentialing

A digital credentialing program is one of the best ways to recognize employees who are showing initiative by learning new skills on the job. Right Management released a study several years ago that shows how engaging employees about their career development helps an organization attract, engage, and retain the brightest talent. According to the study, employees want leadership to invest in their careers, help them make informed career decisions, and demand individual accountability for career growth. This requires organizations to “actively facilitate a learning journey designed to help employees develop new capabilities and knowledge while providing long-term career growth opportunities.”

Unfortunately, despite evidence that career development empowers employees and leads to retention, few organizations are actually following through. According to Mercer’s Global Talent Trends Report, only 12% of businesses in the U.S. plan to reward skill acquisition as a way to retain employees and execute on the organization’s mission. Rolling out a successful employee recognition program based on digital credentials could be a real differentiator for your business.

So, how and where do you begin? 

Don’t worry. We have you covered. Credly has helped customers across industries and regions launch successful employee recognition programs. Whatever you are trying to do, chances are, we’ve helped someone just like you roll out a program that works. 

Here are three best practices from Credly customers about implementing a successful digital credentialing program:

1. Identify key internal resources

   Who do you need buy-in from in your organization? To get badges designed and issued, you may need help from graphic designers, project managers, human resources, and training and development. Cross-department coordination and planning are crucial in ensuring a successful digital credentialing program. Securing internal resources, both time and finances, is critical to getting off to a smooth start. “Establish your internal resources and who will be responsible for each aspect of your program,” says Credly VP of Customer Success Krystal Lamoureux. “You need to know who your decision-makers are and who will execute the day-to-day tasks to get the program launched.”

2. Be clear about what you want to create badges for, and stick to a timeline

   Your digital credentialing program should align with your company’s core mission, values, and vision. How do you want to recognize your workforce? What knowledge, skills, and abilities drive your organization’s success? Dr. Alyssa Ford, Area Rehabilitation Clinical Specialist, started the award-winning credentialing program at Legacy Healthcare Services, and recommends, “Establish and stick to a timeline. Set task deadlines in preparation for full roll-out, but be flexible.” If your organization’s mission is to eradicate data breaches, create learning courses and badges around cybersecurity–even for non-developers. If customer service is priority number one, focus your learning and employee recognition programs around giving and receiving feedback, effective communication, and other skills that improve customer experiences.

3. You can’t over-communicate the badges and their benefits

   Once you have buy-in, you need to make sure the rest of the organization is on board with both earning and sharing their digital credentials. Tutorials about how to embed earned credentials into email signatures and how to share badges on social media are ways to use your digital credentialing program to increase brand awareness while highlighting the achievements of employees. Whether you use email campaigns, in-person training, or something else, making sure that the value of digital badges is communicated will ensure that the program is well received. Credly customer PVH promoted learning courses and associated badges for its PVH University program in its mobile news app PVH Insider. The newsletter features new, interesting courses, quick tip videos, relevant news articles, learner achievements, and stories of inspiration. Since launching the program in October 2020, more than 2,000 associates have earned digital badges on topics such as Virtual Collaboration, Inclusion & Diversity, and Leadership. 

To learn more about how Credly’s can help you create, issue, and share digital credentials, schedule a chat with our team!