5 Essentials of a Top Digital Credentialing Program

A successful digital credentialing program not only helps to validate learners' skills but also drives lasting business outcomes and aligns with organizational goals. By leveraging digital credentials, companies can boost employee engagement, enhance productivity, and realize a strong ROI.

For example, 8,000-employee Grant Thornton LLP — one of the largest audit, tax and advisory firms in the U.S. — used digital credentials to increase completion rates for its skills courses. Metrics revealed that badge earners managed 18% more total engagement value and exceeded billable hour targets by 0.9%.

To help you build a successful program, we tapped the expertise of the Credly network and the Credly Top Elite Issuers of 2024. These organizations have collectively recognized the achievements of 3 million learners this year. From their experience, we’ve compiled a list of digital credentialing program top tips.

Five Essentials for a Top Credentialing Program

ESSENTIAL 1: A Strong Governance Model

A governance model includes the policies and procedures related to your credential strategy. It’s a living set of documents that outlines program goals, evaluation guidelines and who’s involved. It aligns the program to organizational goals and establishes accountability, and it’s essential to hold the program to a high-quality standard.

Governance Model Tips

1. Establish clear, measurable objectives that support program and organization goals.
2. Create oversight committees to manage the program with a well-defined set of standards and rules.
3. Develop a credential framework that’s flexible, scalable and easy for learners to understand.
4. Include continuous review mechanisms, such as regular audits and feedback loops, to update governance documents and adapt to evolving standards and learner needs.
   

Insights from Elite Issuer

Credly Elite Issuer, IBM, which issued more than 1.7 million badges in 2024, recommends that organizations establish a dedicated, centralized team to manage the credentialing program. The team should include operational, strategic and leadership support.

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Essential 2: A Scalable Credential Framework

An expandable framework creates a flexible and sustainable program that grows with the organization while maintaining meaningful, recognizable credentials. Design for scalability, which allows you to add new badges seamlessly.

Scalable Framework Tips

1. Create a learning journey for earners with a multi-tiered badge structure that reflects a clear progression of skill levels, such as beginner, intermediate and advanced. This motivates learners to progress.
2. Design a clear visual hierarchy to represent tiers, making it easy for learners and employees to understand different levels of achievement.
3. Group badges into collections based on categories or skills, which makes it simpler for learners to find relevant badges and for you to manage different initiatives.
   

Real-World Application

PMI uses distinct badge designs to signify different types of awards. By varying shapes, colors, and even wording, they clearly differentiate learning badges from certification badges. This approach helps users, employers, and other stakeholders quickly recognize the nature of each achievement, enhancing their understanding of PMI’s products and services.

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Essential 3: An Intuitive User Experience

Effective user experience (UX) improves learner engagement, retention and satisfaction. A seamless, enjoyable experience motivates learners to earn more credentials and advocate for the program.

Features of a User-Friendly Interface

1. A centralized interface that allows users to find and manage badges quickly. Features like Open Badge 3.0 on Credly allow badge earners to upload and verify any badge that adheres to OpenBadge 2.0 or 3.0 standards, regardless of what platform issued it. This allows learners to control all their credentials in one place.
2. Streamlined options for sharing digital credentials on platforms like LinkedIn or adding them to personal portfolios. Credly’s skills wallet allows earners to showcase all their validated skills in one profile.
3. Easy access to FAQs, step-by-step guides, and robust customer support to ensure a smooth user experience.

I see other programs where you must go to one place to take a class, then go to another place to try and find a badge that you have to download, and then go someplace else to upload it. Credly and Cisco have made that process much easier.

Ryan Rose

Director, Learning and Development

Essential 4: Effective Strategic Partnerships

Collaborating with educational institutions, industry associations, and technology partners expands the reach and credibility of a credentialing program. Strong partnerships increase program effectiveness and provide additional resources and insights.

Strategic Partnership Tips

1. Look for opportunities to collaborate on key initiatives with industry leaders. Partners could co-host workshops, webinars, or training sessions and promote the credentialing program.
2. Collaborate with universities, colleges, and training centers to tap their expertise. These enhance the rigor of credential content, improve credibility and expand program reach.
3. Maximize technology partnerships to bolster the program’s underlying operational support systems. For example, a leading credentialing platform like Credly simplifies badge issuance and tracking. [Discover why you should choose Credly]
   
   

Essential 5: A Robust Analytics Framework

Data-driven decision-making improves program and learner outcomes. A structured approach to collecting and analyzing data enables organizations to track and strengthen the program.

Tips for Implementing an Analytics Framework

1. Collect data from multiple sources to assemble usable, actionable insights. Avoid relying solely on subjective data, like inferred skills, which could lead to unreliable data.
2. Choose a platform that provides reliable, detailed access to analytics data. Credly analytics, for example, provide detailed data on key metrics like acceptance rates, badge share and click-through.
3. To demonstrate ROI, gather insights across the organization and learners. Metrics such as time to competency and performance improvement can help measure impact and value.
4. Identify gaps between desired and actual outcomes and communicate with stakeholders to improve the program. This ensures accountability, builds trust and provides additional insight for improvement.

Create Impactful Credentialing Programs

A top-tier digital credentialing program can be easily established with the right guidance and platform. Credly, as the leading credentialing platform, is trusted by organizations of all sizes to deliver scalable, secure, and effective credentialing solutions.

With its robust features and industry recognition, including high ratings on G2, Credly is positioned to support organizations in building programs that not only drive learner engagement but also produce measurable business outcomes.

To learn more about how Credly can help your organization implement a top-tier credentialing program, explore our Elite Issuers profiles, or schedule a call with us to discuss how we can partner to achieve your credentialing goals.