The workforce of the future must be as agile and adaptable as the organizations they work for.
Technology continues to reshape our world — and the world of work. And as the marketplace shifts and companies adopt new business strategies, they need a workforce that can change along with them.
Those dynamics are driving companies to skill-based talent management. As an added bonus, a skills-based approach to talent management can help diversify an organization and make its workforce more equitable and inclusive.
But understanding what skills your workforce has now and what skills it will need in the next few years — skills mapping — involves dealing with an overwhelming amount of data. Creating career paths for employees and supporting those with reskilling and upskilling opportunities is even more daunting — especially at enterprise scale.
As you consider software platforms that allow HR and L&D leaders to make strategic workforce decisions, here are six crucial factors to consider.
We live in a learning-on-demand world where employees can learn new skills online — and they may or may not notify their managers. Knowing your workforce’s skills and capabilities now — not just when they’re hired or when they go through a company-sponsored training program — is vital.
A platform that taps into real-time data about third-party verified skills gives you an advantage.
Real-time data allows you to understand your workforce’s capabilities and identify critical skill gaps. Identifying those skills gaps, a key aspect of workforce forecasting, allows you to provide training and development opportunities to upskill and reskill quickly and cost effectively.
Example: Javier has strong programming skills but lacks experience in project management. Providing Javier with opportunities to develop project management skills by assigning him to lead a small project or by enrolling him in a project management course.
Workforce is the only talent-management platform that taps into Credly’s leading digital credentialing program, the largest such network in the world.
A robust skills-based talent management application should also integrate skills provided through company-sponsored training programs. And it should identify skills employees have based on job roles.
Set your employees up for their success and your organization’s success.
Use verified digital credential programs to offer upskilling and reskilling opportunities to your talent pool. Employees who work toward company objectives while also advancing their own careers are aligning their success with your company's.
When their success is aligned with yours, they are intrinsically motivated to see your company succeed, because that means they succeed, too.
Example: Your company's goal is to become a leader in sustainability. You can use Workforce to identify employees who have verified sustainability skills and provide them opportunities to work on sustainability initiatives.
This kind of alignment helps the company achieve its goals while tapping into employees existing interests, skills and intrinsic motivation. That’s likely to make your workers more engaged on the job, increasing productivity, boosting retention and lowering turn-over.
Almost every day, it seems, there’s another report about a data breach or private information leaked online. Ensuring the security of protected personal information (PPI) about employees is critical to maintaining worker trust and meeting regulatory requirements.
It’s also critical to ensuring that employees engage when you roll out a new talent management platform.
Example: Alana is concerned about the security of her personal information. By using Workforce, you can assure Alana that her PPI is secure and that she can trust the system to accurately track her skills and experience.
Credly’s Workforce platform makes it easy for employees to add their independently verified credentials to their profile, and also allows them to control access to that information.
Data-based insights can help you identify trends and patterns in employee skills. This allows you to make data-driven decisions about career paths and training opportunities.
Example: Many employees in your marketing department have strong social media skills but lack experience in paid advertising. By using Workforce analytics, you can identify this gap and provide training and development opportunities to address it.
A platform with robust analytics will allow you to look at data multiple ways — from individual employees to the entire workforce. It should be able to use your existing skills ontology or have a skills ontology that your organization can use to normalize skills data across many roles. Without these analytical capacities, a talent management platform ends up being little more than a directory of employees and their skills.
Most large organizations use multiple enterprise software platforms, including learning management systems, applicant tracking systems and HR information systems, to organize data about their workforce.
To get the most value out of skills-based talent management software, it must be integrated with other systems.
Example: Your in-house IT support team uses a learning management system for online courses they need to keep their skills up to date as technology changes. By ensuring your talent management platform integrates with that learning management system, you can be confident it’s capturing all skills information and not missing important information.
Credly’s Workforce platform integrates with many other enterprise HR and L&D applications and also has robust APIs to allow for custom access to its data as needed.
Increase employee engagement and improve retention rates by providing clear and transparent career paths for increased motivation and job satisfaction.
Example: Alex is unsure about their career path within the company. Using Workforce, you can outline the skills and experience needed to advance to a more senior role that aligns with the skills and experience Alex already has. Alex feels more engaged and motivated to work towards their career goals.
Failure to provide clear, compelling career paths for your workforce could increase turnover, reduce morale and lower productivity. But when employees feel they have a future at your company, and that there’s a clearly defined path for them to advance, they’re more likely to be more engaged at work and more loyal.
“I’m an achievement-oriented person. So, when I saw that I was at 73% complete and I had a free hour, I wanted to finish the pathway and earn my badge.”
— Grant Thornton digital badge earner
Companies that create an environment where employees have clear career paths and opportunities to upskill so they can advance will give their workers a greater sense of autonomy. And feelings of autonomy and empowerment lead to better job performance, greater job satisfaction and higher commitment to their employer.
How does Credly’s Workforce platform work?
The Workforce platform is designed to connect with your existing HR information systems, provide data and insights, and enable you and your workforce to take productive action. Here’s how it works:
Ready to provide your workforce empowering career paths that will boost employee engagement and help your company compete in the marketplace? Schedule a demo to see how Workforce can work for you.