In the midst of this uncertainty, keeping IT workers abreast of innovative technologies and the skills to implement them is a balancing act. To stay at the forefront of industry change, learning must be considered more than a priority – it needs to be a core pillar of every organization. IT upskilling is key in today’s landscape to drive employee satisfaction and organizational success. Here are three of the top reasons to invest in learning and development opportunities and how the benefits can be articulated to leadership to ensure they consider learning a top priority, too.

Invest in Your Employees – and They Just Might Stick Around

While layoffs seem to be dominating the headlines, employees are quitting their jobs at the rate of layoffs. Retaining strong talent remains a competitive pursuit, and organizations are feeling the impacts of this challenge. Now, would consider leaving their current role because there aren’t enough opportunities for skill development or career advancement. The truth is that adequate training directly impacts retention. An important factor in how employees evaluate their organization is based on the opportunities they’re provided to learn the skills that will catapult them towards reaching their goals. Learning and development opportunities can equip employees with essential leadership skills that can elevate their current position and pave the way for internal advancement.

By offering learning programs, and therefore showing the workforce that leaders are invested in their growth, executive teams will realize a multitude of benefits. Individuals will feel valued and excited by new challenges and upskilling opportunities, making them more likely to be happy with their current role. Beyond this, they’ll build a workforce that is equipped with the latest knowledge to drive meaningful outcomes for the organization.

Fostering Creativity, Innovation, and Curiosity

The tech industry is evolving – fast. From generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to immersive-reality technologies, digital transformation has raised the bar on the skills required of teams today. Inspiring employees to lead innovative strategies can feel daunting when the workforce is not properly equipped with the latest knowledge to take on new initiatives. When employees do not feel prepared, they are less likely to be enthusiastic about taking on new responsibilities or raise their hand to lead a project that is outside of their comfort zone. In fact, think the skills shortage is the biggest barrier to the adoption of game-changing technologies.

To combat this hesitation and encourage workers to tackle new challenges, leaders must recognize that learning and development opportunities enable IT teams to feel prepared and excited to move forward on adopting new workplace technologies. This ultimately increases efficiency and allows more time and space for innovation and creativity.

Steve Lucas, 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud application consultant at Sapphire Systems, has seen how learning, for instance with , can drive innovation firsthand. “Earning an 51ˇçÁ÷Certication is important to not just my future but the future of my company. It ensures we’ll both meet our goals and remain at the forefront of SAP’s latest innovations,” he said.

Tackling the Persistent Skills Gap Challenge

The skills gap remains top-of-mind for leaders across industries as technical roles continue to evolve and competition for top talent remains high. Due to the speed of innovation, over to do their jobs successfully in the coming years.

While some employees may be able to make time outside of work hours for learning and development, many have competing personal priorities – meaning encouraging employees to seek upskilling opportunities outside of their nine-to-five may set them on a path of frustration and burnout. Instead, bring training programs directly to them and build a few uninterrupted hours into their workday so that employees can devote themselves to learning without navigating demanding tasks at the same time. This simple solution can mitigate burnout and ensure everyone is receiving the information they need to be successful in their roles – now and in the future.

For example, learning programs like or basics can quickly and efficiently equip employees with the skills they need by educating them on the latest platforms and technology necessary to keep up with digital transformation efforts. These programs can also level the playing field among teams, increasing workers’ value and purpose within their current role.

The Return on Learning and Development? Priceless.

While it’s true that that investing in learning and development is a commitment – both in budget and in resources – the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. It’s easy to deprioritize learning when the time and money that goes into upskilling can seem like an optional expense, but in today’s workplace culture, it is essential. Companies who invest in learning and development opportunities will reap the benefits almost immediately and will equip their teams for a future of innovation, creativity, and equitable opportunities for growth, ultimately leading to higher retention, empowered employees, and a more secure workforce.

Jan Meyer is head of Learning Systems at SAP.

As more employees express this sentiment, many organizations are recognizing imposter syndrome as a persistent experience that is resulting in declining employee satisfaction, higher turnover, and increased procrastination. But is there anything companies can do to mitigate this common human emotion that impacts daily performance? Here are three tactics to navigate – and overcome – imposter syndrome.

1. Boost Confidence through Learning

The unfortunate reality is that learning is often overlooked as a key tool to build confidence – we don’t often talk about how impactful learning can be to combat feelings of imposter syndrome and, as a result, do a disservice to our workers. Skill development plays a critical role in fueling self-worth, especially as today’s employees face challenges surrounding rapid technological advancement and shifting workplace responsibilities.

For example, the need to tackle evolving career expectations has become a constant for our consultant partners. As organizations increasingly undergo the transition from on-premise to cloud, the knowledge and expertise of consultants is expected to adapt to meet demand. This can be daunting for highly technical experts. With the rise of cloud technology, consultants are expected to flip their on-premise focus that required being highly technical to suit the cloud landscape, which requires them to be experts in business processes and change management.

By upskilling, or learning something new, employees can take control of shifting industry needs and evolving roles to transform their tactics and improve how they perform – ultimately leading to stronger feelings of competence.

2. Build a Network of Growth-Oriented Learners

The experience of learning and growing alongside peers is incredibly validating and sets up a strong culture of support that builds feelings of self-assurance. We’ve seen this to be true as we speak to people operating in the 51ˇçÁ÷ecosystem as part of our one-year anniversary of , a learning offering specifically designed for professionals at an 51ˇçÁ÷partner and tailored to their needs to advance continuous learning across the 51ˇçÁ÷portfolio.

By sharing new learning resources or engaging in group learning, employees create an environment of growth that can catapult them for years to come. We’ve been thrilled to read some examples of how our valued partners have benefited from SAP’s learning experiences. Through the completion of certifications, learners have expressed rising levels of confidence in their skills. “The certification has given me a lot of confidence as I approach my work with customers and colleagues, in turn boosting my reputation when it comes to 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions,” says Jose Lopez, practice manager at Core HR. Developed with the 51ˇçÁ÷partner organization, it was created to fit our partner’s specific business and the learning needs of its employees, enhancing their ability to deliver value to customers and market their expertise.

enables individuals at partner companies to continuously train, certify and stay current with 51ˇçÁ÷innovations. By staying on top of evolving industry skills, partner consultants consistently deliver value, strengthening confidence and differentiating themselves from the rest. Since the creation of the partner edition of 51ˇçÁ÷Learning Hub last year, it has been widely adopted by the 51ˇçÁ÷partner ecosystem, with 30% net-new partners reached in one year and thousands of learners currently using the edition to help increase their knowledge and skills on 51ˇçÁ÷solutions and achieve certification.

3. Set Goals – And Commit to Reaching Them

Little compares to the rush of confidence that comes from accomplishing a new goal. By consistently setting new personal challenges – and reaching them – individuals prove to themselves their own ability to step out of their comfort zone and commit to growth. Take Tobias Steckenborn, for example. Steckenborn was an 51ˇçÁ÷consultant for many years and is now self-employed with his company Consolvis. He was determined to set himself a challenge: complete five 51ˇçÁ÷Cloud certifications in 10 days. The completion of this goal allowed him to better support his team in their technical work and resulted in him feeling more capable in his role as a manager.

“Today, I am no longer just a project employee, but also a manager. As such, I am responsible for promoting my employees. One of my colleagues is currently working on a cloud project. The certification process, including going through the materials offered, has strengthened our theoretical foundations in dealing with various cloud-based solutions,” says Steckenborn. “I’m also able to better operate as a role model and want to motivate my employees to continue their education. If the boss participates in learning alongside employees and doesn’t always just preach, we all succeed.”

The next time a friend or colleague expresses symptoms of imposter syndrome, check in to see if they have the resources available to comfortably learn new areas or refresh their skills. With SAP’s wide range of courses and certifications, individuals at any level can leverage learning to grow their capabilities, develop a network of motivated peers, and achieve goals of new heights.

Jan Meyer is head of Learning Systems at SAP.
Hans Uebe is global head of Ecosystem Delivery Success at SAP.

Every company is feverishly working to update its processes. However, for organizations to sustain such rapid evolutions, their workforce must consistently sharpen their skills to match developing technological needs. To remain at the forefront of industry change in the coming years, it’s essential that employees are provided access to continual training and career growth to achieve both the retention of essential talent and a company culture of continuous innovation.

To overcome these challenges, many organizations and people are turning to to help bridge the skills gap. in both the IDC MarketScape U.S. IT Training 2021 Vendor Assessment and the IDC MarketScape European IT Training 2021 Vendor Assessment. This research includes analysis of the most well-known IT training firms with portfolios that are appropriate to organizations considering “significant transformation initiatives.”

51ˇçÁ÷Courses Enable Innovative Skill Sets 

The portfolio helps meet individual educational needs and boost technology aptitude across organizations. 51ˇçÁ÷sees a growing necessity of training and certification resources in today’s working environment. According to the IDC MarketScape U.S. IT Training Vendor Assessment, SAP’s strengths include:

• Clients appreciate additional training services.
• Clients appreciate its certification test preparation offering.
• Clients say they will use it more often next year.
• It can help clients customize content or paths.
• It has a strong point of view regarding how much training is helpful.
• It has a strong refresh and update process for its content.
• It has examples of how it improves client operations.
• It integrates labs into a range of its content.
• It offers a range of pricing and packaging approaches.
• Students appreciate the use of quizzes to support learning.

Take Neils Wijsbeek, specialist lead at Deloitte Consulting B.V, for example. Despite having seven years of 51ˇçÁ÷solution experience under his belt, Wijsbeek continues to build his profile of certifications by becoming an in 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions. Wijsbeek finds that continuing to grow his certifications benefits his career and ultimately provides a visible way of demonstrating his expertise. “The certification process, particularly the preparation for it, forces you to deep-dive into the content and quickly build up your knowledge,” he says. At a time when it’s never been so crucial to stay at the forefront of industry evolution, he also expressed that 51ˇçÁ÷certification’s mandatory delta-content requires users to stay up-to-date on new developments, in turn demonstrating growth of individual and company expertise to customers.

Our team at 51ˇçÁ÷is dedicated to creating fulfilling learning experiences like Wijsbeek’s that enable employees to sharpen their skill sets easily and often. Hiring managers are facing current retention challenges that are greatly limiting business growth. With such immense technological advancement, strong talent is quickly snatched up, leaving skills gaps and overworked employees. For example, though most organizations have become multi-cloud, believe a lack of these skills will slow down cloud projects.

At 51ˇçÁ÷Learning, we work to ensure organizations can easily reskill and upskill talent, providing employees with motivation and opportunities for career growth. To support companies with this task, and to meet individuals at every point of their learning journey, we’ve launched a new 51ˇçÁ÷Learning site to create a simple, one-stop shop of learning materials.

51ˇçÁ÷Training Available to Learners of All Levels

51ˇçÁ÷Learning can provide opportunities for all to upskill, reskill, and validate their 51ˇçÁ÷skills. For example, with our recent release of the , we provide access to various free content for upskilling with , including a brand-new learning journey focused on . This helps ensure that learners of all levels, ranging from aspiring developers to those already in development roles, can easily gain 51ˇçÁ÷skills in core innovation areas and prepare for an 51ˇçÁ÷certification at no cost.

As organizations work to support an innovative labor force, 51ˇçÁ÷works to provide the resources for employees of all levels to upskill and increase the overall competitiveness of their business. The provision of 51ˇçÁ÷trainings and certification in an organization has become an essential component to achieving strategic goals.

51ˇçÁ÷Learning solutions help validate users’ 51ˇçÁ÷abilities and experience and allow lifelong learners such as Wijsbeek to remain on top of evolving industry developments and continually showcase themselves and their organization as an innovative leader. “The way training programs have evolved over the years makes it very easy to find the needed materials, particularly for keeping your certifications up-to-date through the delta-content,” says Wijsbeek.

As 51ˇçÁ÷Learning continues to evolve with the needs of learners everywhere, I’m more energized than ever by our devoted team as we kick off another year of supporting individuals in their journeys to advance their skills and career without barrier.

Jan Meyer is head of Learning Systems for 51ˇçÁ÷Learning.

*IDC MarketScape; U.S. IT Training 2021 Vendor Assessment (doc #US47541121, December 2021)
^**IDC MarketScape: European IT Training 2021 Vendor Assessment (doc #EUR148400521, December 2021)

While professionals may know they want to advance, they underestimate how much , learning, and certification can help them along that path. A recent underscored the value of certification in career advancement, as more than 60% of participants garnered promotions following their IT certifications. Moreover, this study found intrinsic benefits to certification, including greater confidence, determination for professional success, autonomy, and job satisfaction.

And it’s true: the more we invest in ourselves – by taking the time and energy to complete certifications and stay current on the latest technologies – the better we feel about the trajectory of our careers.

As the 51ˇçÁ÷Learning team helps to expand the 51ˇçÁ÷ecosystem, which is estimated to grow the number of professionals by 60% and see partner opportunities reach $260 billion by 2024, we’ve kept this sentiment at the forefront of our commitment to creating easily discoverable and accessible upskilling opportunities for partners.

Expanding Opportunities for Growth among Partners and Individual Learners

Along the journey to the Intelligent Enterprise, it’s critical for organizations to upskill their workforce, not only to stay competitive but to foster professional development at the individual level. 51ˇçÁ÷has long supported learning and enablement throughout the ecosystem, and with the rapid speed of innovations today, we’re providing more and more affordable, role-based learning solutions.

For example, in February, we launched a new to advance continuous learning across the entire 51ˇçÁ÷portfolio and help partners stay up-to-date with 51ˇçÁ÷solutions. Developed with the 51ˇçÁ÷partner organization, it is designed to fit our partner’s specific business and learning needs. Since launch, it has been successfully adopted by the 51ˇçÁ÷partner ecosystem, with 30% net-new partners reached in the first six months of being live and thousands of learners currently using the offering to increase their knowledge and skills on 51ˇçÁ÷solutions and achieve certification.

What’s more, for the 51ˇçÁ÷PartnerEdge program, we recently launched a private cloud version of to help with increased customization and reporting functionalities.* With this , various roles in a partner organization can benefit  from specific options: learners can upskill in a more private environment with company-specific learning content, while administrators can better monitor learning activities and understand the value derived from the solution.

Yielding Success through Certification

In addition to creating content to continuously build and maintain 51ˇçÁ÷skills, emphasizes validation of these skills through certification. As Nagesh Polu, 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors lead consultant, YASH Technologies, noted, “ is an important benchmark of expertise. It helps you gain key 51ˇçÁ÷knowledge and the confidence of your customers. It is a huge asset for any 51ˇçÁ÷partner.”

A recent revealed several proven benefits of certification, including:

• Fifty-nine percent of respondents agreed certifications improved implementation of technology.
• More than 71% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed it has increased their ability to solve problems.
• Ninety-four percent of IT decision-makers globally felt that having team members with certification provides value beyond the cost of achieving the certification.

Reflecting on her certification experience, 51ˇçÁ÷Analyst Stefania Pabon said, “Without a doubt, 51ˇçÁ÷Certification has brought me a wide range of possibilities in the job market because it is generally a requirement to have 51ˇçÁ÷software knowledge.” 51ˇçÁ÷Senior Analyst Abhishek Paul echoed this view: “51ˇçÁ÷Certification opened up a massive sea of opportunities for me. It brings a certain level of respect and is an excellent step toward securing my future.”

As we make our way through the final quarter of the year and look ahead towards 2022, let’s embrace the learning opportunities in front of us for both our organizations and our own individual growth.

*The private cloud version is available exclusively for 51ˇçÁ÷PartnerEdge members (excluding basic 51ˇçÁ÷PartnerEdge open ecosystem) and requires a minimum subscription of 100 users.

Jan Meyer is senior vice president and head of Learning Systems for 51ˇçÁ÷Learning.

Years ago, learning was something you did to prepare for a project and then it was done. It was almost as if learning was turned on and off and happened in discrete boundaries of time. Today, as the speed of innovation increases and professionals – like the ones involved in IT projects as administrators, consultants, and developers – need to regularly consider how to implement new changes, continuous learning is the only way to operate.

While the human element of individual learners needing to effectively absorb and apply training remains, it is unmistakable that the role of IT training has distinctly evolved into a perpetual presence in the innovation life cycle.

Transformed Role of Training

Broad, transformative trends in the IT learning landscape have taken hold in recent years. Among these are increased peer-to-peer learning, modularization of learning content, and digital delivery platforms. The instruction element has also changed. A indicated that while more than a third of all learning and talent development professionals surveyed intend to increase their budgets over the next year, 38 percent plan to spend less on traditional instructor-led training. Comparatively, nearly two-thirds plan to spend more on online training.

The changes and challenges brought about by the global COVID-19 pandemic have both underscored and accelerated this reshaping of the IT learning landscape.

The enhanced 51ˇçÁ÷Training and Adoption portfolio was designed to be flexible, allowing for adapting learning preferences as well as the necessary tools and skills for given roles to continuously and quickly evolve. This 51ˇçÁ÷portfolio expertly supports continuous learning anywhere, at any time, and in a wide variety of languages.

While today’s classroom formats have evolved, the role of training itself has also transformed. According to a recent , “Skills can and do expire. Organizations need people who can continually learn and adapt.” The report notes that while maintaining up-to-date technical skills and keeping up with the speed of innovation is critical for individuals’ future success, so too is the skill of being “open to new experiences and flexible in their thinking.”

Companies around the globe are recognizing this shift in the role of training. The LinkedIn Learning report revealed that more than half of all learning and development professionals surveyed plan to launch new upskilling programs for employees, and nearly half plan to initiate new reskilling programs. Today’s learners will be successful not by solely consuming new information and courses, but by adopting, implementing, and expanding upon their training to continuously create new value.

Presence in the Customer Life Cycle

Beyond the constant ideation process, training today has a pronounced presence throughout the entire customer life cycle – from end to end.

In the past, when on premise was the industry norm, user training was more of an afterthought. Today, however, customers are seeking or considering training to inform themselves throughout the process – and even sometimes during the initial software selection phase. The continuous learning incorporated with 51ˇçÁ÷products in turn supports users as they move from the land phase to the expand phase in the customer lifecycle model.

51ˇçÁ÷Training and Adoption uniquely utilizes the company’s scale and efficiencies to constantly innovate digital platforms and offer new, relevant training that adds value to each customer’s specific context and needs.

Looking to the future, 51ˇçÁ÷emphasizes innovation that complements and builds upon its training offerings, ultimately enhancing the overall experiences of learners and customers at every stage of their digital transformation journeys. In doing so, the company can more effectively help individuals and organizations turn learning into achieving on their paths to the Intelligent Enterprise.

Jan Meyer is head of Global Business Portfolio Management and Business Development for 51ˇçÁ÷Knowledge and Education.

Perhaps you have watched previous episodes and are picking up where you left off. Or, perhaps you want to venture into an all-new show. You might be watching on a television screen, but if you are watching on-the-go, you are probably using a tablet or smartphone instead. No matter which show you choose, you are in the driver seat, able to choose, pause, and continue content whenever desired, from wherever desired.

This evolving consumer behavior is not limited to entertainment; it has changed across other industries, including learning. As today’s media consumers adopt new manners of media consumption and adapt to significant changes introduced by COVID-19, IT learning must also shift its approach to meet the needs of individuals, wherever they may be in their learning journey.

A Changing Classroom

Throughout the past several years, we have seen broad trends in the IT learning landscape, including emphasis on subscription models, digital delivery platforms, social learning, guided virtual live sessions, more immediate access to experts, and more modular training content. My time as a member of the board has allowed me to see the progress of these trends across the industry.

The current pandemic, however, has accelerated and highlighted the pertinence of these trends. As a result of COVID-19, the traditional physical classroom experience has metamorphosed, and it is unlikely to return to the exact same experience we once came to expect.

Whereas you may have previously traveled to participate in a multi-day training event, today’s IT learning allows for a more flexible and focused experience that fits better to your everyday work and private life, especially amid changes like working remotely.

Modularization of study — breaking up training into smaller pieces for the individual learner — has been increasingly incorporated within the overarching learning industry as we see that day-long training sessions are not always the most effective learning format for everyone. Just like selecting and streaming a television show, today’s learner can choose the relevant training they want and complete it at a time and speed that works for them.

By blending physical and virtual instructor-led training, interspersed with self-study, companies can achieve learning objectives within a target timeframe while also accommodating individual learning preferences and current realities like the challenges of COVID-19.

Because 51ˇçÁ÷has been transforming its learning offerings over the past five years, its existing digital and cloud-based platform offerings have allowed for faster adjustment to the changes in learning conditions and digital media consumption brought on by the pandemic. Yet, the sudden impact has been like a stress test and has provided new insights for where innovation adds value and as we are continuously rethinking how we can help our learners learn best.

We may never return to the same level of traditional classroom experience, but the human element of learning remains absolutely critical. Live online interactive classroom instruction as well as expert-led, collaborative peer-to-peer learning and intuitive learning simulations are just some of the ways the enhanced 51ˇçÁ÷Training and Adoption portfolio has been flexibly designed to optimize each learner’s experience.

Looking Forward

For the immediate and post-COVID-19 future, we predict that the need for knowledge and skills will persist, increasingly in virtual and digital formats. The speed of innovation is only increasing, and IT learning must be quickly and effectively delivered so that learners can consume it in a way that truly creates value.

A report by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Josh Bersin in the said: “The single biggest driver of business impact is the strength of an organization’s learning culture.” Technology is disrupting every industry and area of life, and work is no exception. One of the main career implications of the digital revolution is a shift in demand for human expertise. For instance, LinkedIn’s talent  that half of today’s most in-demand skills were not even on the list three years ago.

remains a core focus and value of our offerings, which is why the 51ˇçÁ÷Training and Adoption portfolio provides regular updates to include the latest relevant training content.

This new way of learning is possible, and as notes, the need to invest in learning “has never been more insistent.” The global pandemic has brought renewed focus to the pre-existing need for reskilling, while also allowing for the rethinking of specific ways in which different learners best absorb and apply new skills and information.

As individuals’ preferred way of learning and consuming media evolves — and as challenges like the pandemic further reshape the way we learn — 51ˇçÁ÷will evolve and elevate its portfolio to help customers achieve success and business impact, including improvements in key performance measures and increases in satisfaction.

Through a variety of choices for instruction environments, in-product guidance, contextual help in a multitude of languages, full visibility into the usage of 51ˇçÁ÷solutions, and more, the focus of the 51ˇçÁ÷Training and Adoption portfolio on the learner experience will support individuals’ learning journeys tomorrow and beyond.

Jan Meyer is head of Global Business Portfolio Management and Business Development for 51ˇçÁ÷Knowledge and Education.