06/22/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/22/2021 09:33
Quick Take:
Research sheds light on workers' point of view around the digital skills gap and how a community of learners and digital champions can help close it.
When asked if technology helps or hinders learning new skills, 62% of American workers claim technology always helps them. But what happens when technology moves faster than the world around it?
The return to work and focus on growth is upon us, and we are already seeing the impacts of massive technological innovation brought forth by the pandemic.
The majority of U.S. employees now believe technology will outpace their skill set, according to Salesforce research. As digital transformation becomes a top priority for businesses, how can companies ensure investments in workforce training and development keeps pace with innovation - and with the wants and needs of employees? One answer - community-based learning.
Discussing the importance of workplace learning and development begs the question, what does the workforce want to learn? Employees are split - half are looking to expand their current skill set, the other half want to gain new skills entirely.
Regardless of where an employee wants to grow, an increased investment in development practices only reaps positive benefits for the workforce.
In the case of Ines Garcia, Salesforce MVP and Guru, she has been able to meet and learn from Trailblazers all over the world through her Salesforce network. Within minutes, fellow community members 'jump to try to help me to solve my business problems'.
More often than not, professionals are eager to teach others the skills that changed their career. Tony Nguyen, a Trailblazer and Salesforce Admin at Calabrio, said discussing programs like the Trailblazer Community gives him 'goosebumps.' And while the support he receives from the community is invaluable, what truly makes it special is his ability to pay it forward.
In 2020 alone, the Salesforce Trailblazer Community gained 170,000 new members, with a 21% increase in engagement across almost 2,000 community-led events.
Today, Salesforce is unifying Trailhead and the Trailblazer Community of Salesforce users to create a powerful new, community-based learning platform. Salesforce believes the new Trailblazer Community will turbo-charge opportunities for up-skilling 'from anywhere,' facilitating effective peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and building a new generation of digital champions.
Salesforce conducted a double-blind online survey of knowledge workers* in the United States employed full-time. Data was collected between April 14 and April 17, 2021 and yielded 600 responses.
*Knowledge workers' work is primarily mental labor (i.e, professional services, business management) over manual or task-based labor (i.e, construction, onsite manufacturing, warehouse operations, retail store service/operations, food service/operations).