EBOOK

Three Strategies for Winning

the War for Tech Talent
eBook | Three Strategies for Winning the War for Tech Talent

PREPARING FOR THE NEXT WAVE OF INNOVATION

Sectors with the Highest Turnover Rates1
The global talent shortage is a strategic long-term challenge, especially in the technology
industry. Traditional learning solutions cannot keep pace with rapidly evolving market conditions, 1. Technology (Software) 13.2%
transformational business models and radically different expectations of a modern workforce raised
in the digital era. To cope with these difficulties, learning strategies need to focus on knowledge 2. Retail & Consumer Products 13.0%
retention, measurable growth and continual adaptability
3. Media & Entertainment 11.4%
COMPETING FOR TECH TALENT
4. Professional Services 11.4%
A clear and alarming trend emerging in the modern workplace is the acute shortage of talent. For
many companies, attracting and retaining top performers has become an existential challenge. 5. Government/Edu/Non-Profit 11.2%

The technology/software industry has been hit especially hard: Turnover rates at tech companies 6. Financial Services & Insurance 10.8%
exceed 13 percent annually, resulting in higher operating costs, lower morale, reduced productivity,
and diminished capacity to compete successfully in crowded markets.1 7. Telecommunications 10.8%

A primary cause of this shortage is a lack of candidates with computer science degrees. According 8. Oil & Energy 9.7%
to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, 58 percent of new jobs in STEM fields
require computing science skills. But only 8 percent of STEM graduates study computer science.2 9. Aero/Auto/Transport 9.6%

10. Healthcare & Pharmaceutical 9.4%

58% 10%
of all new jobs of STEM
in STEM are graduates are
in computing in Computer
Science

1 “These 3 Industries Have the Highest Talent Turnover Rates.” Michael Booz, LinkedIn Talent Blog, March 15, 2018.
2 “Bureau of Labor Statistics.” United States Department of Labor, 2019. 2
eBook | Three Strategies for Winning the War for Tech Talent

The result of this imbalance is a widening chasm between the needs of industry and the ability of labor markets to
provide properly skilled workers. According to a recent Korn Ferry Institute report, this skills gap could cost the world This skills gap could cost the
$8.5 trillion in lost annual revenues by 2030.3
world $8.5 trillion in lost annual
“The impact of the talent crunch is so significant that the continued predominance of sector powerhouses is in revenues by 2030.3
question. For instance, the United States is the undisputed leader in tech, but the talent shortage could erode that Korn Ferry Institute report
lead fast. In tech alone, the U.S. could lose out on $162 billion worth of revenues annually unless it finds more
high-tech workers.”4

SEISMIC SHIFT IN VALUES

A monumental shift in values, driven largely by demographics, raises the stakes even more for employers. Millennials, In tech alone, the U.S. could lose
who represent the largest segment of the U.S. workforce, have significantly different needs and desires than previous out on $162 billion worth of
generations of workers. revenues annually unless it finds

“Millennials are not pursuing job satisfaction—they are pursuing development,” writes Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO
more high-tech workers.4
of Gallup. “Millennials don’t want bosses—they want coaches.”5 Korn Ferry Institute report

In other words, millennials want to learn. They aren’t obsessed with their weaknesses—they want to develop and
enhance their strengths on a continual basis.

Despite being aware of the needs of millennial workers, few organizations have fully addressed the challenges of
providing continual learning opportunities for a workforce that has come of age in a digital culture.

Modern workers are eager to learn, but they often aren’t sure what they need to learn or how they should learn. In
most instances, the next steps are not obvious.

3 “The $8.5 Trillion Talent Shortage.” Korn Ferry Institute, May 9, 2018.
4 “The $8.5 Trillion Talent Shortage.” Korn Ferry Institute, May 9, 2018.
5 “How Millennials Want to Work and Live.” Gallup, Inc., 2016. 3
eBook | Three Strategies for Winning the War for Tech Talent

THREE STRATEGIES FOR GROWING TECH TALENT

Merely learning a new skill is not enough. Here are strategies for creating a lasting and sustainable environment of
continual learning:

1. K
 nowledge retention: It’s one thing to train people. It’s another for them to retain the new knowledge they’ve
acquired. People need to apply their newly learned skills and then practice them. Give your technical professionals
a way to apply their knowledge and practice in a safe environment.

2. M
 easurable growth: Assuring competency requires the ability to measure progress and keep track of skill
development. Organizations need tools for measuring the achievement of a learner over the course of each
journey, providing proof positive that learners are acquiring and retaining the knowledge and hands-on skills they
need to succeed in their roles.

3. C
 ontinual adaptability: The modern economy is in flux, requiring organizations to evolve and adapt continually.
Learning content needs to be current and evolve along with the latest business and technology trends.

FOCUSING ON CAREERS, NOT THE “NEXT” JOB

For today’s technical professionals, it’s not all about getting the “next job,” it’s about assembling and mastering the
skills necessary for a rich and fulfilling career.

From the organizational perspective, HR professionals need to be mindful of this as they build strategies and
programs aimed at attracting, hiring, nurturing, rewarding, and retaining top talent. The war for talent will likely
continue for decades; competitive organizations clearly understand that top talent is both a strategic advantage
and a high-value asset.

ENGAGEMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY

The modern workforce has far different expectations than previous generations of workers. At the same time,
today’s employees are generally more flexible and more willing to embrace new challenges than workers of the past.
Unquestionably, the evolving nature of the workforce presents challenges and opportunities for employers.

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eBook | Three Strategies for Winning the War for Tech Talent

In addition to compensation and benefits, employees look for satisfying work experiences, coupled with a strong sense
of purpose. The connection between engagement and productivity is now widely accepted; employees who feel more
engaged are generally more productive at work.

Smart organizations provide employees with the tools and resources necessary for continually improving their skills,
broadening their capabilities, and elevating their career trajectories. Training and continual learning are no longer
viewed simply as costs; they are now seen as investments that pay dividends.

“Nowadays, people want to be better prepared for their next job, whether that job is inside or outside the company,”
says Tara O’Sullivan, Chief Marketing Officer at Skillsoft. “Great companies truly understand how people feel about
their careers, and they provide the kind of quality training that people want and have come to expect as part of their
work experience.”

A SCALABLE AND COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION FOR THE MODERN WORKFORCE

Skillsoft Aspire is an entirely new solution that answers the needs of real people hoping to raise their level of skills and
elevate their professional careers. Skillsoft Aspire is a series of job, task, or function-oriented journeys for individuals,
teams and organizations working in technology and related areas. We set out to design and build an enterprise
learning solution that prepares learners and organizations for the modern digital culture.

We didn’t begin by making vague assumptions about what people wanted or needed. We sought to create pathways
based on real needs, real trends, and real usage. We began by interviewing hundreds of experts from multiple
industries, gathering data, and thoughtfully analyzing the information we collected.

We also sifted through anonymized user data and examined input from clients worldwide to identify the most in-
demand technology career paths, including roles related to data analysis, security, programming and machine
learning. We reviewed feedback from our large client base that includes organizations of all shapes, sizes and missions,
adding richness and value at every step of the development process.

The result of our effort is Skillsoft Aspire, a scalable learning solution developed for our changing times. Skillsoft Aspire
is carefully and meticulously crafted to address the genuine needs, desires and anxieties of the modern workforce.
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eBook | Three Strategies for Winning the War for Tech Talent

Skillsoft Aspire is much more than a collection of courses and learning materials. It is a series of in-depth journeys,
each designed expressly to move someone forward in their career, without interrupting their current workflow. Each “We’ve created a highly thoughtful
journey is comprehensive, thorough and relevant. It takes a learner 50-80 hours to complete a typical journey designed
sequence of instruction. Skillsoft
along 4 stages that align skills with job functions, deliver sequenced instruction, allow learners to review, apply their
knowledge with hands-on practice and ultimately complete an assessment to earn a credential. Aspire isn’t a random smattering
of content. It’s a fully fledged
JOURNEYS, NOT COURSES solution for propelling you forward
Skillsoft’s approach acknowledges and embraces the idea of lifelong learning. Instead of offering lists of courses and and upward into a new role.”
leaving it to learners to decide which are most relevant, Skillsoft Aspire arranges the courses into logical journeys
Mike Hendrickson,
that prepare learners for their next roles.
VP, Technology & Developer
There are four key elements in each Skillsoft Aspire journey: Job Task Orientation, Sequenced Instruction, Products, Skillsoft
Practice and Application, and Credentials. At each stage, learners have the opportunity to review key skills and
understand the content they need to study. Learning is coupled with hands-on practice and assessments to achieve
meaningful credentials.

Job Task Sequenced Practice and

Credentials Next Journey
Orientation Instruction Application
Key work functions and Learning content Opportunities for the Meaningful assessment
daily challenges that that is prescribed to learner to perform and incremental
the learner performs the learner based on the requisite tasks validation of skill
and needs to master Job Tasks of the role in a safe along the path to the
before progressing to • Assessments environment and Aspirational role,
the next role. several scenarios. function or capability.
• Practice Labs

Each journey is divided into four tracks, and you receive a badge when you complete a track. When you complete an
entire journey successfully, you are awarded a certificate.

“Aspire is built from fresh content and combines the best available learning modes,” says Mike Hendrickson,
VP, Technology & Developer Products, Skillsoft. “We created Skillsoft Aspire to meet the demands of real people
working in the real world. Skillsoft Aspire’s curated learning paths enable enterprise technologists and developers
to rapidly advance their proficiency in critical technology roles.”
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eBook | Three Strategies for Winning the War for Tech Talent

Aspire includes 16 journeys, organized in six groups:

Data/AI Security

1. D
 ata Analyst to Data Scientist 1. S
 oftware Programmer to
2. M
 L Programmer to ML Architect Secure Programmer
3. M
 L Architect to AI Developer 2. S
 ecurity Specialist to SecOps Engineer
3. N
 etwork Security to Network/
Cloud Security

DevOps Software Craft

1. S
 oftware Tester to DevOps 1. W
 eb Programmer to Apprentice
Automated Tester Programmer
2. E
 nterprise Development to 2. A
 pprentice Programmer to
DevOps Engineer Journeyman Developer
3. E
 nterprise Developer to Full 3. Journeyman Developer to Master
Stack Developer Dev or Wizard
4. D
 evOps to Infrastructure CloudOps

Emerging Tech Scrum/PM

1. A
 pplication Developer to 1. P
 roject Lead to Senior Software
Blockchain Engineer Project Manager
2. S
 enior Project Manager to Advanced
Scrum Master

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eBook | Three Strategies for Winning the War for Tech Talent

Here is a sample journey, From Data Analyst to Data Scientist. Let’s take a closer look at the components of
this journey:

FOCUS COURSE PATH

Insights/Knowledge Raw Data to Insights
Verifiable, Veracity Data Pipeline to Tableau
Scientific approach Creating RT Dashboards
FOCUS COURSE PATH Communication Powering Recommend Engines
Normalization Data Wrangling w/ Python/Pandas Visualization Advanced Architectures
Cleaning MongoDB for Data Wrangling ML & DL Algorithms
Structuring Cleaning Data in R Storytelling with Data
Automation Data Lakes in Practice +5 more
Transformation Building Data Pipelines
Accessing Data with Spark
Getting Started with Hive
+4 more

DATA DATA SCIENCE

ANALYST DATA WRANGLER DATA OPS Focus on providing NEXT JOURNEY
Swimming in disparate, Focus on Quality in for Focus on getting Data business insights &
federated data sources Quality out throughout Orgs readying for more

FOCUS COURSE PATH

Legacy DBs Python for Data Science
Mixed data sources R for Data Science
Siloed data sources Statistics for Data Science #1
Excel tricks Hadoop: Getting Started
Brittle systems Spark: Up & Running
Not at scale HDFS: Up & Running FOCUS COURSE PATH
Data silos, Lakes and Streams Real Time Pipelines Streaming Data Architectures
+4 more Governance Scaling Data Architectures
Scaling/backup strategy Enterprise Governance Strategies
Security Secure Data Sources from the Edge
Integration Data Rollbacks
Governance Policies and Access
+5 more
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eBook | Three Strategies for Winning the War for Tech Talent

As you can see, there are multiple steps, and each step is clearly defined. Aspire doesn’t throw learners into the
deep end of the pool and expect them to begin swimming. It leads them on a prescribed path and takes them
where they need to go to develop the skills and competences they need to continue moving forward toward their
professional goal.
Visit Skillsoft.com/aspire to
For more information on Skillsoft Aspire journeys, visit: Skillsoft.com/aspire to download the Skillsoft download the Skillsoft
Aspire brochure. Aspire brochure

download now

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eBook | Three Strategies for Winning the War for Tech Talent

ABOUT SKILLSOFT

Skillsoft is a front-runner in corporate learning, delivering beautiful technology and engaging

linkedin.com/company/skillsoft content that drives business impact for modern enterprises. Skillsoft comprises three award-

facebook.com/skillsoft winning systems that support learning, performance and success: Skillsoft learning content,
the Percipio intelligent learning experience platform and the SumTotal suite for Human Capital
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Management.
skillsoft.com
Skillsoft provides a comprehensive selection of cloud-based corporate learning content, including
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Workforce Management.
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Skillsoft is trusted by thousands of the world’s leading organizations, including 65 percent of the
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