SECTOR FOCUS SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
technological change,” Farrington
suggests.
“Pluralsight is about developing
technology skills whether that’s
helping organisations to remain
current with technology, or upgrading
skills by retraining or cross-skilling
people, so that they can work in new
areas.
“Everything we do is about
ensuring people and organisations
have the relevant technology skills.”
As new technologies appear so
the pressure on the skills gap will
intensify.
“Traditional forms of teaching are
no longer working. People want to
have the ability to learn new skills
but they want to be taught in a more
effective and ef cient manner.
“The changes we’re seeing in
learning modalities has in uenced
both Pluralsight and the companies
we work with,” says Farrington.
Content remains king but
Pluralsight, which offers over 7000
different online courses, tends
to focus on developing practical
skills rather than simply theoretical
knowledge.
“In order to do that we have
developed an Index that assesses
individual skill levels by using AI
and machine learning techniques to
better understand skills levels with
particular technologies. The platform
is able to identify gaps and then
provide a fast path for the individual
or company to move forwards. It
is able to personalise the learning
experience depending on what level is
required and what someone’s working
experience has been.
“At a company level we are
able to aggregate these insights
through skills pro ling, developing an
inventory of skills across a business
so as to better understand hotspots
and gaps.”
At a time when companies are
reinventing themselves their priorities
will be changing.
“By identifying priorities we can
look inside the organisation and
conduct a skills inventory. Is it
possible to up-skill existing workers,
do workers need to be re-skilled
and if that’s not possible will it be
simply quicker, and more effective, to
acquire the necessary skills?
“When it comes to established
brands it’s not always best to bring
people in from outside, there is
real value in taking your current
employees with you, where you can.
There’s a collective intelligence, or
an institutional understanding, that
simply can’t be brought in.
“Companies are getting better
at re-skilling, but there’s still a very
big technology skills gap out there,”
warns Farrington.
Managing talent
The Covid pandemic has forced
companies to think more carefully
about where they get their talent,
according to Farrington.
“Certainly, many more are now
looking inside their businesses rather
than recruiting from outside.”
Pluralsight had been growing
rapidly prior to the pandemic as more
organisations looked to leverage its
platform and capabilities.
With thousands of courses
Pluralsight identi es which
technologies and skills are being
searched for by companies and
individuals, and with that data
develops and extends its programme.
“We use data that identi es the
most searched for skills and then
tailor our courses to meet that need.
It’s our insight into what’s hot.”
Content is provided by academics,
industry experts and companies,
such as Google and Microsoft, and
Pluralsight, which uses a franchise
model, rewards contributors with
royalties determined by how often
their content is accessed.
“We provide curriculum guidance
so that contributors can ne tune
their content and ensure that we’re
delivering skills from a practical
perspective.
“We use video, interactive
sessions and assessments, so there
is considerable exibility in terms of
delivery. Our focus is on giving users
the best experience and, as a result,
the platform is constantly changing.
“For companies using our
platform it’s important that they
are able to understand rates of
progression and speed of re-skilling.
New roles require a mix of skills
and different levels of pro ciency
so we understand the importance
of personalising the learning
experience.”
When it comes to re-skilling
companies are certainly adapting.
“There’s more openness and
Covid has highlighted how essential
digital transformation will be if
businesses are to survive and
prosper.
“Companies will succeed if
they embrace new technology, but
that will require them having the
employees with the right skills.”
However, while most companies
agree that up-skilling their
workforce is critical many don’t
have the right skill development
tools or programmes in place to
succeed, that’s why Pluralsight’s
assessments, learning paths
and courses to improve skills are
becoming more popular.
“Back in April during the rst wave
of the Covid-19 pandemic we made
access to our courses free and we
saw over 1m new people sign up in
order to gain new technology skills.
“That increase in engagement
was very encouraging and there was
a lot of interest in technology such
as Cloud IT, mobile devices and AI,
IT certi cations and Javascript,” adds
Farrington.
“It’s never been more
important than having the right
skills. It’s an imperative for both
individuals and companies, so we’re
aiming to give them easy access
to the practical skills they will need
whether that’s data science and
cloud computing or AI and machine
learning.”
“It’s critical that
you understand
your strengths
and weaknesses
at both a
personal and
company level.”
Sean Farrington
www.newelectronics.co.uk 22 September 2020 23
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