Explained: Here's why industry-specific certifications are in demand​

Here‘s why skilling has become the utmost priority in the post-pandemic world.

By India Today Web Desk: Learning & Development (L&D) as a function has evolved through the past decade and is breaking the traditional norms of its functionality in an organisation. The pandemic induced 'The Great Reshuffle', where employees chose to move organisations for one of the reasons being holistic development, has increased the focus on skills building.

It is imperative that leaders have to be considerate and adopt multiple strategies for employees‘ personal career growth, at the same time think of how to generate greater value for all investments they make in skilling employees.

Leaders have chosen to revamp their L&D structure

According to Glint's data, opportunities to learn and grow are now the number one factor employees say defines an exceptional work environment. In addition, they value their company's culture, with 25 percent more likely to be satisfied at work and 31 percent more likely to recommend working for an organization.

According to the 2022 Workplace Learning Report by LinkedIn, 72 percent of leaders agree that learning and development has become a more strategic function in their organisation, whereas 81% of executives are changing their workplace policies to offer greater flexibility to their workforce.

Skilling has become the utmost priority in most organizations as L&D pros saw 15 percent more promotions this year, compared with their counterparts, as per the report. To adapt and manage these changes, the L&D structures are also changing, with greater focus on programmes that have business-driven action learning projects, visible business impact and that aid internal mobility.

The CEO and senior leaders are working directly with the L&D leaders to drive some of these skilling initiatives at organisation level. It is indeed a matter of pride for organizations to have a crack team of certified professionals, who can step up and tackle any business situation.

In India, the need for Certification programs is strongly felt by the public sector too, and to address this, the government has launched the Skill India mission which entails schemes that promote youth skill development.

These programs help individuals from all socioeconomic backgrounds to learn the right skills for their development, employability and sustainability.

Industry-specific certifications are in demand

Certification courses have evolved as they offer more practical application-based competence building than just theoretical knowledge.

According to the LinkedIn Workplace Learning report, employees stay motivated at work as these L&D programmes help them stay at the top in their field, it lets them choose programs based on their personal career goals and allows for smooth internal movement.

Certification levels up the existing profile of the current employee and acts as a stepping stone to achieve greater roles and responsibilities within the organization. Along with building credibility, certifications help employees gain additional experience by getting an opportunity to experiment with new technologies and the latest practices.

Individuals are now actively seeking industry-specific certification courses to stay on top of the curve and beat their competition.

Staying up-to-date with new industry trends and technologies allows them to seamlessly integrate new methods and processes into their current routines.

Professional courses aid individuals in faster progress, especially in highly specialised areas such as life science, digital creative skills, analytics, and information technology. These courses, when combined with a professional degree and relevant work experience, guarantee professional competence and success.

Certification platforms offer flexible learning paths that professionals can take concurrently with their ongoing work. This allows for learning and earning at the same time. The learning paths are aligned to roles, and this expands and enriches the roles.

For example, people working in software development roles have access to courses such as AWS, Sitecore, and Drupal certifications. For the ones in the creative field, Adobe, HTML, and CSS courses are seen as the need of the hour.

Current scenario for L&D

L&D leaders around the world agree on the long-term benefits of investing in Certification programs. Most of these programmes are now delivered digitally/virtually, making learning borderless and opening up numerous skilling opportunities.

These online training platforms provide access to data and analytics which helps organisations monitor progress and make effective decisions on learning investments. Employees acquire new skills, enhance performance and break old ineffective habits, thus realising what their true potential is.

The time was always right for certification programs, but the need is felt more strongly now. It is a wise decision to rethink how certification programmes can become an integral part of Learning & Development programmes.

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