The New Collar Workforce,

Skills vs Degrees
Talent Development in 2020 & Beyond

Fall 2020
Brent Colescott, M.Ed.
Senior Director, Global Business Strategy & Transformation
SkillSoft / SumTotal - helping organizations achieve
outstanding business performance

Learning & HR Experience – over 20 years

SkillSoft Customer – 16 years
Implemented Top Tier LMS Platforms
Designed & Implemented Virtual ILT Programs

Innovator & Educator

SkillSoft Learning Leader of the Year – 2007
WebEx Innovator of the Year – 2005

www.brentcolescott.com
 The Changing of “Norms”
Before COVID-19
• Remote Work – Sales Centered,
Optional
• Wellness – A cost saving and fringe
benefit
• Instructor Led Training – Proven
Training Practice
• HR – Adjacent Strategic Partner
• College – 4yr Campus Based ILT -
Degree
• Time – A luxury of which many had
plenty
After - COVID-19
• Remote Work – Business Continuity
Strategy
• Wellness – An essential business
function
• Instructor Led Training – Foundation
for VILT
• HR – Critical Strategic Partner for
Business Continuity
• College – Online Training / Virtual
Lectures / Skills
• Time – A precious commodity
Existing Talent Pipelines Are Failing…
 Time to Re-Think Higher Education?
“So the kids are not
learning as much, they’re
paying more to learn less –
so they’re getting less for
more. ….for all the money
going into educating
them, there’s not much of
a vocational result.”
Dr. Richard Vedder, “Restoring the Promise: Higher Education in America,” May, 2019
 Time to Re-Think Higher Education?

“Second-tier universities
are to education what
department stores are to
retail; they’re about to
begin a death march”
Scott Galloway, NYU Stern School of Business
A majority of HR professionals either have
“a formal effort to de-emphasize degrees
and prioritize skills underway” or are
“actively exploring and considering this
direction.”

Atlantic Re;think, Preparing the Next Generation of Tech Talent, Grow with Google, 2019
New Talent Pipelines Are Emerging
“We have to shift to a world of “creating
candidates” not “attracting candidates.”
Josh Bersin
Upskilling & Reskilling
Honda Takes on Youth Up-skilling
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India has
inaugurated a Skill Development Centre at Excelus
Learning Solutions, a centre affiliated to the
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), in
two Maharashtra towns– Dhule & Palgadh.

July 18, 2019

What Thailand needs to do in economic
upgrading, education reforms, reskilling, up-
skilling, shoring up SMEs is clear enough. In
times of crisis like Covid-19, a lot of dirty linen
can be exposed and washed in a process of
creative destruction and forced adjustment…

Pavida Pananond, Bangkok Post, “Challenges of a post-virus recovery” May, 2020

Modern Learning

Learn
Learn
Again

UnLearn
 Modern Learning

33% of skills workers

needed three years
ago are no longer
relevant
Gartner Study, August 2020
Certificate ≠ Certification
 June 30, 2020 Microsoft is launching a global skills initiative aimed at bringing
more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year.

Google
August, 2020 By the end of next year, the internet giant also aims to provide
free digital skills training to 40,000 firms and businesses.
“New Collar Worker”

Individuals who develop technical and soft skills

needed to work in the contemporary tech industry
through nontraditional education paths.
IBM CEO, Ginni Rometty
 Spending Projections – “New Normal”

2020 2021
Training 13% ↑ 34% ↑
Leadership Dev 11% ↑ 45% ↑

2020 2021
Real Estate 9%↓ 35%↓
Workspace 38% ↑ 37% ↑
Virtual Tech 79% ↑ 53% ↑

Spencer Stuart – Boston/New England Area HR Community, Talent & Total Rewards Survey, July-Aug 2020
What we are seeing…

• Digital Acceleration. No longer Transformation, but Acceleration of

digital alternatives to existing / quickly outdated processes

• Documenting skillsets within the organization for more agile

response to changing business needs

• Online professional development and learning opportunities in high

demand

• Talent Pipelines will extend well beyond College / Higher Education

sources
The SumTotal Approach:
Remove the barriers:
A Learning Centric Talent Management Platform

Attract, Hire and Onboard new Talent

Establish and Develop Critical Talent Pools

Mobile and Virtual Learning for Remote Workers

Agile Performance Evaluation for skilled (hourly) and professional labor

Workflow Engine to drive Prescriptive Programs (Onboarding, Leadership Development)

Competency & Skill Driven Career Pathing and Training Needs Analysis

Development Planning and Compliance Requirements

THANK YOU