8 Considerations

for Selecting a
Skills Development
Partner
The increasing adoption of automation, data
and analytics, and new technologies has and
will continue to drastically change the future of
work. And these changes are happening at
rapid speed—placing increasing pressure on
organizations in all industries to develop a
strategy for providing employees with new,
cutting-edge skills.

Rather than build an in-house training

program, another option for organizations is to
partner with an online learning provider that
delivers high-quality, customized training and
skills development at scale. But this raises an
important question: What qualities should you
be looking for in an online learning and skills
development partner to help meet your unique
skill needs?
Below are eight questions and considerations that you can leverage when
researching and vetting potential online learning partners.

1. Can the provider deliver skills capability at scale—from basic

literacy to advanced reskilling?
Every company has varying degrees of skill needs. One team may need to learn basic literacy
while another may need advanced reskilling. Whatever your unique needs, your learning
provider should be able to deliver comprehensive and scalable learning programs that train
for a range of skill sets—from beginner to intermediate to advanced.

Additional considerations:

✓ Does the provider offer entry-level content designed to build basic literacy skills,
intermediate-level content to help upskill, and advanced content to reskill teams?
✓ How do learners progress through the curriculum? Are there different learning pathways by
job role?
✓ Does the provider offer a broad content catalog consisting of courses in data analytics,
leadership and management, computer programming, machine learning, supply chain and
logistics, data management, and data literacy?
✓ Does the provider offer a diverse content catalog with courses outside of data literacy
topics—such as communications, leadership and management, problem-solving, teamwork
and collaboration, and finance?

2. Does the provider’s course content provide the right level of

rigor and quality to successfully and sustainably deliver skill
acquisition?
Before establishing a partnership, make sure that you and your stakeholders evaluate how and
who builds the course content and the breadth of topics the provider offers. Creating a quality

© 2021 Coursera Inc. All rights reserved. 2

 bar and agreeing on any requirements beforehand will help ensure that the provider will be able
to address exactly what your organization needs.

Additional considerations:

✓ How is the course content created, and who builds it? Is it qualified higher education
institutions, leading companies in their respective industry, or individual experts? Decide
what’s most important to your business needs.
✓ Are the course offerings rooted in teaching principles proven to accelerate skill development?
Look for elements such as clear learning objectives, assessments, and outcome
measurements.

3. Does the provider include comprehensive reporting on skill

development?
Look for a provider that offers an analytics dashboard for stakeholders and administrators that
allow you to measure actual skill acquisition. Reporting metrics such as platform usage and
courses completed are common among providers, but they don’t necessarily provide you with
measurements that prove ROI and skill development progress.

Additional considerations:

✓ Will metrics provided on custom content pathways align with your organization’s strategic
learning objectives?
✓ Is there a macro-level overview of all training progress and micro-level mapping of strategic
learning objectives?
✓ Will you be able to measure skill development across different domains such as business,
technology, and data, or others?
✓ Is there reporting on the ROI of human skill programs such as strategy, operations,
communications, and leadership?
✓ Are you able to gain an overview of skills development over time?

© 2021 Coursera Inc. All rights reserved. 3

4. Can the learning program be tailored to your team’s unique
skills transformation needs?
To help ensure your team can meet its skills transformation goals, inquire if the provider can
deliver tailored learning paths for specific skill sets and learning requirements.

Additional considerations:

✓ Does the provider have resources to work with your teams to build tailored curations and
learning pathways?

5. Does the provider offer advanced learning options and

industry-recognized certifications?
Not all online learning providers can offer advanced programs or Professional Certifications.
These credentials can offer your teams increased incentives to learning because they are
recognized and have transferable value. A learning program should also align advanced learning
options to the specific needs across your organization.

Additional considerations:

✓ Do course options include certifications from the university or company that produced the
content?
✓ Are the professional certifications and skills training offered focused on in-demand job roles
or aligned to your organization’s specific role needs?

6. Can the platform enable guided learning and hands-on

learning experiences?
When a learning program can provide customized pathways to skill development, an individual
will more likely acquire the desired skills outcome. With the adoption of AI for many online

© 2021 Coursera Inc. All rights reserved. 4

 learning platforms, customized guidance and recommendations can be essential to keeping
your workforce engaged in achieving new skills to apply to their roles and work.

Additional considerations:

✓ Does the platform leverage advanced algorithms to dynamically generate recommendations

on new content?
✓ Can customized content recommendations be based on a learner’s designated skill set and
their training progress?
✓ Is there a project-based curriculum available to help students learn how to use new skills in a
hands-on learning experience within real-world environments?

7. Does the provider have dedicated customer support

resources?
While the accessibility that online learning platforms deliver is a key benefit, customer support
may look a bit different than traditional on-premises support teams. Be sure to choose an online
learning provider that offers comprehensive support resources.

Additional considerations:

✓ Does your provider offer a dedicated Customer Success Manager responsible for delivering
direct support to your team?
✓ How accessible are technical support resources? 24-hours a day, seven days a week, or limited
accessibility?
✓ Are there additional career support services for specialized certificate programs?

8. Does the provider offer program implementation support?

Be on the lookout for a provider that offers program implementation support. Once you’ve
decided on a learning partner and mapped out your learning program, the next step is to

© 2021 Coursera Inc. All rights reserved. 5

 develop an implementation plan. By creating an implementation plan, you’ll be able to set your
program up for success and ensure that your employees feel motivated to start learning.

Additional considerations:

✓ Can you receive a pre-sales demo of the product, content, and integration process?
✓ Does the provider configure your learning portal and build the necessary technical
integrations?
✓ Will the provider train administrators and provide test instructions prior to launch?

Achieve your skills transformation goals faster with Coursera.

Partnering with the right online learning provider can make all the difference.
Visit www.coursera.org/business today to learn more or contact us to speak with a skills
transformation consultant.

© 2021 Coursera Inc. All rights reserved. 6