Four Ways Digital Badges Are Bridging the Skills Gap
The National Federation of Independent Businesses reported that 45 percent of small businesses were unable to find qualified applicants to fill job openings in the first quarter of 2017. The skills gap is frequently attributed as the reason these middle skill jobs aren’t being filled.
Below are 4 ways that digital badges can help bridge this skills gap.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses reported that 45 percent of small businesses were unable to find qualified applicants to fill job openings in the first quarter of 2017. The skills gap is frequently attributed as the reason these middle skill jobs aren’t being filled.
Below are 4 ways that digital badges can help bridge this skills gap.
- Digital Badging encourages learning new skills. By recognizing individual participants, participants are encouraged to continue learning new skills to show their employer or future employers the skills they are building. This creates a larger pool of qualified candidates for future positions and in their current position.
- Digital badging allows employers to create ways for employees to build the specific skills that the employer needs and also personalize the experience based on how the participants will best learn that skill. Traditional methods of education are often a "one size fits all" approach. They don't adapt to the learner or the teacher's methods for creating a learning environment.
- Digital Credentialing also provides a flexible way of learning. Many people are hindered from learning new skills because of certain barriers that come along with traditional methods of education. (ie cost, physical commute, time constraints, etc) With digital badging, participants can earn badges around their schedule and from the comfort of their own home.
- Digital Credentialing allows companies to dive into keeping up with technological advancements head first. As technology advances at such a fast pace, many traditional educational organizations have a hard time keeping up. By using a digital platform as an education method, a company encourages employees to be technologically savvy. Badges also allow a company to keep their employees up to date on the latest technological advances and be more results driven, as badges are a representation of what you can do not just what you’ve done.