The way in which people network, learn, and develop has shifted overnight. To meet the evolving needs of leaders and learners around the world, Skillsoft’s digital experiences are designed to foster community and empower people to become the best versions of themselves, both professionally and personally.
The appetite for digital experiences is growing rapidly. Since January of this year, Skillsoft has seen a 317 per cent increase in the learning content accessed on its intelligent learning experience platform, Percipio. Demand for online experiences was also evident following Skillsoft’s annual learning summit, Perspectives 2020. In early March, Skillsoft elected to cancel its annual in-person event scheduled for May and instead put together a 24-hour follow the sun digital experience that kicked off at 9 a.m. AEST in Sydney, Australia, and carried on through 7 p.m. EDT in Boston, Massachusetts on May 13. This first-of-a-kind experience drew more than 14,000 attendees.
Perspectives 2020 was designed with the individual learner at the forefront. The 24-hour follow the sun model opened up access to learners around the world while fostering connection and networking amongst virtual attendees. Making the experience entirely online and open to everyone – from students, to field workers, to the c-suite – created the opportunity to democratise learning in a whole new way.
The digital experience brought together leading thinkers and speakers, like industry analyst Josh Bersin, author Tara Westover, and Code Like a Girl Founder and CEO Ally Watson, across time zones to give keynote addresses, lead business continuity panel discussions and participate in head to head debates on regional topics. The event totalled 1.4 million minutes watched from viewers across the globe. The most streamed customer segments included:
- Cox: “Forward Not Fast” covered how to create experiences to drive mass adoption and personal development for your people
- ManTech: “Mission-Critical Learning” explained how to keep employees engaged (and retained) by investing in career development
- Wipro: “Flip the Script” explored how to enhance upskilling and onboarding and empower a global workforce to apply new skills to their work
“There were a lot of great takeaways for me from Perspectives 2020. The one real standout was the ability to absorb so much information in such a short amount of time because of the way it was wrapped into an engaging, highly interactive, and truly exciting format,” said Michael Rochelle, Chief Strategy Officer and Principal HCM Analyst, Brandon Hall Group. “This is a best practice example of how to hold a virtual event.”
A common thread throughout the show and across each region was Business Continuity and remote work, which drew attention throughout the day and provided both affirmations and prescriptive guidance for attendees as everyone navigates this new normal. Even before the event, Skillsoft found courses in their learning platform, Percipio, centered on the new working environment to be the most in demand. In fact, the top content consumed during the month leading up to the event related to business continuity and virtual work. Just as Jez Rose’s head-to-head debate with British Telecom and Fefaur highlighted the need to focus on developing soft skills to complement hard skills, the 258 per cent increase in customer’s total learning hours on Percipio was largely a reaction to this new working environment.
“As we envision the workplace of the future, we can expect an exponential increase in the desire for learning experiences that fit the needs and schedules of individuals,” said Skillsoft CMO, Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek. “The overwhelming interest and active engagement demonstrated by our customers and their learners throughout Perspectives 2020 is a true testament to the importance of development and the value of community.”
If you missed Perspectives 2020, you can find the content on demand here when you register.