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Unisys Improves Employee Engagement, Client Satisfaction with Cloud Certification Program


When global technology solutions provider Unisys launched a certification program for advanced cloud skills, Dromrac Wood knew the potential headwinds he could face:

  • A lack of adoption
  • Skepticism
  • Apathy

Unisys needed to upskill and reskill many of its workers to meet client demands. This new program was designed to accomplish that.

Wood, senior manager of learning and development at Unisys, felt before he could communicate the full value of the program, he needed to earn the trust of the learners who would complete it.

“They’re under a lot of pressure to train and deliver for our customers,” he said. “My job as an L&D professional is to win their hearts, their minds and their trust.”

HOW LEARNING LEADERS BUILT A FOUNDATION OF TRUST WITH LEARNERS

To ensure successful adoption of the program, Wood first had to build trust. He says there are four ways he accomplished this with learners:

  1. Listen across all levels of the organization
  2. Actively create opportunities for feedback
  3. Empower learners to become teachers
  4. Focus on application

Each of these four actions helped align the learning and development team with those who would end up completing the program.

Taking this approach resulted in the positive outcomes he was after. By not taking actions like these, he says the outcomes would’ve been different.

Wood believes there is a stark difference between simply providing a course library to learners and offering them support at every stage of the journey:

  • At the very beginning, identifying the skills gaps of the organization and the training that will help close them.
  • During the learner’s journey, offering them ongoing support and acknowledgement.
  • And then afterward, encouraging further advancement and progress.

THE APPROACH TO RESKILLING AND UPSKILLING EMPLOYEES

Some of the learners who entered the program didn’t have experience working with cloud applications and required reskilling to help deliver solutions to clients.

One architect, in particular, stands out for Wood. The architect’s existing skillset was good, but he was making a complete transition to focus on cloud architecture. He had reservations and expressed skepticism.

“If you can even get even a small percentage of people who are trusting and excited and feel the sense of victory, it doesn't get much better than that.”

Wood worked with him closely, showed him the labs, the courses and the pathway to earn cloud certifications most relevant to him. This partnership resulted in the kind of breakthrough that instilled a sense of pride in both the architect but also Wood.

"You really helped me,’” Wood says of the architect, who became an advocate for the cloud program. “If you can even get even a small percentage of people who are trusting and excited and feel the sense of victory, it doesn't get much better than that.”

For learning and development professionals, it’s situations like this that validate their desire to help learners realize their potential and create new opportunities for themselves and those around them.

Wood relied on Percipio to launch Unisys’ cloud certifications program and upskill his workforce. Percipio is an immersive, personalized learning platform that helps people acquire knowledge and develop skills in the ways that make most sense to them.

From microlearning to hands-on labs, Percipio is designed to empower learners and give them the training to advance their careers. Learn more about Percipio here.

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CGI, an IT solutions provider, also realized remarkable results in its journey to help learners upskill and reskill tech workers. Through its program, it achieved a 1,300%+ ROI — and in just two weeks.

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