Skillsoft, is a leading provider of transformative learning experiences for both organizations and learners worldwide. Skillsoft partners with public and private sector organizations to provide customized talent development solutions that propel organizations and their people to grow together. These include skills-based assessments, in-depth analytics, coding practice labs, conversational AI simulations and curated learning content delivered through an integrated learning experience platform, that is designed to target strategic skills and talent priorities crucial to driving growth. By adopting a skills-driven approach, Skillsoft ensures that the workforce is aligned with talent development priorities that match their roles and career aspirations, accelerating business transformation and driving organizational growth at scale.

Approach and Actions

At the core of Skillsoft's learning solutions is a robust skill dictionary that encapsulates over 200 job roles, and 12,000 essential skills that span leadership, technology, and regulatory and compliance skills. This taxonomy serves as the foundation for AI-driven role, and skill-based curation across the diverse range of multimodal learning experiences (courses, books, labs, live learning, etc.) that are tailored to strategic talent development priorities, such as AI transformation, front-line leadership development, code-of-conduct, to name a few. This skill dictionary can be further mapped to organizational career frameworks and taxonomies to accelerate career mobility across the talent ecosystem. The skill assessments that Skillsoft offers are designed to evaluate specific competencies and proficiencies through innovative assessment methodologies that index enterprise talent readiness.

A common challenge organizations face is bridging the gap between the skills and knowledge learners acquire and their practical application on the job. Skillsoft tackles this challenge by aligning its skills assessments and learning opportunities with real-world demands. Leveraging its robust taxonomy and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven insights, Skillsoft empowers organizations to tailor learning solutions to address skill gaps, enabling them to identify the right talent and support employees in their career development.

Skill Benchmarks represent one of Skillsoft’s core assessment tools for measuring skill proficiency. These benchmarks utilize structured question sets to evaluate learners’ skills on a five-point scale, providing clear and actionable insights into their capabilities. These assessments go beyond traditional multiple-choice format, Interactive Skill Benchmarks immerse learners in realistic coding scenarios, requiring them to complete code blocks or solve technical problems in a simulated environment. Performance in these exercises is rigorously evaluated against skill-based objectives, ensuring an accurate and practical measure of technical acumen. Similarly, hands-on challenges in real-world cloud environments test learners' abilities to execute tasks such as configuration and optimization, offering organizations a reliable way to assess technical skills in applied settings.

Skillsoft extends its assessments beyond technical skills to include interpersonal and leadership skills. Using advanced technologies such as AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), Skillsoft delivers conversational simulations and assessments. Learners engage in scenario-based dialogues with virtual characters simulating coworkers, managers, or clients. These interactions are evaluated on key metrics such as sentiment, clarity, and effectiveness, providing organizations with a nuanced understanding of interpersonal and communication skills that are often difficult to quantify at scale.

Key Lessons Learned

 Through its work, Skillsoft has gained valuable insights into the evolving landscape of skills assessment and development:

• Skills are the Foundation for Workforce Management: Skills are now a cornerstone of workforce management, elevated by advances in AI and large language models. Establishing a common language of skills enables organizations to align workforce planning with employee aspirations, driving both agility and career development.
• Technology Facilitates Precise Skill Measurement: Advances in AI allow for the accurate assessment of behavioral and cognitive skills through realistic workplace simulations, enabling organizations to quantify and develop these critical capabilities at scale.