The leaders at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) are always thinking about what happens after students leave the classroom. 

Will graduates be able to keep pace with advancing technology? Will they have the skills to stand out in competitive job markets? Will they face industry changes with resistance or resilience? 

Educators may not be able to teach students every skill they’ll need throughout their careers — but they can prepare those students to become self-sufficient, lifelong learners. That future-focused ethos is just one of the reasons UTAR partnered with edX.

Challenge: Strengthen student employability

As technology, skill needs, and industry conditions evolve, universities face mounting pressure to focus on more than traditional academic knowledge. Graduates don’t just need to know how to ace an exam or polish an essay; they need to translate their skills in professional contexts and scale steep, on-the-job learning curves. 

“Industries are increasingly concerned with soft skills and demonstrable willingness to learn,” said MK Khaw, who is deputy head of UTAR’s Centre for Curriculum Development and Innovation.

At UTAR, a highly rated private university in Malaysia, ¹ educators recognized that students who knew how to learn quickly, effectively, and continuously were the ones who would be most attractive to employers. If they could help students approach education as a lifelong practice — rather than a temporary means of earning a degree — the entire UTAR community would flourish. 

With support from edX, UTAR established a clear objective: Increase self-directed study opportunities and cultivate lifelong learning skills for students. And students weren’t the only beneficiaries: The initiative would drive institution-wide innovation and help UTAR differentiate its offerings in a competitive educational environment.

Solution: Build a culture of self-directed learning

The edX partnership represented an important step forward for UTAR, in more ways than one. It would also be the first time the university offered students an online learning opportunity. 

“We wanted students to have experience with online programs,” says Khaw.

Program administrators started with a modest pilot program, through which some students were granted subscriptions to the edX self-paced course library. Within a week, the word was out — and student demand for subscriptions was through the roof. Administrators added 70 licenses.

Encouraged by the successful pilot, administrators used edX’s vast portfolio to offer credit-bearing elective modules across the university. Their program balanced individual and institutional goals: Once students had completed one required course — one of 40 faculty-selected options in areas such as technology, entrepreneurship, and soft skills — they’d be able to enroll in any courses they wanted. 

Faculty were active players at every stage of the progress, and key to the project’s success. They curated courses they knew would align with the university’s goals, and even participated in the courses alongside their students to foster a culture of continuous learning and collaboration.

Impact: Quality, relevance, innovation

Students, faculty, and administrators agree: The UTAR-edX partnership has yielded impressive results. 

Student engagement, by the numbers

Here are a few of the outcomes the team is most excited about: 

Putting students in the driver’s seat

Students are seeing firsthand how continuous learning can help them adapt, grow, and succeed in their future careers. With online education, they’re able to upskill on their own schedule and stay competitive as they enter the job market.

Prioritizing skills that improve employability

UTAR is equipping students with the right skills and the right mindset. Employers increasingly value candidates who demonstrate a willingness to learn and grow — a trait future UTAR grads will share. 

Driving institution-wide innovation

UTAR is strengthening its reputation as an institution that provides effective and innovative learning experiences. That practice is helping the university distinguish itself from competitors and attract the next generation of forward-thinking students.

Expanding faculty development opportunities

Faculty members now have access to professional development opportunities that sharpen their skills, too. Foo Pik Yin, a lecturer in the UTAR Department of Commerce and Accountancy, says edX programs help academic professionals stay “up to date with the latest course content development, assessments designs, and course delivery practices, therefore further improving the quality of teaching and research.”

Improving student satisfaction rates

High participation rates suggest that students are enthusiastic about additional learning opportunities. In turn, universities can learn more about the kinds of content that attracts and retains future students.

Looking ahead

UTAR is more committed than ever to its institutional vision: To foster lifelong learning and enhance student employability. And the university has plans — big ones — to turn that vision into a reality. In the short term, for instance, UTAR intends to expand its partnership with edX and explore new avenues of innovation in curriculum development. 

One thing is clear: UTAR’s proactive approach to education is one that will benefit students, faculty, and alumni for years to come.

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By 2025, digitalization is poised to inject $150 billion into Indonesia’s economy and create 3.7 million jobs. ² However, the nation confronts a significant digital divide, anticipating a shortfall of nine million skilled professionals in digital skills by 2030. ³ Bridging this gap necessitates a targeted focus on aligning education with industry demands encompassing both technical expertise and essential soft skills development.

edX and the Indonesia Cyber Education Institute (ICE Institute) strive to build a bridge for learners to cross these skill gaps, setting the stage for a workforce that is ready to meaningfully contribute amidst Indonesia’s rapid advancement.

Established by the Directorate General of Higher Education, Research, and Technology, under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek), the ICE Institute is a key accredited center for skills-based learning in Indonesia. ⁴ It’s a proactive step, supported by the government to ensure that students are not just armed with degrees, but equipped with additional digital and career focused skills that expedite the nation’s progress.

An edX partner since ICE Institute’s inauguration in July 2021, the ICE Institute’s primary focus is to facilitate the provision of exceptional learning opportunities while still ensuring the quality of online course materials. Through partnering with edX, the ICE Institute is able to extend its offering of market-led learning content to help students build skills and increase their future employability. 

Challenge: Equip students with industry-ready skills during their final year of university

To face the challenge of closing skills gaps at a rapid rate, ICE Institute was formed as part of the Golden Indonesia 2045 Vision: an Indonesia government-led strategic imperative for the country to “be an independent, united, sovereign, just, and prosperous nation” by their centennial in 2045.⁵

One of the primary targets for Golden Indonesia 2045 is to increase the competitiveness of Indonesian human resources through education, training and development, and mastery of innovative technology.

The ICE Institute’s mission was formed in alignment with the Golden Indonesia vision. Its objective is to equip participants with specific skills that align with industry needs in Indonesia. The key areas for development to meet skills demands include, but are not limited to:

• Technology: Cloud computing, cybersecurity, coding, and data science.
• Artificial intelligence (AI): Machine learning, deep learning, and AI ethics and policy.
• Management and commercial acumen: Financial skills, data analysis, and project management.
• Communication and interpersonal skills: Decision-making and business writing.
• Digital transformation: Digital strategy, business intelligence, technology adoption, blockchain, corporate transformation, green skill revolution, and change management.
• Supply chain: Sustainable supply chain studies, supply chain analytics, and digitization.

ICE Institute Director, Rahayu Dwi Riyanti, M.A explains how their goals depend on facilitating access to global leaders in education:

“We would like our participants, especially students and lecturers, to have experience taking courses from very good universities [around] the world, like Harvard, MIT, or Stanford,” Riyanti adds. 

Not only is there value in the content of the curricula, but the ICE Institute also believes participants can benefit from a wider perspective on how information is taught and improve their employment prospects.

Solution: Provide access to courses and Professional Certificates for credit

To work towards these goals, they turned to edX, which offers a subscription catalog of more than 2,300 courses from world-renowned universities and institutions on a range of in-demand topics that perfectly align with their digital skills development goals.

Not only does access to the edX courses help close skill gaps, but universities are able to fully integrate the courses into the students’ for-credit learning experience. Indonesia’s educational policies aim to provide students with flexibility and additional learning opportunities. For example, students can enroll in courses offered outside their home institution and earn credits contributing to 40% of the whole curriculum. This means that edX certifications are part of meaningful progress in each learner’s journey, from student to highly skilled professional.

The catalog consists of self-paced courses, including professional certifications and MicroMasters® Programs, stackable microcredentials that help learners develop additional job-relevant skills. Students enroll in courses pre-selected by their university or lecturer. This helps ensure that the students will find the courses most relevant to their program curriculum.

Some of the top courses completed by the students include:

• Python Basics for Data Science from IBM
• Data Science: R Basics from Harvard University
• Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles from Harvard University

Other popular courses include CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Python and CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science from HarvardX, Analyzing Data with Excel from IBM, and IELTS Academic Test Preparation from the University of Queensland.

Riyanti says that while their focus is on technical skills, it does not preclude students from learning about all kinds of topics. Often, the university lecturers select required courses for learners to ensure they are highly relevant to their graduation requirements. Then, the subscription allows students to consume additional courses as much as they want: One student has even completed upwards of 20 edX courses since launch.

“Most of the courses are about IT,” Riyanti says, “but sometimes there is something different, like the secret of happiness or politics.”

The extensive edX catalog also allows students to take courses which they may be interested in or curious about, but are currently not offered within their curriculum. The ICE Institute believes that giving students the flexibility to learn online, and learn over and above the curriculum will undoubtedly build up their learning agility skill, which is an extremely important skill in this complex world.

Impact: Improve students’ digital and technical skills, elevating their employability prospects

The ICE Institute’s commitment to enrolling students in high-quality courses from leading universities is a powerful force in closing digital and technical skills gaps in Indonesia.

With access to edX, students gain knowledge on skills of the future. For example, CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python from HarvardX is one of the most popular course selections among ICE Institute students. More than 100 students participated in this course in September 2023 alone. Upon completion, they are able to work with the algorithms, powering everything from game engines to face recognition software.

Dr. Kokoy Siti Komariah, the ICE Institute’s IT system development manager, explains that adding world-renowned courses like these from edX has been a game changer for the ICE Institute:

“When we put edX on our platform, people began to become interested in taking courses,” Komariah said. “Students are really motivated to learn with edX. They can get the knowledge and the certification in a short time (five or six certificates per semester). Students know these certificates will help them stand out in the job market later on.”

A look at the numbers

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Infineon Technologies uses the edX Professional Program in Lean and Six Sigma from the Technical University of Munich to train hundreds of employees worldwide and set a standard of excellence globally.

Infineon Technologies A.G. is one of the largest producers of semiconductor chips in the world, with over €14.2 billion in revenue. It boasts over 56,000 employees and 76 manufacturing locations for semiconductor chip fabrication, packaging, and testing worldwide. This semiconductor manufacturing process requires a global standard of production that is consistently error free. With a vast workforce, maintaining consistency requires high-quality education programs that can be rolled out at scale. To address this challenge, Infineon turned to the experts in high-quality educational resources for learners to access anywhere in the world.

Infineon is committed to decarbonization and digitalization, leveraging initiatives such as sustainable mobility, efficient energy management, and intelligent IoT. This focus drives the company to innovate, develop, and market cutting-edge semiconductor-based solutions for the automotive, industrial, and consumer sectors. 

Producing a semiconductor (or chip) remains an incredible feat that involves placing microscopic metal and other components on round wafers of semiconducting material. The complex manufacturing process takes three to six months to complete in an ultra-clean environment, using highly specialized, precise machines. Indeed, one lithography machine, which prints the patterns on the wafer, layer by layer, can cost $200 million. Every step must be perfectly aligned, even at the nanometer level, and a single speck of dust can destroy a chip. Yet, these products must also be tough enough to function in extreme conditions. Given the long production times and high production costs, quality is paramount, and process variation must be avoided at all costs.

Partnering with edX and TUMx to solve a business challenge

Given the high risk and significant cost of errors, Infineon required education partners capable of providing both assistance and a specific catalog of educational resources and programs to address its unique upskilling needs.

In 2020, Infineon partnered with edX and the Technical University of Munich to launch the Blended Green Belt Certification, designed to train hundreds of employees and set a global standard for excellence. The certification combines the edX Professional Program from the Technical University of Munich, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt: Quantitative Tools for Quality and Productivity program, with Infineon’s custom-developed continuous improvement and problem-solving program. 

The design and roll out of a certification that blended these two problem-solving methodologies ensures that Infineon can maintain the highest manufacturing and process standards across all operations. Currently, the initiative is a cornerstone of the company’s global quality excellence program serving the automotive and security industries, and is deployed at all production sites worldwide.

An impactful partnership with edX and TUMx

The collaboration between Infineon, edX, and TUMx highlights the power of skills development in solving a business need; and provides numerous benefits to the organization and its employees. 

The in-depth program structure includes 30+ hours of videos, over 500 practice and homework problems and interactive exercises, mini case studies, and projects. 

Additionally, the program includes an active discussion board tailored for Infineon’s topics in semiconductor production. This platform provides challenging and consistent training material Infineon employees can directly apply to their areas of responsibility.

Certification empowers Infineon employee to excel in a new role

Maria Roma, a Principal Process Engineer at Infineon, earned her TUMx Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification with edX, and can directly link her learnings to her career outcomes. For example, her newfound knowledge meant that she could assist in resolving a customer issue. “[I used] problem analysis and resolution, earning a Spot Award for helping out,” she says. Even with 25 years of management experience and three post-graduate degrees, the program has significantly improved her day-to-day work, resulting in a promotion for which she previously was ill-experienced.

As a busy, full-time professional and mother of two, Maria needed a program that fitted into her schedule. “I don’t have the spare time to attend programs that require in-person attendance. Online learning was the best and only option for me.” 

She explains why the edX platform was ideal: “I could listen to or watch videos while exercising, doing chores, waiting at airport gates, in flight, and during idle times when attending my children’s tournaments and competitions.” 

“I’ve taken online certificate learning programs before, but this is definitely the best so far,” she adds. “The program’s structure and the method of communication have set a high bar for the next ones. I definitely recommend this course.”

Celebrating the 100th TUMx Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt at Infineon

Since the launch of the first pilot projects at three Infineon sites in Germany, Austria, and Hungary, the program has expanded to three more locations in Europe and Asia. So far, 100 Infineon employees have received their Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certifications, helping them to achieve work excellence. 

Ready to upskill your employees from anywhere in the world? Speak to an edX enterprise consultant to learn more about the TUMx Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification — a top program already completed by over 350,000 learners.

About the author

Stephan Tente is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Lead Principal for Problem Solving & Continuous Improvement at Infineon. He works in the corporate quality department in the Infineon Headquarters in Munich, Germany and is responsible for the worldwide Thinking Six Sigma and Lean program with its 700 Green and Black Belts, and over 50 in-house trainers.

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Hydro, a long-term client of edX, is a global aluminum manufacturing company committed to sustainability and environmental stewardship. In May 2023, Hydro launched a comprehensive sustainability initiative with the goal to contribute to a renewable future.

Challenge: Empower employees with the knowledge to drive sustainability

“Driving sustainability by becoming a net-zero company, protecting biodiversity, and reducing our environmental footprint are key strategic ambitions for us,” says Jeanine Lerdahl, Global Lead Learning at Norsk Hydro.

Hydro’s pillars and goals include:

• Net Zero: Deliver net-zero products to customers and become a net-zero company by 2050 or earlier.
• Biodiversity: Achieve no net loss of biodiversity in new projects by 2030, and 1:1 rehabilitation of mined areas within two hydrological seasons.
• Empowerment: Provide 500,000 people, by 2030, with education and skills development for the future economy.

These goals are in conjunction with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 goals that constitute a global vision for addressing development and sustainability challenges. Hydro highlights eight as particularly important, one of which is equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities.

As part of these initiatives, the company sought to enhance its workforce’s knowledge of and skills in sustainability. To do so, they turned to edX to provide a tailored learning solution.

Solution: Offer employees courses and programs in sustainable business practices

The edX sustainability courses Hydro selected and rolled out to all employees included offerings from the SDG Academy, an initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network which creates graduate-level courses on sustainable development for global learners. 

Employees had access to a curated pathway, spanning beginner to advanced capabilities, centered on sustainability. Some of the courses included were:

• How to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals from SDG Academy
• Sustainable Supply Chains and Circularity from ISCEA
• Strategic Communication for Sustainability Leaders from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
• Introduction to Corporate Sustainability, Social Innovation and Ethics from Imperial Business

Additionally, Hydro invited a cohort of its 50 employees across all levels of the organization to participate in the Oxford Leading Sustainable Corporations Programme, from the edX cohort learning portfolio. The six-week course was customized and extended to a 12-week program to give employees more flexibility to complete assignments around their busy workloads. The course aimed to equip participants with the knowledge and tools to formulate sustainable strategies.

This particular program curriculum takes an executive-level perspective on business sustainability; it focuses on teaching leaders to integrate environmental, social, and corporate governance factors into their business practice.

Jeanine Lerdahl expressed her excitement and pride in Hydro partnering with Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and edX, and in having Hydro’s cohort of 50 leaders become the first cohort of employees to participate in the Oxford Leading Sustainable Corporations Programme. “This cohort,” Lerdahl says, “represents a diverse group of individuals from across the entire organization who are eager and engaged in sustainability and their learning journey.”

Impact: Education helps drive positive change

Hydro’s investment in learning and development with edX has helped establish a foundation for a sustainable future within the company. Members of this cohort are now equipped with the necessary capabilities and skills to communicate and implement sustainable business practices and strategies. Upon completion, participants in the Oxford Leading Sustainable Corporations Programme are able to:

• Implement risk management and facilitate ESG integration into their organization.
• Formulate effective KPIs to measure their organization’s effect on the environment.
• Develop a plan to integrate sustainability strategies into corporate governance structures.
• Access leading climate research from Oxford Saïd to drive positive change.

Mary Johnstone-Louis, Programme Co-Director of the Oxford Leading Sustainable Corporations Programme and senior fellow in management practice, described the cohort’s enthusiasm for the learning initiative.

“Participants from Hydro put forth significant effort during the programme, demonstrating a strong commitment to group and individual learning,” Johnstone-Louis said. “The cohort also showed a clear intention to bring the program’s focus on action to their own work, a true return on this investment in their leadership.”

By prioritizing learning, Hydro is also better positioned to achieve its strategic ambitions within sustainability. The company’s culture for learning continues to evolve and edX is here to support those values as they grow and change. This collaboration between Hydro and edX serves as a powerful example of how education and corporate goals can align to influence positive change and create a lasting impact on society. 

Looking ahead: What’s next for Hydro and edX

Hydro is continuing its partnership with edX with a three-year learner credit deal. This commitment underscores the company’s dedication to ongoing learning and its belief in the power of education to drive sustainable change.

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Challenge

Once renowned as the “Oil Capital of the World,” Tulsa, Oklahoma, has undergone a transformation from its historic petroleum-driven economy into a hub for high-growth, technology-driven sectors. Today, Tulsa is home to major players in the energy, aerospace, manufacturing, and tech industries, as the city strives to honor its past while simultaneously forging a sustainable future.

In its Tulsa Tech Niche study, which seeks out promising opportunities for the city, Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL) has identified data analytics and cybersecurity as two pivotal areas for job creation. The demand for professionals in these fields, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows no signs of slowing down. Information security, for instance, is experiencing rapid growth, with projections indicating a 33 percent increase in demand between 2020 and 2030. ⁶ Likewise, data analytics positions are anticipated to grow by 31 percent during the same time frame. ⁷ 

Solution

As a part of 2U Inc., the parent company of edX’s growing Access Partnership initiative, a collaboration was forged with Tulsa Community College (TCC) and Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL) in 2022. This partnership was established to provide adult learners in the Tulsa area with access to no cost pathways leading to job-relevant skills in data analytics and cybersecurity, ultimately opening doors to transformative career opportunities. The primary aim of this program is to bolster the technical talent pool in the Tulsa region, with a specific emphasis on assisting women, BIPOC individuals, and lower-income professionals in securing more prosperous economic futures.

In the inaugural cohorts of the program, 40 learners from diverse backgrounds, including blue-collar workers, military veterans, women re-entering the workforce, and individuals from the Cherokee Nation, embarked on part-time enrollment in TCC’s online cybersecurity and data science boot camps. Furthermore, an additional 80 seats have already been allocated for each discipline for 2023, bringing the total to 200 seats during the program’s initial launch period.

“Tulsa Innovation Labs is committed to making big investments where opportunities for traditionally underserved Tulsans overlap with industries in which Tulsa has a right to win,” said Nicholas Lalla, managing director of Tulsa Innovation Labs. “This initiative is a home run on both counts, and will be a game-changer in how the city leverages its unique competitive advantages to give Tulsans from every background a chance to access a high-paying career in cyber and data analytics.”

Impact

The inaugural cohorts celebrated a remarkable graduation rate of 89.7%. After learners have successfully completed their boot camp, learners continue to benefit from the extensive network of support and benefits offered by the program. Graduates gain access to a comprehensive set of career services, a standard feature of edX boot camps. This empowers them to establish direct connections with local employers, increasing their chances of securing new job opportunities.

Additionally, graduates have the option to continue their education journey and have their boot camp experience recognized as credit toward an associate degree at Tulsa Community College (TCC) or one of TCC’s partner institutions, such as Oklahoma State or the University of Tulsa. Moreover, learners have also transitioned into full-time paid assistantship roles, enabling them to gain valuable on-the-job experience before securing permanent positions.

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Today’s global work landscape is full of uncharted territory. In an amazingly short time span, employers have been confronted with rapidly evolving technology, the work-from-home movement, the aptly named “Great Resignation,” and myriad other circumstances.

These unique challenges require creative, tech-focused solutions, and many organizations must rely on consulting companies like Cognizant, one of the world’s leading professional service organizations.

Eric Westphal, leader of global workforce strategy and economic development at Cognizant, says that a forward-thinking, proactive strategy is a key component of his company’s success.

“Through the years,” Westphal says, “we’ve transitioned from a company that helps you run your business more efficiently to a company that guides you toward running your business differently.”

An Inside Job

This method applies not only to Cognizant’s network of global clients but also to its own workforce. While new Cognizant prospects and hires may have the education necessary for a particular role, it’s difficult to mirror the specific knowledge that typically comes from on-the-job experience — meaning critical time is often lost while an employee gets up to speed.

To minimize this lag and target specialized hires, Cognizant partnered with 2U, the parent company of edX, to not only recruit talent from boot camps but also to help future employees develop skills before they’re even hired. This step is crucial in helping to close a technology skills gap currently seen in the workforce nationwide.

“College graduates come out of the gate with great knowledge and problem-solving skills,” says Allen Shaheen, executive vice president of digital engineering at Cognizant, “but they don’t yet have the specific targeted capabilities that allow us to place them on projects and be productive straight away. Our relationship with 2U has helped bridge that gap with higher education.”

Streamlined Approach to Recruitment

As a large Fortune 500 company, Cognizant has a robust hiring and recruiting structure, but it can be difficult to recruit locally for clients in certain regions. The company found that recruiting from regionally recognized boot camps is a smart way to find promising candidates.

For example, a Cognizant team that primarily serves insurance clients may focus recruitment efforts on Hartford, Connecticut, for its vast number of insurance companies based in the area. Cognizant’s relationship with the UConn Coding Boot Camp allows for cost-effective, expedient candidate recruitment.

Cognizant’s top job roles also include full stack development and software developers who understand front- and back-end development and employment of applications. To date, Cognizant has hired nearly 100 boot camp students from our partner institutions.

“We’re hearing from our teams that these individuals bring deep industry experience, as many have been working for a few years and are switching careers,” says Westphal. “Somebody with a finance background is incredibly valuable to our financial services practice as they can better understand those clients’ specific needs and core functions.”

An Impactful Hiring Strategy

In a world where the search for qualified employees is competitive and often frustrating, companies are seeking new ways to adjust their recruiting strategies, raising the bar from simply finding the right employees to finding standout employees with proven abilities and a ready-to-train mindset. 

“The need for qualified IT workers is at an unprecedented level, and our partnership with 2U is providing the skills needed to be successful in an IT career,” says Westphal.

With a view to cultivating the talent needed for today’s technological landscape,  2U and Cognizant have been collaborating on creating multiple pathways – including using the edX platform and content.

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Challenge: Build pathways to spur employee growth and retention

“If we don’t know what jobs will exist in the future, how do we educate our people for them?” 

That’s one of the big questions Allison Gemelke was asking herself in 2020. Gemelke is a senior corporate trainer at Nelnet, one of the largest and most respected student loan servicers in the United States. Like many learning and development (L&D) professionals, she’d witnessed the rapid acceleration of career and skill changes during the pandemic — and recognized the risk it posed to businesses. At the same time, she was struggling to find educational programs that would provide real opportunities for advancement while accommodating employees’ full-time schedules and addressing a variety of educational backgrounds.

To get ahead of the problem, Gemelke and the Nelnet L&D team identified two key challenges: closing the skill gap and retaining talent. First, they would help close skill gaps in critical areas such as cybersecurity, information technology, finance, and compliance. Second, they’d create sustained career pathways that could be tailored to different education and experience levels. 

These initiatives would help Nelnet achieve an even more impactful goal: Expand its culture of continuous learning. The company already had a clearly defined talent-acquisition strategy, a robust onboarding process and a strong sense of community, but Gemelke knew those attributes would go to waste without integrated, organization-wide support.

“It’s like building a house without a blueprint,” Gemelke said. “If I don’t know what I’m building, those resources and tools are just going to sit there.” 

Solution: Offer credit-backed microcredentials programs

With edX for Business, Nelnet was able to bring the blueprint into being and expand their award-winning Nelnet University offerings. 

The MicroBachelors® and MicroMasters® programs from edX for Business offered subject-specific content Nelnet employees needed to transition into new roles. It also gave the L&D team time to focus on the implementation of these programs and to move faster overall — a compelling benefit given how quickly many tech skills evolve and become outdated.

“If we had to develop all that content from scratch, it would have taken much longer,” said Gemelke. “It would significantly hamper our ability to get our associates the skills they need in the right amount of time.”

MicroBachelors and MicroMasters programs are tailored to fast-growing, business-critical fields such as cybersecurity and information technology, incorporating skill areas like leadership and innovation. 

Through the programs, Nelnet employees could build those skills while earning credits and powerful credentials. If they wished, they could even put their credits towards a full degree — whether they were returning to school or starting it for the first time. Nelnet was also drawn to the modular and stackable nature of the programs, which gave Nelnet employees a flexible way to upskill quickly, demonstrate proficiency and keep learning as jobs evolved. It would make the whole company more agile and growth-focused in the long run.

“These programs stood out because they offer the opportunity to enroll in college-level courses and gain real credit and a certificate, without the commitment of a full degree,” Gemelke said. “I brought it to the team and we developed a pilot plan.” 

The L&D team started with a small group of pilot edX programs. Of special interest was the Cybersecurity program. “Globally there is a known shortage of people with cyber skills. We wanted to put into place a process for getting our associates the knowledge and skills to fill this gap. edX made this easy to do.”

Impact: Above-target participation and increased retention

Above-target enrollments: Nelnet’s L&D team set a goal of piloting the MicroBachelors or MicroMasters program with 10 associates. In the end, they enrolled over 30. 

Improved retention: In the early days of the Great Resignation, Nelnet saw increased retention among employees who participated in the edX for Business program. Some employees have even moved into new roles.

Executive-level praise: The programs have drawn attention from a wide array of employees. The executive chairman of Nelnet’s board was so excited about the partnership that he requested an enrollment code for a data science course — a critical reflection of Nelnet’s culture of continuous learning. 

Based on the program’s initial results, Gemelke said the Nelnet L&D team is considering other edX for Business offerings like professional certificate programs that allow employees to learn new skills without seeking a degree.

Results: One year later

• 65% employee pass rate
• 114 enrollments across 45 courses
• 600+ collective hours of learning in the program’s first year

Through the pilot program, Nelnet employees:  

• Developed their foundational knowledge of business-critical skills.
• Gained the confidence to tackle new career paths and full degrees.
• Earned college credit based on their course scores.
• Felt more connected to the organization, which resulted in higher retention rates.
• Spent more time advancing their careers.

Nelnet employees took a variety of edX for Business programs, including:

Recommendations

• Select high-potential employees with targeted learning goals.
• Measure pre-learning performance and post-learning performance.
• Develop a plan to communicate impact and scale opportunities.

Looking ahead

What’s next for Nelnet? Given the success and popularity of the pilot program, Gemelke says her team wants to build more directed pathways for associate career development, tie career development to the core competencies of the organization, and create more opportunities for self-directed learning. They will:

1. Expand educational offerings: The team wants to embrace credentials like certificates, as well as learner-driven programs that will give younger generations of employees the autonomy to map their careers and realize long-term goals.
2. Emphasize core competencies: Nelnet plans to use Workday to manage their competency framework. That will enable employees to track certifications and facilitate 4×4 development conversations, which will focus on goal-tracking and accomplishments.
3. Facilitate internal recruiting: Workday has a “gig” function that allows workers to enter skills and knowledge, which means leaders and recruiters will be able to actively seek out current employees with the skills they need for certain roles. 

Gemelke and her team know they have their work cut out for them. In the midst of technological advancement and a global fight for talent, no one can predict the future — but we can find ways to prepare for it. Gemelke says that process starts with people: Giving them structured development opportunities, helping them uncover new strengths, and inspiring them to map their own career paths. And that’s a story we can all get behind.

Create your own success story with edX For Business

Connect with the edX For Business team to learn more about how to use our programs to retain your employees through upskilling and tap into the hidden potential of your workforce.

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