Myths, Trends, and Hot Topics in Corporate Education

Is it Worth Investing in Corporate Education Now?

Sigma Software University was founded in Ukraine and we often hear that corporate education is not relevant now. Let me start by debunking a few popular myths. On the one hand, the segment is indeed experiencing a certain crisis because of the global economic slowdown and the war in Ukraine. Many companies are forced to revise their cost structure, and part of the funds allocated for education is often redistributed to other purposes, including donations or other CSR activities.

At the same time, we see that, despite cost-cutting, companies are not ready to stop corporate training. Most businesses continue to invest in employee education, as it increases business efficiency in the face of staff shortages.

Another popular myth is that if you invest in employee development, they will leave for other companies or demand higher salaries. This is a false thesis – in fact, it is much worse for a business if employees stay in the company but stop developing. It is much cheaper to “pump up” your employees than to hire expensive specialists on the market. Numerous studies confirm that companies’ investments in training make employees more loyal to their employers and prevent staff turnover.

Thus, corporate education continues to evolve to meet the challenges of the times. Efficiency is becoming its main metric. No one sends employees to study for box-ticking anymore – education must be fast, relevant, and effective. The main trends in corporate education respond to this demand.

Trend #1: Updating the Learning Strategy and Implementing Instructional Design

The main task of Instructional Design is to make learning as effective as possible. The first step to achieving such efficiency is to create your own Learning & Development strategy in the company. Corporate education without a clear strategy is always more expensive than with one. The development and implementation of such strategies has evolved into a specific consulting service that we at Sigma Software University provide. We tell corporations what kinds of strategies are available and help them develop one for a specific client.

When it comes to implementing a learning strategy, there are two ways. The first is to use ready-made content from educational platforms if it meets the needs of corporations. This method is simpler, it covers the needs here and now, involving quality providers who have a reputation, customer feedback, developed content, and proven programs that have demonstrated their effectiveness. In particular, we at Sigma Software University have a lot of developments, frameworks, and training programs from which corporations can choose the ones what suits their needs.

The second way is a bit more complicated and risky, but it can bring more benefits over a long period of time. Especially when it comes to a company with a specific framework. In this case, it makes sense to invest in creating your own training system based on company assets – corporate culture, experience, and its own cases. In large companies that have been on the market for a long time, there is a need to familiarize employees with the historical development of the company, its customers, and specific features.

Educational institutions, such as Sigma Software University, can offer such clients, firstly, their own expertise in building an LMS (Learning Management System), which will automate the process of onboarding and training employees. Secondly, we help create interactive learning content from the array of information that the company wants to convey to employees. As a rule, these are raw, disparate materials that we accumulate, digitalize, build a Learning Path from them, adapt them for different platforms, and turn them into engaging content to master knowledge in an accessible and interesting way.

Trend #2: Customization of Training Courses

The search for the most effective training solutions in the shortest possible time and on a reasonable budget encourages businesses to look for courses that are tailored to the specifics of their domain, and sometimes even to their company. We already have many successful cases in our portfolio, including the experience of cooperation with the Raiffeisen Bank team, which they agreed to share.

Trend #3: Blended Learning Approach

The blended approach to education is a combination of different learning formats, including offline and online, self-education, interactive learning, etc. Again, this is about efficiency, because in conditions when not all students have a possibility to learn at the same time, it is very important that they have the opportunity to catch up on material in their free time or communicate with the teacher one-on-one.

At Sigma Software University, we actively use a blended approach, we have classic online courses, workshops and meetups, camps, and self-study courses. If corporate clients are satisfied with the program of one of our regular courses, they buy this course for their employees, and they are trained as part of a mixed group. Here’s a testimonial from a Fozzy Group employee who appreciated the benefits of the blended approach in our Power BI course.

Trend #4: Creating an In-house L&D Function in Companies

Companies with 100-200 employees are increasingly starting to invest in the creation of their own corporate educational function. They have separate roles of Learning & Development specialists, whose task is to create a corporate environment in which educational services are provided. These specialists also help employees and their managers set learning goals in line with the company’s strategic plans and monitor progress together with HR.

Educational institutions equip such specialists with the necessary tools and train L&D specialists for companies. We have programs to teach such disciplines as Change Management, People Management, Performance Management, etc. In times of turbulence and constant change, the availability of L&D specialists and appropriate tools allows businesses to be effective and quickly adapt to changing environment.

Hot Topics in Corporate Education

In addition to general trends, I would like to focus on the areas of expertise that are currently in greatest demand among corporations.

Cybersecurity should probably be at the top of the list. Given the war, constant cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, banks, logistics, and trade, even small companies face a serious issue of protecting themselves from cyber threats and improving the digital literacy of their employees. Fortunately, there is a large selection of training programs on cyber audit, protection against digital threats, etc.

We also see an ever-growing demand for data science training, based on requests from our clients and our market colleagues. Companies from various industries, banking, insurance, retail, and others, are accumulating more and more data in their corporate clouds and external environments. Identifying qualitative trends, structuring and reporting this data requires specific skills from non-technical operational specialists, even if we are talking about classic tools like Microsoft Excel and Power BI.

The third relevant area I would like to highlight is stress resistance and emotional intelligence. We see the growing popularity of psychological trainings that help to deal with conflicts, give proper feedback, and evaluate employees’ performance. This is a kind of People Management in the era of turbulent change. Companies are increasingly realizing the importance of developing soft skills in teams, so the number of such requests is growing. And we have something to offer.

Sales are also developing very actively in the Learning & Development segment, especially B2B and access to foreign markets. Amid the crisis in the domestic market and Ukraine’s increasing integration into the European environment, companies are actively interested in how to enter foreign markets, work with foreign clients, and close contracts. To meet this demand, we engage partners, including foreign speakers, for our meetups and webinars.

Speaking of more technical requests, there is a growing demand for courses on cloud migration and DevOps expertise. It is worth adding everything related to automation, both business processes and, for example, testing.

Of course, the hottest tech topic of today, artificial intelligence, is also in great demand. This market is developing very rapidly, with more and more useful tools emerging and progressing to improve work efficiency in education, medicine, the financial sector, and all other areas. We are planning to organize AI meetups and courses with leading experts, including the creation of software for ChatGPT.

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