As AI changes the way everyone works, many organizations struggle to take advantage of its transformative potential. If you’re like the learning managers and team leaders we work with, you’re facing a talent crunch and wondering where to start. Plus, our customers report that off-the-shelf training options don’t fit their business objectives or provide the flexibility that workers with busy schedules need.
As part of the solution to the talent crunch, organizations are adopting a skills-first approach to talent acquisition and development—that is, the focus shifts to an individual’s proven skills and capabilities and not just traditional qualifications like degrees and résumés. And as for training, developing technical skills is a clear imperative for any organization, but it’s only one strategy in a larger playbook.
That’s why we’re happy to announce a new playbook and innovative planning functionality that can help you chart your organization’s unique learning journey. By helping your learners build skills and earn credentials for Microsoft’s AI apps and services, Azure, and other in-demand technologies, you can help them thrive as individuals while building a culture of continuous learning that empowers your workforce to handle disruption with greater resilience and can advance your organization’s success.
Take the long view, and empower a culture of continuous learning
Your organization may be investing in reskilling and upskilling programs, custom courseware, or other learning tools. Yet the Association for Talent Development (ATD), in its 2023 State of the Industry report, points out that the average organization spent less per employee on workplace learning in 2023—and employees spent less time in training—compared to previous years. Microsoft Learn is always looking for ways to help our customers’ and partners’ learners develop and deepen technical skill sets, and we offer a wide variety of learning resources. To help with the sheer volume, the Microsoft Learn for Organizations Playbook puts these resources into perspective for you. It helps you organize your skill-building objectives so that each investment in learning, like a smart play on the field, moves you closer to the goal of building a culture of continuous learning.
The playbook helps you to get started developing and carrying out a plan that identifies and assesses skills gaps in your organization. And it provides resources to maximize your impact on the individual, team, and organization level through actions you can plan, tailor, implement, measure, and optimize. Plus, you can take advantage of Microsoft resources, such as the Microsoft Learn Assessments hub and the Microsoft Learn AI learning hub. You can also find recommendations for building and rolling out skilling plans, measuring progress, earning credentials, and sharing successes throughout the process. You can even connect with Training Services Partners.
We’re happy to make this skill-building resource available through Microsoft Learn for Organizations, which is the front door to all that Microsoft Learn has to offer learners engaged in team training.
Close skills gaps with customizable Plans on Microsoft Learn
The newly announced Plans on Microsoft Learn provide a reliable way for your organization to build and validate skills across your learning community. Plans help learners, teams, and organizations accelerate the achievement of their learning goals by using curated sets of content combined with milestones and automated nudges to keep learners focused and motivated. Plans are made up of thoughtfully created milestones of Microsoft Learn content across a wide variety of training and resources, along with the recommended number of days to complete them.
Experts who are familiar with Microsoft technology can create a custom technical Plan, targeting specific learning goals, and then can share that Plan with others. A Plan’s creator can track the progress of learners and generate reports to verify that the Plans have been completed. Learners who join the Plan can progress at their own speed or follow the recommended pace. If they’ve opted in to receive email notifications from Microsoft Learn, they get reminders that help them to stay on track and complete their Plans.
The owner of a Plan can tailor the collection of content as needed to create a curriculum that efficiently leads individuals and groups to achieve desired outcomes, such as learning how to use new technologies or to quickly get project-ready. They can even incorporate Microsoft Official Plans—curated collections created by Microsoft that help close the skills gap for common scenarios. Sharing a Plan is as easy as sharing a document, and any learner with the link can start and complete that Plan while the Plan’s owner measures progress.
Key features of Plans include:
⦁ Clear learning outcomes.
⦁ Content milestones.
⦁ Optional email reminders.
⦁ Tracking and reporting.
Plans not only help your organization build in-demand technical skills but also can accelerate individual success. For more details on Plans and the growing Plans library, along with links to helpful videos and instructions on how to create, customize, and work through Plans, read the announcement post, Introducing Plans on Microsoft Learn.
Using Plans on Microsoft Learn, you can tailor content to your learners’ needs and track their progress.
Together, the Microsoft Learn for Organizations Playbook and Plans on Microsoft Learn can help your organization address immediate skills gaps while cultivating a resilient culture of continuous learning.
Learn more
- Make the most of the Microsoft Learn for Organizations Playbook.
- Explore Microsoft Learn for Organizations.
- Read Introducing Plans on Microsoft Learn.
- Discover Plans on Microsoft Learn.
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