Supercharge Your L&D Efforts by Building a Community of Learners

Learning and Development organizations (L&Ds) in the workplace face a challenge: Individual learners have at their fingertips a wide range of always-on, remotely accessible learning tools. When individuals come together to learn as a community, they improve their study habits and their results. So how do you meet learners where they are, and at the same time, encourage them to engage in a learning community to accelerate the outcome? The IBM Center for Cloud Training has built expertise in creating community-oriented initiatives that help technology professionals improve the way they learn—and, ultimately, enhance the likelihood of success on IBM Cloud certification exams. And as both IBM’s and learners’ experience shows, certification that testifies to relevant knowledge and skills can play a significant role in advancing careers. This paper will share examples of some of the innovative initiatives that IBM Cloud Training has designed and implemented. It will place an emphasis on community-focused initiatives, including three of 2023’s most successful efforts: the “Study With Me”/Flash Jam experience, the IBM Cloud New Hire skills initiative, and the Poe Tempero project. These three initiatives built communities of learners and engaged with them over an extended timeline to help them successfully complete IBM Cloud learning assignments, earn industry-recognized credentials, and apply their new skills.