Memorable markers in our lives are more important than you might think. They give us the ability to reflect on events that are important to us, recognise our progress and celebrate the wins – big or small. When it comes to learning, milestones can also help push us further by keeping us motivated and ‘on track’, as well as illustrate to ourselves and others how hard we’ve worked and how far we’ve come.

What’s more, in a world where we’re starting to realise the potential of digitisation and think about its ethical design, having a common language of milestones in the forms of certifications, badges and credentials can be extremely beneficial, both for individuals looking for their next opportunity or businesses looking for their next great hire.

As a result, we’re beginning to see different learning ecosystems spring up, for example, Google For Education and Amazon Web Services (great partners of ours). In these ecosystems, you take different credentialed courses – ones that are quickly becoming industry standard and are therefore recognisable across the board of sectors – and build up skills you need for the future.

An indication of progress

At Salesforce, our ecosystem is accessible via Trailhead, a free online learning platform which provides bite-size modules and longer ‘trails’ on a wide range of digital and soft skills. It’s designed around the premise of ‘learn, earn and connect’ so, to keep it fun and interactive, when you finish a module or project, you're awarded badges and points as milestones. A badge represents general knowledge in a specific topic area, while a superbadge represents real-world proficiency in that discipline. Do enough (there are over 1000 to choose from) and you'll move up the ranks from Scout to Ranger, an accolade reserved for those who have earned 100 badges and 50,000 points.

As you can gain new skills and certifications so quickly, you might be wondering how these learning ecosystems fit in with other qualifications. Well, let’s say you’re a marketing degree student and you want to learn about demand generation. You might have done a lot of coursework in your academic studies, but you’re looking for a way to stand out to employers and highlight your level of competence in this area.

By following the Marketer career path on Trailhead and earning the certification, you make a statement that says ‘I’ve got a particular elective that I specialise in, that’s to do with a particular ecosystem, and it’s credible, standardised and very relevant.’ You immediately gain a competitive edge in the world of work. What’s more, you – and potential employers – can also be sure that ethical design is built into the very fabric of your learning, rendering it both cutting edge and future-proof as companies increasingly consider tech as a force for good. This is a compelling message for any organisation that is embracing digital transformation – and one of the reasons institutions such as Coventry University in UK, International University of Applied Sciences in Germany and Open Classrooms, a global online education-to-employment platform, have embedded industry-accredited micro-credentials into their curriculums.

Continuous learning

Here at Salesforce we’re accelerating plans to work with more academic institutions, but you don’t have to be doing marketing, a degree or even be at the beginning of your career to become a Trailblazer. People learn in different ways, at different paces and at different times, so Trailhead can be accessed at any point by anyone with a passion for how digitisation can drive change.

Whether you’re a novice, a career changer or even an established professional, there are numerous directions to choose, including getting certified on Mulesoft, Everything Data with Tableau and Digital HQ Slack or working towards becoming a Developer, Designer or Administrator. LDN Ltd offer an apprenticeship aligned to a Business Analyst route, and there are also workforce programmes like Revolent, which offer two year courses combining paid Salesforce Developer training, certification and placement. Or you can simply pick and choose which badges are of interest to you, in your own time, around other commitments, mostly for free.

The beauty from an individual perspective is that these certifications give you verifiable resume points. Whether you’re talking to your current employer or a future one, you can showcase your learning and knowledge in these areas to a standard that’s easily understood and respected in the business world.

From a business perspective

Speaking of businesses, a new study by IDC shows Salesforce and our ecosystem partners ‘will create 9.3 million new jobs and $1.6 trillion in new business revenues worldwide by 2026’. That’s a massive opportunity, and a massive skills gap to fill. We also know that talent powers customer success, with continuous learning driving an agile and efficient workforce – to the tune of a 30% faster time to value and 68% improvement in efficiency when it comes to Developers.

This suggests that the more certified and credentialed people you have in your business, the better you’ll be able to meet business demands. By taking a comprehensive approach to learning, via a specific ecosystem, your implementations will be more effective and you’ll be served more efficiently in the long-term.

When you inspire your teams to take these milestone badges, you reap the benefits - from creating a team of in-house experts who can improve workflows and automate processes, to more confident employees who can quickly deploy new products and applications, to a workforce that is loyal to you because they feel invested in and appreciated. If you’d like to see just how much customer success our partners have, check out this Standard Bank case study. With 20,000 Rangers and 5 million badges earned, it’s an outstanding example of what can be achieved when you engage Trailblazers across an entire company.

So, benchmarking progress and celebrating learning milestones with Trailhead is a win-win situation for business leaders, partners and customers. And for individuals, if you’ve got the rest of it under your belt, credentials could be just the secret sauce you need to truly accelerate your career and blaze a trail into the future.

For more information

If you’re a business leader who is wondering how to set up an amazing team of people to help with your digital transformation, now and in the future, click here.

If you’re an individual who is feeling excited about taking your career to the next level, you can dive straight into Trailhead, learn more about Salesforce Certification or get started building your portfolio with superbadges.