How Brights Learning bridges the Salesforce gap

Businesses have a pressing need for certified Salesforce expertise. Brights Learning is addressing this skill gap with a new pilot project aimed at graduates.

There is a notable shortage of IT expertise in the business world, and since 2018 Brights Learning has been working to educate people in IT and technology through their hands-on courses. Their latest initiative is to further narrow the skills gap by assisting Norwegian companies in offering comprehensive training on Salesforces, one of the largest IT platforms in the world, to their new hires.

«We realized that companies invest significant resources in training their new employees on Salesforce. With our methodology and process, we can address the training required more efficiently­», says Johan Bäck Persson, head of Brights Learning Norway.

Brights has collaborated with several leading Norwegian companies, conducting studies and workshops, to pinpoint the competence challenges they encounter. Brights discovered that while universities and colleges excel in theoretical curriculum, many recent graduates lack the hands-on experience needed for IT and tech roles.

«We found that recent graduates typically spend between six months to a year to attain essential skills and related certifications. Moreover, companies often have to divert senior resources from client projects to facilitate this training. Addressing the skills gap in a different manner proves to be more resource-efficient­», Persson elaborates.

Christen Seeberg, acting country manager for Salesforce in Norway, agrees. He emphasizes that the structured and comprehensive process in the training from Brights Learning has major advantages.

«Brights has proven to be a good partner for us in meeting the ever-changing needs of Salesforce users. Brights deliver courses that not only meet, but exceed our customers' expectations­», says Seeberg.

Brights adapts the program to the companies needs

Several leading Norwegian companies have participated in Brights' Salesforce courses. Accenture, Orkla, and Cognizant had the opportunity to adapt the setup to their needs. The companies wanted the course to be as applicable as possible. The participants were given, among other things, cases with fictitious customers who needed Salesforce implementation.

Nathalie Cloix, Senior Manager at Cognizant, said that she received updates from Brights during the course, and that it was easy to provide feedback continuously.

«­I think it's useful that participants can get a customized program where the curriculum is close to reality, and where participants can discuss cases together. It's much better than the pre-recorded online courses that you have to do alone», says Cloix.

Learner Svend Belter is employed at Cognizant and participated in Brights Learning's six-week program from Denmark.

«­These weeks have been very educational. There was not a problem to complete the course digitally. On the contrary, it has been very useful considering that much of the work going forward is also remote work», Belter says.

He says he is grateful for the opportunity from Cognizant and that he looks forward to using the knowledge in the future.

Bridging the skill gap promptly is a priority

It was important for the companies that new graduates can start immediately with relevant work. Kvive Hansen, Salesforce Delivery Lead at Accenture, believes that an important argument for completing the Brights course is that the candidates get the certifications early.

«­When we make offers to our customers, the quality of the consultants' resumés is something that is emphasized. When graduates have completed practical courses and have the certifications in place, this documents fundamental skills and simplifies the process of getting started with creating value for our customers»" says Hansen.

Nathalie Cloix at Cognizant states that companies could save money by sending candidates to the Brights courses. She points out that the recruitment and onboarding processes are expensive and resource demanding.

«When we outsource this to Brights, it frees up the resources we have internally, and that is quite valuable for us. We spend a fair amount of time on training before the candidates, from the Graduate Program or internal career upskilling, are ready for billable assignments. With the courses from Brights, this amount of time can be significantly shortened­», says Cloix.

Orkla uses the courses as an argument in recruiting

Anne Cathrine Essebaggers, Head of Sales and Marketing at Orkla, says that they work mostly with Salesforce internally. She believes that offering competence enhancement like the Brights course contributes to both recruiting the best candidates and retaining them over time.

«­We know that offering development opportunities to our employees is incredibly important. A course like this not only provides professional development, it also contributes to us being able to keep the sharp minds we have», says Essebaggers.

Orkla sent recent graduate Andreas Ingemundsen to participate in Brights' onboarding course. He is looking forward to returning to the employer again.

«­Since I've both acquired technical skills and can combine it with the terminology at work, it makes me much more confident when I go back to the office», says Ingemundsen.

The learners appreciate the mentor cooperation

Victoria Fredheim started at Accenture in August 2023, and began her career with training at Brights Learning. She says that it has been a smooth transition from the master's degree and into working life with Brights' training method.

«­I'm used to learning theoretical knowledge, but this course has helped me to put that formal knowledge into practice. We have learned to plan projects from A to Z, and think much more holistically», says Fredheim.

She also praises the mentors she has had on the course. She  that they have received close follow-up, and the opportunity to do the tasks in the ways that each individual learns best.

«­It's a big difference from a normal teaching situation. The mentors feel like my colleagues», says Fredheim.

If you want to know more about the onboarding program at Brights Learning, please contact: martin.ostereng@brights.com