How One ISV Utilizes Trailhead in Training to Improve Performance

By Mark Robinson, Co-founder and CMO at Kimble

“Doing a Trailhead course has made the transition from one work area to another a little easier because I haven’t gone in blind; I know I have some of the right skills.” — Ali, Kimble employee.

I would argue that the quotation above shows how training can best be used to improve performance, both on an individual and a business level. Learning new skills or updating old ones on a course instead of on the job can make transitioning into a new role easier, and it is confidence-building. Here’s what our team at Kimble found in talking to some of our employees about their experience with Trailhead training in particular.

How Can Training Disruption Improve Performance?

Currently, there is a great deal of disruption going on in the area of learning technology. In the past, most training programs relied heavily on classroom-based sessions, often provided by a third party, and hefty printed training and instruction manuals to carry around. Attending three-day courses usually involved spending time traveling and sitting through material that you already knew, or which was not directly relevant to you. It was the best available at the time — but it was a one-size-fits-all approach.

Now the Cloud offers the potential to make available an almost infinite variety of training, available on-demand, in bite-sized chunks for people to do whenever they wish. Trailhead courses, which are available to Salesforce partners and customers as well as employees, are one example. We are finding that studying something that feels relevant, at the time you need to learn it, is very motivating.

“I would carve out an hour or so out of my work day each day to do the course. Even if I only got one piece of one module done it felt good because I knew I could pick it up the next day. The badges mean you can immediately see your progress.” — Jayne, Kimble associate.

As well as making use of Trailhead, there are other forms of e-learning, both internal and external which organizations can offer on the Cloud. Qualifications are being “unbundled” so that individuals can study only the parts that are relevant or of interest. Learning materials can be shared by people throughout the company, with different departments collaborating to support cross-functional working. E-learning materials can be innovative and creative, using techniques such as gamification or interactive elements.

“The Trailhead development course was pretty cool. My favorite thing about it was the exercises. If there is a multiple-choice quiz at the end of a module you can skim the material, but here you were set exercises to code and it would mark your work and tell you where you had gone wrong. You might code something error-free but if you missed out part of the brief it would tell you.” — Ameel, Kimble employee.

What is the role of a business leader in this process?

In the past, employers told employees what to learn, but increasingly employees self-direct, based on what they see as the needs of their teams and their own goals. Employees want to keep their knowledge up-to-date and to develop in new directions, in order to succeed at work, to develop their career paths and to meet their personal goals. And businesses want their teams to have all the expertise possible to meet strategic goals and to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction.

I would argue that this is another area where transparency is key. I have written elsewhere about the importance of a shared understanding of the organization’s strategy and direction. That feeds back into training decisions individuals make. If they have a clear picture of where the organization is headed, they can see what skills they may need to work on. Which skill-sets are in decline and which are emerging? How can individual employees develop their potential in a way that fits with the strategy? That extends throughout the organization — business leaders are not immune from the need to learn.

The cloud will increasingly provide the best forum for teaching and learning. But classrooms still have a place. From time to time, a change of scene and meeting people from a different specialism can be beneficial. Getting out of the office for a couple of days to think about something completely different can be productive. In my experience, it generally leaves people feeling challenged and invigorated.

There is still a role, also, for getting cross-functional or international teams together for group learning within the organization. This enables discussion between them. It allows business leaders to hear back from employers and it creates an opportunity to provide motivation and inspiration — these are all things that are better done in person. Or perhaps, one day, this will take place in virtual reality. I may need to go on a training course about that!

Kimble is a Professional Services Automation solution. Learn more about Kimble Apps here.