Growth and Development: The Difference Between Losing and Maintaining Talent

About This Episode

Growth and Development: The Difference Between Losing and Maintaining Talent

How can we keep IT and tech professionals upskilled and engaged amid a widening skills gap and rapid pace of technological change? This is a question that organizations and IT decision-makers around the globe are faced with. Because in today’s digitally transformed world, this is not just an issue for tech companies – technology is crucial to any successful business. So where does the answer to this question lie? To this discuss this further, we invite Michael Yoo, Customer Market Leader for Skillsoft’s Technology and Developer Portfolio, and Angie Okamoto, Vice President of Product for Global Knowledge, to share key insights from Skillsoft’s Global Knowledge 2021 IT Skills and Salary Report. The main takeaway: invest in your people.

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The views expressed by guests are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Skillsoft.

2021 IT SKILLS AND SALARY REPORT

For the 16th straight year, the Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report is one of the largest studies of industry salaries, certifications, skills and more. It's used by IT professionals, human resource leaders, journalists, analysts, and industry experts. This year’s report examines data from 9,325 IT professionals in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.​

About Our Guest

Michael Yoo

Michael is responsible for driving innovation and growth in the Technology and Developer Customer Market. His role as General Manager of this customer market concentrates on leading the content, platform, customer success, sales and marketing teams to deliver compelling experiences to our customers.

Prior to Skillsoft, Michael led the council member organization at GLG, focused on growing GLG’s network of professional experts. Before that, Michael spent over a decade at Gartner, where he led several business units serving technology providers, chief information officers, professional services firms, technology investors, digital marketers, and small & medium businesses. He also led Gartner’s corporate marketing and corporate development organizations. Prior to Gartner, Michael spent 4 years at McKinsey serving high-tech, telecom, and pharmaceutical clients on a variety of strategic issues.

Michael began his career as a research physicist, leading fundamental R&D efforts in semiconductor nanotechnology at IBM, Philips Electronics, and Bell Laboratories. Michael received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard, and his Ph.D. from MIT.

About Our Guest

Angie Okamoto

Angie Okamoto is Vice President, Vendor Relationships with Global Knowledge, the world’s leading technology skills training provider, where she is responsible for a developing portfolio of training content, authorized by the leading technology providers including Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Google, IBM, ITIL®, Microsoft, Red Hat®, Vmware.

Originally from Lincoln, NE, Angie has twenty years of experience in the tech education sector, beginning her career as an instructor and later holding senior roles including Product Director and Director of Training with major tech training and software providers including Tech Ed Solutions and Temenos, a marketing leading banking software service provider.

Angie is married with two children; she lives in Nebraska, volunteers and fosters for a regional dog rescue.

About Our Host

Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek

As Chief Marketing Officer, Michelle leads a global marketing organization, focused on transforming today’s workforce for tomorrow’s economy. Since joining the company, she has been responsible for Skillsoft’s global marketing strategy, which includes generating awareness, driving preference, and building affinity for Skillsoft. Additionally – and perhaps most importantly – Michelle serves as the company's brand evangelist, helping to build a vibrant community of passionate learners.

With more than 25 years of marketing, branding, and strategy experience, Michelle has made it her personal mission to support the advancement of women in business. Prior to Skillsoft, she served as Chief Marketing Officer of IBM Watson, where she was instrumental in developing the first “Women Leaders in AI” program, which honors women who put AI to work across industries and around the globe. She also served as the global head of marketing for The Weather Company, an IBM Business, helping companies understand how to anticipate, plan for, and ultimately make better decisions – with greater confidence – in the face of weather.

Michelle is a prolific speaker on a range of topics, including the war for talent, digital transformation, and marketing in a post-pandemic world. She covers these topics and more as the host of Skillsoft's podcast, The Edge, now in its second season. She has authored countless papers covering a range of business and marketing topics, was at the center of Skillsoft’s leadership role in DEI through free “Leadercamps,” and has taught two Percipio courses on the Pink Pandemic and Public Speaking.

Michelle is also a founding member of CMO Huddles, a group dedicated to bringing together and empowering highly effective B2B CMOs to share, care, and dare each other to greatness. Michelle holds a Master’s degree from Simmons University and sits on the pro side of the Oxford comma debate.