Skillsoft Makes Digital Learning Collaborative and Social with New Percipio App for Microsoft Teams

BOSTON – September 23, 2021 – While COVID-19 led to drastic changes in the way organizations work, it also impacted the way in which employees learn and grow. Enterprise learners are now digitally dispersed and have an increased appetite for leveraging collaboration platforms to engage, learn and grow. In response to this, Skillsoft Corp. (NYSE: SKIL) (“Skillsoft” or the “Company”), a global leaderin corporate digital learning, is releasing the Skillsoft Percipio for Microsoft Teams App, empowering organizations to foster a sense of community by enabling employees to access assignments, discuss important takeaways, and share courses they’ve discovered and found helpful — all within the flow of work.

Today’s announcement is the newest milestone in a partnership transforming workplace education between Microsoft and Skillsoft. Skillsoft customers can now access the full Percipio learning platform in the social, collaborative environment that Microsoft Teams provides.

Collaborative learning to bridge skills gap
Pandemic-era employees who are satisfied with their social connectivity are two-to-three times more likely to maintain or improve productivity, according to the Boston Consulting Group. It’s no wonder that more than one-third of chief human resource officers told PwC they are investing in new tools to support virtual teams, with a focus on collaboration. Microsoft Teams and the 145 million worldwide users it connects daily are a key example of how workers can learn together — even when “together” has a new meaning.

Apratim Purakayastha, chief technology officer at Skillsoft, believes Percipio for Teams is a solution to a long-standing problem, saying: “A skills gap existed long before the pandemic and digital learning is more crucial than ever to building operating-model resilience. As organizations work to bridge this skills gap, providing easy access to valuable learning tools should be a top priority. Percipio for Teams provides easy access to collaborative learning tools without having to leave the flow of work.”

RELX, a Skillsoft customer and participant in the Percipio for Teams pilot, has more than 97 percent of its global workforce of 33,000 operating remotely since the onset of the pandemic. The provider of information-based analytics and decision tools had to be intentional about developing collaborative learning experiences that can reunite learners in the flow of work.

“In piloting Percipio for Teams, we aimed to recreate the organic interaction one would experience when sitting with peers in a classroom, while also cultivating an environment where learners could build skills, apply them in real-time, and share insights with one another–all without ever leaving Microsoft Teams,” said Mary Glowacka, global lead, digital learning, RELX. “Within weeks of launching our pilot, we saw learners from across RELX’s four businesses interacting as we’d hoped–fully in line with our objective to enable communities of practice where colleagues from around the world collaborate to learn, share ideas, and solve challenges together.”

Bringing Percipio into the Microsoft Teams universe has benefits for learning and development (L&D) professionals, and for learners themselves. This includes:

• Learning in the flow of work: Learning professionals are in the driver’s seat. Every employee using Percipio for Teams can learn in the format, schedule, and structure that’s right for them. After finding the skills they need using the chatbot, learners can launch videos, books, audiobooks, hands-on practice labs — whatever their job calls for at that moment. And they can do all of this without ever leaving Microsoft Teams.
• Learning in the flow of community: Percipio for Teams also lets employees instantly share helpful learning content with their peers, colleagues, and teammates in impromptu chats, group meetings, brainstorm sessions, and more. Enabling learning in the flow of working together, managers who lead teams can create virtual learning groups, recommend content, and assign learning paths — and then open the floor to discussion to help employees absorb what they have learned.
• Learning in the flow of the organization: Learning can be pinned inside project teams or cohorts sites (in a learning tab) so that all the members of that team can see which learning is required or recommended for team members. This merges work and learning into their Teams page. At each step along the way, learners can ask questions, share ideas, work together, and apply their growing knowledge toward urgent real-time needs, the organization’s most prominent goals, and whatever business challenges the future may bring. By enabling their workforce to learn in the continuously evolving flow of work, enterprises can increase adoption and rekindle engagement.

“People are more motivated to learn when it relates directly to their job or role,” said Josh Bersin, Global Industry Analyst. “Skillsoft’s Aspire Journeys are great examples of skill or role-based learning paths that deliver relevant learning directly to employees. And through its integration with Microsoft Teams, Skillsoft can now deliver learning in the flow of work.”

Skillsoft is offering all interested learners 30 days of free access to Percipio so they can experience firsthand Skillsoft’s next-generation learning platform and extensive course library.

About Skillsoft
Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL) is a global leader in corporate digital learning, focused on transforming today’s workforce for tomorrow’s economy. The Company provides enterprise learning solutions designed to prepare organizations for the future of work, overcome critical skill gaps, drive demonstrable behavior-change, and unlock the potential in their people. Skillsoft offers a comprehensive suite of premium, original, and authorized partner content, including one of the broadest and deepest libraries of leadership & business skills, technology & developer, and compliance curricula. With access to a broad spectrum of learning options (including video, audio, books, bootcamps, live events, and practice labs), organizations can meaningfully increase learner engagement and retention. Skillsoft’s offerings are delivered through Percipio, its award-winning, AI-driven, immersive learning platform purpose built to make learning easier, more accessible, and more effective. Learn more at www.skillsoft.com.

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