The technology skills gap is a major concern for many companies across the UK. In an age of digital transformation, businesses of all sizes are on the hunt for specialist skills with the support of teams like Resource on Demand.
One of the areas where the digital skills gap is having the most significant impact is in the CRM space. Now that organisations understand the value of consumer data and customer experience, applications like Salesforce have become an essential part of running a successful company. Unfortunately, while the demand for Salesforce expertise is high, the number of available candidates is low.
Here’s how Salesforce have attempted to bridge the talent gap so far.
Expanding the Salesforce Ecosystem
The Salesforce Ecosystem is a vast network of partners and developers devoted to leveraging the power of Salesforce. As a CRM that prides itself on its global community, Salesforce has turned to their partners for help addressing the worrisome lack of CRM candidates in the current marketplace.
This year, Salesforce announced a new initiative, calling on partners and customers to improve awareness around the possibilities of life in technology. This decision was made on the back of an IDC study that discovered Salesforce has the potential to create 3.2 million jobs by 2022.
Already, Salesforce is working hand-in-hand with schools to support the teaching of STEM education. This will drive more students into technology as they move from university into the working world. According to a Salesforce study, School 21 in Stratford went from being in the worst 1% in their area, to achieve a ranking in the highest 5% for exam results.
Educational opportunities aren’t intended to be a “quick fix” for the tech space, but they will assist in avoiding additional skills shortages in the future.
Supporting Budding Developers
As well as providing new avenues for young students interested in technology, Salesforce is also investing significant R&D into making a career in development more accessible. Technology enthusiasts can now use the latest Salesforce solutions to build their own companies and expand their skills simultaneously.
For instance, the Salesforce Lightning platform makes a career in development more accessible to people from all backgrounds, by removing some of the complexity associated with coding. Now, people with interest in digital development or data analytics can create applications for businesses using a simple drag-and-drop interface.
Salesforce has also begun to streamline and automate the administrative processes around supporting partners, ensuring that today’s talent has all the behind-the-scenes support they need to take full advantage of the world’s favourite CRM software.
Empowering the Salesforce Community
Salesforce has always been an organisation devoted to community and collaboration. Recently, to address the issue of skills shortages, the CRM company has been focusing on their community of experts, ensuring that ambitious students or growing developers will always be able to find the answers they need to take their skills to the next level.
Online, there are thousands of people ready to answer questions in the Salesforce Answers Community, or on Twitter. For those prepared to accelerate their career path through networking and mentorship, there are also countless events, including “Dreamforce,” the world’s largest software conference.
Educational Salesforce events take place around the world on a yearly basis. Some members of the Salesforce community have even launched their own events, which are growing more popular by the year. These meetings are an excellent way for tech talent to make sure that they’re already ahead of the curve with the latest Salesforce knowledge.
Specialist Salesforce Certifications and Trailhead
Finally, in recent years, Salesforce has also ramped up the training and certification programs they offer. Trailhead, an official online platform for Salesforce education, launched in 2015 to start plugging the skills gap by giving developers the Salesforce insights they need. Trailhead features dozens of opportunities for candidates who want to expand their CV and improve their understanding of the latest Salesforce features.
For people who want to pursue a full career in Salesforce, there is a wide range of certifications available. These certifications help those interested in the industry to set themselves apart from other job applicants, by giving them in-depth experience within the CRM platform. Certifications are more time-consuming than a trailhead badge, but they pave the way for employees that need to support growing demand for CRM in the workforce.
Salesforce certifications are available for would-be developers, consultants, architects and more – ensuring that learners can create their own career paths or merely remain up-to-speed.
Whether you’re a business looking for ways to expand your team by adding a Salesforce education to your development plans, or you’re an individual interested in a Salesforce career, everyone can contribute to closing the technology skills gap.
About Resource On Demand
Resource On Demand is Europe’s first specialist Salesforce Recruitment Company, now also focusing on growth Cloud markets.
We assist innovative and disruptive organisations to grow their technology teams. Supporting companies to fill Cloud roles that span across Digital Marketing, Marketing Automation, Human Capital Management and the growing Salesforce.com suite of skills.
The team at Resource On Demand have access to an extensive database of key talent, registering over 8000 Cloud professionals each year.
To find out how we can support you call us on 01322 272 532