The IBM Center for The Business of Government has released a new report outlining recommendations on how federal government agencies can deliver technology-oriented training to upskill their employees and close the information technology skills gap in their workforce.
The report, titled “Reskilling the Workforce with Technology-Oriented Training,” stated that an effective technology-oriented training program must allow employees to gain technical, functional and contextual knowledge that they need to perform their work functions.
To achieve effective training outcomes, Authors Stacie Petter of Baylor University and Laurie Giddens of the University of North Texas recommended that agencies identify employees who are interested in participating in reskilling training programs, design appropriate learning methods for the selected employees and provide continued support to employees post-training.
Petter and Giddens assessed the DeliverFund’s Counter Human Trafficking Intelligence Operations Course and the Chief Information Officers Council’s Federal Cyber Reskilling Academy as part of the research and found that employee’s personal characteristics, training design and delivery and the work environment may affect the transfer of training to employees.
While the authors acknowledged that these factors may pose challenges, they noted that technology-oriented training still provides more positive outcomes for agencies looking to reskill their workforce as they seek to transform their digital infrastructures.
