In the Name of Purpose. SoftServe University issues an annual report on people learning and development

2021 continued this pace being a year of accelerating the strategy of self-driven learning where it’s up to the learner to decide what comes next and what opportunities to use, having all of them literary at hand.

Udemy Business courses turned out to be one of those easily-reachable solutions. In 2021 all the associates got a free and instant access to over 10000 Udemy Business e-learning courses. A platform itself adds up to the flexibility of learning journey: a user can learn a technology completely from scratch or, tune in to master a very specific skill. Having Udemy onboard has rapidly extended, scaled, and accelerated access to learning. More than that: it cemented the habit of lifelong learning and a self-driven search for new knowledge. As a result, e-learning content consumption increased by over 60% in 2021. Part of the Udemy solutions has also been integrated into the courses and internships by SoftServe IT Academy.

2021 was record-breaking for mentorship - a new pair was registered each hour. A culture of giving back to the community is blooming at SoftServe as mentorship takes many forms in terms of areas covered, longevity, seniority, etc. Over 1400 associates have committed to being mentors and that oftentimes includes the members of the C-level team and top executives. Mentorship of newcomers has helped to onboard smoother, while recently launched job shadowing is a perfect solution to anyone willing to know the ropes of a job, improve the cooperation across teams, or try on a new role for a bit. Worth mentioning - in 2021 SoftServe got Gold in nomination for Best Advance in Coaching and Mentorship and was acknowledged with the 2021 Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Leadership Development Awards.

To overcome the uncertainty and leverage all the opportunities it ultimately brings, the company has followed its strategy of raising homegrown leaders via job-specific leadership programs. It has launched the ones for the delivery leadership teams as well as the ones covering the project and quality management. All of those are mostly about transitioning into the new role, mind shift, and change management. Yet, it is also very much rooted in the knowledge exchange driven by more experienced colleagues - acting DD, VP, PMs, etc who have successfully overcome related business challenges.

Intercultural communication was another focus of 2021. SoftServe goes global, and so do its teams, as they grow multicultural and multinational. To improve the communications, and prevent any misunderstandings or clashes, the company ran a range of webinars, communication week, programs, and cultural onboarding programs with over 4400 participants in total. The most effective in this regard was the consultancy provided by the communication experts who join a team, observe behaviors and reactions to generate a roadmap that helps a team to harmonize communication within itself or with the client.

The main highlight for the past year was the celebration of 15th anniversary of SoftServe University. A milestone that manifests the company’s commitment to invest in talent development and do it consistently, year-to-year. And that intention applies not only to the associates: during the last year the company co-launched 4 dual study programs, launched grant program and partnered with 64 universities to renew or create new educational IT projects. Over 2200 of SoftServe Academy graduates became job-ready because of its learning solutions, while half of them were offered a job offer at SoftServe.

Despite everything going on today, SoftServe remains true to its commitments and keeps on developing and investing heavily in talent development. Along with all the solutions being available to the associates internally, SoftServe University launched a bunch of free solutions to equip learners with basic program skills as well as offered free seats on its learning programs. Today more than ever – for everyone to achieve their purpose.

For more insights, data, and learning opportunities from SoftServe University check on the 2021 Annual Report.