2022 saw a lot of changes to the learning and development space. We learned a lot of new words! There was Quiet Quitting, the Great Reshuffle, and Productivity Paranoia. We also saw an increased focus on upskilling and reskilling.

Check out this infographic of our top 2022 accomplishments.

Upskilling and reskilling gave businesses the opportunity to provide their employees with skills training they needed to remain up-to-date with best practices in their positions as well as prepare for new positions within the same company. Speaking of upskilling and reskilling, let’s look at the enhancements and updates we made to our upskilling and reskilling platform, BizSkills.

Upskilling and Reskilling Made Easy

Our platform for upskilling and reskilling, BizSkills, saw significant enhancements that made administering training even easier for administrators and more effective for learners. We released Skills Genie and the Skill Interests widget, two major enhancements with that allowed administrators and users alike to create a customized skills-learning path the click of a button.

Skills Genie allows administrators to create personalized training plans for custom job roles without manually creating descriptions or requirements. Administrators can simply enter a title, and the Skills Genie will search relevant job postings all over the U.S. to give let administrators know which skills their users should be pursuing to remain at the top of the game.

Alternatively, the Skill Interests widget enables users to forge their own paths by allowing them to add skills based on job roles they are interested in. This requires no prior set-up from administrators and is totally learner-driven! A survey by Indeed found that 15% of employees leave positions due to lack of job mobility and growth. Giving employees the opportunities to train for a position that is within your organization could satisfy their need for growth and improve employee retention.

With these two enhancements, BizLibrary became more ready than ever to assist your company in reskilling and upskilling your employees with BizSkills.

Hybrid Learning and Classroom Management Solution

BizLibrary also released the Virtual Classroom feature, an enhancement to our LMS that allows administrators to streamline and centralize their training efforts. With Virtual Classroom, workplaces can embrace a truly hybrid environment. Learners can always have a seat in the classroom, no matter where it is. The Virtual Classroom feature of BizLMS allows administrators to schedule trainings, assign locations that are both physical and digital, host Q&As and polls, pull reports about attendance, and assign content related to training events all within the same platform.

Expansion to Our Content Library: Expert Insights, OSHA Partnerships, and Canadian Compliance

Our content library also saw significant expansion, increasing the number of topics and presenters we can offer to our clients. Our Expert Insight Series continued to grow as we added content presented by industry experts such as Scott Mautz, Karin Hurt & David Dye, Kevin Eikenberry, Robert Siciliano, and many more. This series include topics such as Business Skills, Leadership and Management, HR Compliance, Sales and Service training, as well as Information Technology.

BizLibrary expanded our Canadian compliance content, adding lessons on Canadian OSHA, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) and a Culture of Civility course for supervisors and employees in Ontario!

We announced a new partnership with ClickSafety which gave BizLibrary clients access to 10- and 30-hour certification content from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  Clients can license the following content in both English and Spanish:

• OSHA 10-hour General Industry – This course features content on electrical safety, emergency hazard communication, personal protective equipment, walking and working surfaces, and more.
• OSHA 10-hour Construction – This course features content on preventing health and safety hazards commonly found on construction sites and covers topics such as workers’ rights and employer responsibilities; Focus Four, major construction, and material handling hazards; how to use personal protective equipment, and more.
• OSHA 30-hour Construction – This course builds on the 10-hour construction content with the inclusion of motor vehicle, welding, and steel hazards, and more.

For clients with workforces based in California, BizLibrary will also offer the CAL/OSHA 10-hour Construction course from ClickSafety and the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) exam prep course. Upon completion of an OSHA course and a passing score on the final exam, learners will receive DOL cards in the mail.

The partnership between ClickSafety and BizLibrary was a big win for BizLibrary and clients alike as it allowed us to provide requested content to our clients on their behalf.

Speaking of requested content, BizLibrary is proud to report that we published 111 brand new pieces of content that were directly requested by clients. We love to fulfill client requests whenever possible!

According to Chief Product Officer Erin Pinkowski, “Client feedback continues to drive our content roadmap with topical requests as well as preferences towards specific styles and formats. Client feedback drove the creation of our expert series and now we are taking that concept one step further with BizAcademy and the need for more support in the area of leadership development with live instruction, coaching and feedback.”

Speaking of Leadership Development…

Our new leadership development content product, BizAcademy was announced at BizLibrary’s ALIGN conference.

It develops leaders at every level with expert-led, cohort-based virtual learning experiences with veterans of the industry, including former and current executive leadership members. With a mix of live sessions led by industry experts, on-demand content, and real-time coaching, your leaders will get the expertise they need to inspire their teams and drive a culture of growth and development at your organization. 

The first BizAcademy sessions will kick off in March of 2023. Kevin Eikenberry and Guy Harris will be leading a 16-week certificate program on New Manager Fundamentals. Additionally, Kevin Eikenberry will join a lineup of BizLibrary Expert Insights presenters, including Meridith Elliott Powell, Scott Mautz, Karin Hurt, and David Dye to instruct our Leadership Essentials Academy. Mike Gutman will also lead a four-week focus Academy on Remote Leadership.

Success at BOOST & ALIGN!

BOOST

We held our very first BOOST conference in May. BOOST was open to any L&D professional, HR leader, training professional, or C-Suite Executive seeking to learn more about the future of Upskilling & Reskilling. BOOST garnered nearly 3,000 registrations in 2022 and will return in March of 2023!

ALIGN

ALIGN 2022 was BizLibrary’s fifteenth annual conference. ALIGN remained a digital conference this year and saw a 42% increase in registrations over 2021 with almost 500 attendees watching the sessions live! There were more than 18 sessions at ALIGN with three content tracks to suit attendees no matter where they are in their training program. The 2022 ALIGN Award winners were:  

Most Inclusive Culture – Options For All
Best New Program Launch – Beacon Mobility
Training Program of the Year- Navajo Tribal Utility Authority
and two Most Improved Program Awards to Exeter Finance & OnPoint Group, LLC.

Innovations in Implementation

BizLibrary also made significant changes to our Implementation process. Software-as-a-service can be notorious for having long implementation times, with slow lead to value. We’re proud to report that at BizLibrary we’ve changed up our implementation process so that you can see the value in your programs and processes faster than ever. In addition, we’ve created new internal teams dedicated to ensuring that your program is right-sized for your businesses and invested in supporting your workforces with prescriptive programs, playbooks, and increasing utilization so that you can increase your ROI.

Looking Forward to the Year Ahead

While 2022 saw a lot of great improvements to the BizLibrary offering, we can’t wait to see what is to come in 2023 and continue to innovate on behalf of our clients and their workforces. Our focus for 2023 is on leadership development with BizAcademy, but we’re still here to help you manage risks and maintain compliance, provide upskilling and reskilling to your workers, and create paths to leadership that supports growth within your company. We are here to be your learning and leadership development partner for 2023 and beyond!