Skillsoft expands SAP SuccessFactors partnership

Leading platform for transformative learning solutions, Skillsoft, recently announced a new integration with the talent intelligence hub from SAP SuccessFactors, a centralized system for skills intelligence.

Set to be fully available in early 2025, the new integration offers businesses using SAP SuccessFactors solutions and Skillsoft deeper insights into their workforce’s skills and the ability to deliver personalized learning paths aligned with employees’ role requirements and career aspirations, as well as the needs of the business.

By matching skills between customers’ taxonomies from the talent intelligence hub and Skillsoft’s skill dictionary, the companies are linking employees’ skills and roles with learning experiences throughout SAP SuccessFactors. As a result, organizations can better assess, index, and map the current skills of their employees against those required for their jobs, enabling more strategic workforce planning.

Key benefits of the partnership include:

Centralized skills management: Organizations can incorporate existing frameworks and deliver learning that drives targeted workforce development, with the talent intelligence hub serving as a dedicated source of truth for skills.

Enhanced workforce agility: Organizations can quickly adapt to changing market demands by identifying and addressing skill gaps, ensuring the workforce remains competitive and agile.

Increased employee engagement: Personalized learning experiences aligned with career goals boost employee engagement and satisfaction, fostering a more motivated and engaged workforce.

Improved talent mobility: The integration supports internal talent movement by identifying candidates for new roles, strategic projects, or cohorts based on current skills and learning achievements, helping to optimize talent utilization and improve retention.

Optimized tracking & actionable insights: Comprehensive tracking of employee skilling activity, captured in both the talent intelligence hub and Skillsoft’s dashboards, enables organizations to measure impact, identify trends, and tailor learning experiences accordingly.

The Skillsoft announcement follows updates made last fall to the SuccessFactors talent intelligence hub, allowing users to aggregate and harmonize data from third-party solutions in the hub to ensure a single view of skills for both employees and the organization. Partners integrated with the talent intelligence hub prior to Skillsoft include Beamery, iMocha, Korn Ferry, Lightcast, Phenom, TalenTeam, TechWolf, and edtech platform Degreed. Degreed’s inclusion was influenced in part by BT Group, as revealed by SAP SuccessFactors Chief Revenue Officer Maryann Abbajay to SAPinsider last year.

Commenting on the announcement, Apratim Purakayastha, GM, Talent Development Solutions at Skillsoft, stated: “Talent is the fundamental building block of any organization, and achieving priority business objectives hinges on that talent having the right skills. Skills-based strategies are essential for developing an agile, productive, and innovative workforce and business.

“Integrating Skillsoft with the talent intelligence hub from SAP SuccessFactors creates a simpler, more effective, and more engaging approach to talent development.”

What This Means for SAPinsiders:

• Centralized Skills Management for Workforce Development: The integration between SAP SuccessFactors and Skillsoft establishes a unified approach to managing workforce skills and development. By linking employees’ skills and roles with targeted, role-specific learning experiences, organizations can centralize their skills frameworks into a single, authoritative hub. This allows businesses to align their workforce development initiatives with overarching business priorities, ensuring that employees are trained in areas that directly impact strategic goals. The centralized system eliminates redundancy, simplifies skills tracking, and enables seamless integration with other HR and talent processes, resulting in a more cohesive and effective workforce development strategy.
• Latest Partnership in Talent Intelligence Expansion: Building on updates to the SAP SuccessFactors talent intelligence hub announced last fall, which introduced the ability to aggregate and harmonize data from third-party solutions, the new Skillsoft collaboration further enhances the platform’s capabilities. This partnership adds personalized skilling experiences by leveraging Skillsoft’s extensive learning library and its advanced skill taxonomy. Employees gain access to training tailored to their specific roles and career trajectories, while organizations can better address evolving business needs. The collaboration with Skillsoft joins other high-profile integrations with partners like Degreed, Lightcast, and Beamery, reflecting SAP SuccessFactors’ ongoing commitment to delivering cutting-edge talent intelligence solutions for comprehensive workforce planning and skills optimization.
• Enhanced Tracking and Talent Mobility: The integration introduces advanced tracking capabilities across Skillsoft and SAP SuccessFactors, enabling organizations to collect and analyze comprehensive skilling data. This includes detailed insights into employee learning activity, skill acquisition, and alignment with business objectives. These actionable insights empower HR leaders to identify trends, pinpoint skill gaps, and proactively address workforce needs. Additionally, the integration facilitates internal talent mobility by mapping employees’ skills and achievements to new roles, strategic projects, or upskilling opportunities. By supporting data-driven decisions, businesses can optimize their workforce deployment, enhance employee satisfaction, and increase retention, all while fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth.