The Josh Bersin Company

How Booz Allen Creates Validated Skills With Scale And Precision

Jan 27, 2025

In this discussion, Jim Hemgen, Chief Learning Officer at Booz Allen Hamilton, shares insights on creating validated skills across diverse domains, including AI. He explains the importance of engaging managers and employees in learning initiatives. Jim highlights Booz Allen's innovative use of partnerships with platforms like Workera and Udemy to build a trusted skills validation process. Storytelling and rewards play a crucial role in motivating employees. Remarkably, over one-third of Booz Allen staff have achieved validated credentials, a testament to the company's commitment to skills development and retention.

20:26

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Episode guests

Jim Hemgen

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Quick takeaways

Booz Allen Hamilton's talent marketplace fosters internal mobility and retention by promoting skills validation and encouraging employee career development.

Integrating AI readiness programs is essential for transforming Booz Allen's workforce into a tech-savvy environment aligned with business objectives.

Deep dives

The Importance of Culture in Career Mobility

Career mobility is significantly influenced by organizational culture, which plays a crucial role in change management strategies. Leadership support is essential for fostering an environment where employees feel empowered to seek new challenges within the organization. For instance, 60% of employees looking for internal opportunities left Booz Allen Hamilton within a year if they did not find suitable roles, underscoring the importance of cultural reinforcement and leadership ownership. Establishing a talent marketplace requires not just structural changes, but also a cultural shift that emphasizes internal hiring and career development.

Intro

2min

Empowering Talent and Navigating Workforce Challenges at Booz Allen

3min

Enhancing Career Mobility Through Skills Validation

4min

Driving Internal Mobility

5min

AI Readiness and Employee Development

7min

Jim Hemgen, Director of Talent Development at Booz Allen Hamilton, talks with Kathi Enderes about how the company creates validated skills across hundreds of domains, including AI.

This success story defines the journey for every company. Using skills validation provided by Workera, and content from Udemy and HackerRank, Booz Allen has created a highly trusted, validated skills process that credentials employees in a trusted and verified manner. And Jim explains how he works with these vendors to put together a powerful, working solution.

As you’ll hear, the key to success is engaging managers (and employees) to encourage learning and focus on the most important new skills. Jim also describes how story-telling and rewards contribute to the company’s success in ongoing skills development. Today more than one third of Booz Allen staff have completed validated credentials for their career.

Sign up today for our newest course “Building a Skills Strategy that Works,” filled with case studies and a step-by-step guide to skills-based learning, recruiting, development, and career management.

Additional Information

How To Take A Pragmatic (and winning) Approach To Skills

The Rise of the Superworker: Delivering On The Promise Of AI

AI in HR: Certificate Program in The Josh Bersin Academy

Galileo Professional, The Essential AI Assistant for Everything HR