Case study
Industry
Technology
Company HQ
San Francisco, USA
Office Locations
40+ countries
Bairesdev Improves Development Opportunities And Retention With Udemy Business
Udemy driving business outcomes
Case study details
BairesDev is one of South America’s fastest-growing nearshore software development companies. It provides end-to-end solutions for companies worldwide — from startups to global giants. And the company only employs the top 1% of IT talent from over 1.2 million applications it receives each year.
The company has a customer satisfaction score of 91% — leading in the industry — and an average client relationship of over three years. BairesDev understands the importance of learning to deliver the best service for its clients and hiring and retaining the best people. So, it’s ensured L&D is prioritized throughout the company.
A need for development opportunities that attract and retain top talent
The war for talent is affecting everyone in the IT industry. With so many opportunities available for IT professionals, attracting the best people with the right skills is a priority for most software companies. BairesDev is no exception.
And with IT professionals looking for more than high salaries, they also want roles that have strong development opportunities. Jessica Barrera, Learning and Leadership Development Lead at BairesDev, explains: “It’s a hot market. IT professionals have many options, so companies need to invest in things like clear career paths and development options to attract the best talent and retain them.”
Despite the war for talent, BairesDev was growing rapidly — from 400 to 4,000 professionals in just five years — but it needed to scale its L&D offering to match its professionals’ growing expectations.
This rapid growth also meant BairesDev needed to improve the reach of its L&D offering. The team was small, and although it could develop excellent workshops and sessions, these could only serve 10–30 people at a time. The company decided it needed to look for an online learning platform that could support more of its professionals.
This platform would also need to cater to the specialist technical knowledge BairesDev’s people need to serve clients’ nuanced needs. While the company’s own technical experts had the right knowledge to share, they didn’t have the time to dedicate to creating the training courses that others in the company needed.
Learning and Leadership Development Lead
A scalable L&D platform for a growing business
BairesDev had a clear business case for a new online learning solution. It trialed several different platforms, comparing cost, course content, and user interface — and Udemy Business came out on top.
“There are many platforms that offer soft skills courses, but as an IT company, we were very interested in technology and development courses,” explains Jessica. “A platform with both soft and technical skills courses is normally difficult to find, but Udemy Business had all of it.”
Udemy Business’ intuitive user interface and scalability were also a plus for BairesDev’s team. The company found that the platform was easy for learners and the L&D team to use and had the option to design specific programs — and courses — for professionals.
Access to learning for anyone that wants it
After adopting Udemy Business, BairesDev’s L&D team focused on making Udemy licenses available to those most in need. And as the company continues to grow, the team finds the platform popular, increasing the number of requests to access the courses. “I receive around twenty license requests weekly from professionals looking to get onto the platform,” says Jessica.
The company also uses Learning Paths to personalize its content and guide learners on the most valuable courses to suit their needs. In particular, the company uses these tools to help its people improve their skills and prepare them for promotion or leadership opportunities.
BairesDev’s people mostly use training courses to improve technical, development, and engineering skills — helping them stay on top of the latest technology developments to serve their clients better. And, as a global company, non-native English-speaking professionals can also see English technical terminology in Udemy Business courses to improve their fluency. The platform’s International Collection also means that those who prefer to learn in their native language can enjoy localized courses taught by native-speakers. “It’s a very global platform that serves our English speakers and non-native English-speakers. It benefits all,” says Jessica.
Improved professional retention and performance
After adopting Udemy Business, BairesDev has seen a significant rise in professional retention. In fact, the company tracked platform usage and discovered that those professionals who use Udemy Business stay with the company x1.52 longer on average than the ones without access to the platform.
And Udemy Business is helping improve performance at BairesDev, too. “We measure performance by gathering client feedback,” explains Jessica. “We’ve noticed that our top performers — who are rated highest by our clients — are the ones who spend the most time learning with Udemy Business.”
BairesDev also sees a 96% professional satisfaction rating for Udemy Business and a 4.6/5 average rating for Udemy Business courses. Learners are discovering the benefits of using Udemy Business and investing more time into their own learning to maximize them — culminating in a 139% year-on-year increase in learning time per active learner.
Learning and Leadership Development Lead
Continuing to build learning opportunities across BairesDev
Jessica explains how BairesDev continues developing its learning offerings using Udemy Business: “Right now, we’re piloting career path training in the Talent Acquisition team — which we hope to expand to more areas in the next quarter. The company’s also focussing on its leadership academy for middle management and developing soft skills for both customer-facing and non-customer-facing roles.
“People are motivated by learning — by having a sense of achievement and completion,” adds Jessica. “Learning and building skills towards an end goal is rewarding, and we’re seeing that positively impact our talent retention since adopting Udemy Business.”
Learning and Leadership Development Lead
Learning and Leadership Development Lead
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