SOFTWARE TALENT GOES TO SCHOOL


SAP HANA business data platform. In the Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors Directorate, it stood up a cohort to learn the VHDL language, which is used to model digital systems in circuits that power advanced hardware. It also created programming cohorts targeting the Microsoft SQL database manage- ment system—the JavaScript framework to create responsive, interactive elements for web pages—and the .NET Framework and C# language, which is written in the .NET environment and is used to produce Windows desktop applications. In addi- tion, the center is planning a future cohort on cybersecurity.


LEARNING AT SPEED


The Software Engineering Center’s retraining effort fosters a culture of continuous learning and gives employees a chance to grow with the demanding pace of the technology field. Here, Garrett Shoemaker, the center’s deputy associate director, leads a class on software readiness at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. (Photo by Gary Nasuta, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Software Engineering Center)


“Te strategy involved engaging directly with supervisors to assess employees’ skills and determine who was best suited to receive the additional training,” Zbozny said. “It was all about finding the right employees who had already proved them- selves in their existing competencies and getting them into the right role for the future.”


Rising to the challenge, the center began a revolutionary program to retrain its employees with the skills they will need to meet the center’s needs in 2025 and beyond.


BUILDING THE STRATEGY In early 2019, the center began creating its new workforce strategy after meeting with private industry partners to learn how they were helping their software maintenance workforce adapt to similar challenges. Te strategy had two main components: direct classroom instruction and a secondary on-the-job component for students to apply what they learned. It also was designed to reduce costs by limiting reliance on contractor support


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while increasing the quality of software deliverables.


“Our first task was to clearly identify and define the key roles and skills we would need more of in order to support these new systems,” said Human Capital Strategist Kim Bowers. Tese skill sets centered on software development, database adminis- tration and cybersecurity, specific to the platforms and languages in which students would need to become proficient.


Next, the center set up targeted train- ing cohorts. At its Army Shared Services Center, which supports enterprise resource planning systems that house Army data, it established a cohort focused on the


INTO THE CLASSROOM By summer 2019, the VHDL cohort began full-time classroom instruction, with addi- tional cohort training launching in the fall and on an ongoing basis. Depending on the cohort, classroom instruction can generally last from three to nine months. To create coursework customized to its mission and needs, the center partnered with technical training vendors, such as the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Training Centers and Defense Acquisition Support Services LLC.


In total, 97 employees have participated or are scheduled to do so, and that number will grow as the center conducts more annual trainings. Te cohorts are a mix of employees whose supervisors selected them to participate, as well as those who volunteered in order to learn new skills.


Army AL&T Magazine


Spring 2020


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