Salesforce Certification: 4 Steps to Spearhead Your Career

With over 1 billion jobs, which make up almost one-third of all jobs worldwide, likely to be transformed in the next decade, it is natural that employees keep themselves updated. Salesforce offers its employees the opportunity to upskill themselves with multiple salesforce certifications to keep themselves updated on recent trends, as the World Economic Forum has revealed that 94% of business leaders expect their employees to build skills on the job.  

With such an active requirement, professional certifications not only demonstrate expertise and proficiency in a particular skill or field but also make the employee showcase superior job performance, give a competitive edge, and help in career advancement. This blog will share with you the importance of Salesforce Certifications, their significance, help find the right course suited to your role, and more. 

What is a salesforce certification? 

Salesforce certification refers to globally recognized credentials that help employees demonstrate their expertise in various roles. Generally, salesforce offers a wide range of certifications for employees working at different levels with the goals to:

• Let employees implement Salesforce's best practices into their work 
• Introduce the fundamentals of the specific certification coursework into their work 
• Allow employees to excel in their roles

These certifications validate the skills in multiple areas such as user administration, customization, data management, sharing, sales enablement, and more depending on the specific certification level.  

Why consider getting salesforce certified? 

Taking up Salesforce certifications will offer an employee a valuable combination of knowledge validation, skill development, and industry recognition. However, there are more reasons to get Salesforce certified. 

• Staying up to date on recent trends: The Salesforce platform is constantly evolving, and certifications ensure you're familiar with the latest features and functionalities. This keeps you relevant and in demand. 
• Skilling up: The certification process itself involves a deep dive into the platform, giving you hands-on experience and a strong understanding of Salesforce's capabilities. 
• Industry recognition:  Salesforce certifications are well-respected within the CRM industry. Earning one demonstrates your expertise to potential employers and colleagues. 
• Added credibility and expertise:  A certification validates your knowledge and sets you apart from other candidates. It showcases your commitment to the Salesforce ecosystem and your ability to deliver results. 
• Career advancement:  Salesforce certifications can open doors to new opportunities. They can help you qualify for promotions, higher-paying jobs, and positions with more responsibility. Studies suggest that certified professionals can command a higher salary compared to their non-certified counterparts. 

Incentivizing salesforce courses and certifications would pave the way for creating agile sales representatives that would help the reps in the long run. In, case you want a strong nudge, here is a case study on how an organization focused on creating agile employees with courses to directly benefit overall business goals. 

A case study to showcase the need to create an agile culture:

-> Nokia finds natural leaders through Mercer Mettl's learning agility assessment and development courses 

Nokia Latin America, a Finnish multinational corporation that operates in the telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics industries, understood the importance of continuous learning in a competitive market with emerging technologies like 5G. Therefore, Nokia North America focused on high-potential leaders for the transformation. 

As a solution, Nokia implemented a new strategy to identify the leader set to receive agile learning courses.  With the company believing that high-potential leaders can act as catalysts for transformation, they launched a rigorous selection process.  

Solution: 

The company introduced a rigorous selection process that emphasized learning agility. This meant that participants needed to be adaptable and fast learners, capable of acquiring new skills. They also required a shift in perspective, one that prioritizes the customer, values continuous improvement and innovation, and welcomes experimentation. 

The selection process was highly selective and drew candidates from across Latin America. All nominees were high performers with a proven track record of achievement. In addition to this, they demonstrated exceptional learning agility, possessed a strong foundation of knowledge and skills, and exemplified personal qualities that aligned with Nokia's values. 

Learning agility was the primary focus for the final selection. Nokia implemented a thorough and unbiased process to identify the most qualified candidates. Those chosen for the elite program excelled in Mercer Mettl's learning agility assessment, which evaluates five key aspects: self-awareness, adaptability to change, mental agility, interpersonal effectiveness, and goal achievement. 

Result:  

Following the six-month program, these top performers have become agents of change. They are actively promoting a culture of learning and leading transformation efforts within their teams, departments, and regions. 

Salesforce certification can be a significant asset in your professional journey. So, incentivizing the salesforce certification for enhanced employee retention can be opted.

Why should you incentivize salesforce certification? 

There are several compelling reasons to incentivize employee participation in Salesforce courses and certifications: 

• Enhanced motivation and engagement:  By offering incentives, organizations can encourage employees to actively learn and engage with the Salesforce platform. This increased motivation leads to better utilization and optimization of the company's Salesforce implementation. 
• Improved employee retention:  Incentive programs for Salesforce certifications demonstrate a company's commitment to its employees' professional development, fostering loyalty and potentially leading to higher retention rates. 
• Gaining a competitive advantage:  A workforce equipped with Salesforce certifications is seen as more valuable and skilled. Incentivizing these certifications helps an organization attract and retain top talent within the competitive job market. 
• Strategic alignment:  Carefully designed incentive programs can ensure that Salesforce training and certification align with the organization's strategic goals. This ensures the newly acquired skills directly benefit the company's objectives. 
• Faster return on investment: Incentivizing Salesforce training can accelerate employee adoption and optimization of the platform. This allows organizations to unlock the full potential of their Salesforce investment more quickly.  

A case study to showcase why you should incentivize certification:

-> Maybank creates a learning-forward culture with certification courses 

Maybank is Malaysia’s largest financial services group that focuses on transformation in all areas of its business. With a customer pool as huge as Maybank's, the bank decided to create an ongoing journey to become a learning organization keeping the constantly changing customer demands and market conditions at the centre of their strategy.  

Issue: 

The bank wanted to put 'learning' at the heart of its development strategy, so to increase learning agility among 45,000 employees across all levels, the organization offered learning resources. Meanwhile, they ensured that the learning resources were up-to-date and trendy.  

Solution:  

Maybank tailored an approach with an emphasis on digital learning aligned with the business goals. They curated learning content as well as resources on the specific theme. The content was focused on developing specific skills, and abilities on a range of matters so that the employees can build resilience. Moreover, Maybank offers a 10-week program called “Future-Ready Certification.” As a result,  

• The personalized learning recommendations helped the reps fill the knowledge gaps that were identified in their personal development plans, 
• Accelerated learning, 
• Upskilled employees in the emerging new economy, 
• Maybank reported 83% of employee engagement scores in 2021, according to an internal survey, which is well above the national average of 70%. 
• Moreover, employees reported feeling heard and valued as they were given the necessary opportunities and resources to manage their development effectively. 

According to Datuk Nora Abd Manaf, Maybank’s group chief human capital officer, “Continuous learning has been systemically built into Maybank’s DNA. Our deep focus on driving an integrated employee experience helps our people to be adaptable and agile in making critical improvements to achieve business outcomes." 

The thought of incentivizing Salesforce certification isn’t enough. Know the types of courses you can invest in based on your roles.  

List of salesforce certifications corresponding to particular roles: 

Following are the lists of courses you can explore based on the role you have taken up:

A salesforce-certified administrator and representative will possess a clear understanding of the sales cycle. Planning, conducting in-depth research of both customers and potential clients, skillful deal management, and the effective administration of sales pipelines would come hand-in-hand.

A salesforce-certified representative would not only generate accurate forecasts but be adept at closing deals by demonstrating the value proposition of their offerings. So how should you get started for it?  

How to get started? 

Once you've familiarized yourself with the list of Salesforce courses, you can embark on the certification path. Here are the steps involved: 

• Choose a Salesforce certification: Salesforce offers various certifications, so select the one that aligns with your career goals and the specific skills you want to develop. 
• Register for the exam on Trailhead: Trailhead, Salesforce's free learning platform, allows you to register for your chosen certification exam. 
• Prepare for your exam: Utilize the resources available on Trailhead and other platforms to solidify your understanding of the exam topics. 
• Take the Salesforce certification exam: Once you feel confident in your knowledge, schedule and take the official Salesforce certification exam. 

A case study that shares what awaits your organization if you get started with salesforce certification:

-> Salesforce uses its coursework to improve agility company-wide and has noticed 68% greater efficiency 

With rapid organizational shifts taking place due to ongoing demand for technical advancement, it is natural for enterprises to close the gap through coursework. Salesforce is one such company that introduced its wide coursework to employees all around the globe to shorten the digital skill gap. However, to find out the impact the courses have on the employees' development, Salesforce collaborated with IDC, a leading market research firm. 

Challenge: 

In this ever-changing technical landscape, most companies seek a more agile and efficient operation with a team of skilled Salesforce professionals who continuously enhance their knowledge. These professionals should be able to: 

• Configure dashboards and reports quickly 
• Analyze data to gain deeper insights 
• Utilize declarative functionality to create solutions and automate processes 

IDC investigated the impact of Salesforce training and credentials by conducting a thorough survey of over 2,400 professionals.  

Solution: 

The study surveyed over 2,400 professionals who use or develop applications on the Salesforce platform. Salesforce offers two solutions to help companies develop their employees' Salesforce skills: 

• Trailhead Academy: This program provides expert-led learning to accelerate skill development and validate expertise. 
• Trailhead: This is Salesforce's free online learning platform that allows companies to build and expand their employees' skill sets. 

Result: 

The study found that companies with employees who have received Salesforce training and earned certifications are more agile, and efficient, and benefit from a more impactful workforce. They noticed, 

• Salesforce-certified professionals with additional training showed a 68% improvement in efficiency. 
• Professionals were also 30% faster at mapping process requirements.  
• Salesforce-certified developers made 10% fewer coding errors, showed 60% more efficiency at reusing code, and were 90% more productive when building code. 
• Salesforce-certified administrators were 15% faster when building reports, dashboards, and workflows and troubleshooting user account issues. 
• 75% of the surveyed reported increased employee productivity and impact at work after completing super badges or supersets. 

Conclusion: 

Show a high level of expertise with Salesforce certification. Use the certification to drive business results and improve customer and prospect interactions. Experience greater job satisfaction through increased productivity.  

To further incentivize certification and boost employee morale, consider integrating Compass with Salesforce. This integration allows you to seamlessly manage your sales incentive programs within the familiar Salesforce environment. Offer a wide range of rewards to recognize and motivate your newly certified workforce and make use of Compass's: 

• Data visualization capabilities 
• 1mn+ reward choices 
• Customizable incentive plans and programs, and more. 

So, create a comprehensive sales incentive program that motivates and rewards your sales teams for achieving Salesforce certifications.