Instructure Bridge Enables Career Connections and Skills Development

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Instructure INST today added new capabilities in its Bridge Employee Development Platform that enable employees to learn more about and connect with co-workers, join skill communities, and identify potential mentors. These additions to Bridge, in a module called Connect, are being unveiled this week at the annual HR Tech Conference in Las Vegas.

New research from The Harris Poll, released by Instructure, finds that only half of employees believe their companies can deliver impactful mentorship programs. The research also shows that people feel alone on their career journey, with 77% believing they are on their own to determine their career development. Employees need a more effective way to build relationships, strengthen professional networks, and identify mentors that will provide meaningful feedback on their career trajectory. 

"Mentors can have such a positive effect on the careers of their mentees, but these programs are traditionally difficult for companies to manage and scale," said Jeff Weber, EVP of People and Places at Instructure. "Bridge can help by organically connecting people based on skills and interests and providing them with tools to facilitate meaningful conversations."

Employers recognize the important role mentors play in an employee's career. Mentorship and coaching are among the top areas employers want to invest in, second to career development support and tools. With a focus on purposeful development and connection, Bridge can alleviate the organizational pain points of a formal mentorship program.

"We selected Bridge to help us facilitate the ease of connecting our people," said Robert Buckley, SVP, Chief People Officer at RainFocus. "Whether we're connecting employees so they can understand the scope of their peers' roles and where everyone lives within the organization, or establishing a solid foundation for what will eventually become our robust, cross-functional mentorship program at RainFocus, it's really about creating channels for our people to grow and develop. Our people-centric initiatives germinate in HR and are supported by effective tech solutions, like Bridge, that encourage people to form connections that help them be more effective in their careers."

Bridge helps companies increase their impact by giving each employee what they need to develop and grow, and enables managers to be better leaders and coaches. The new Connect module provides employees with the tools they need to understand organizational structure and make meaningful connections with their colleagues.

Get to know your team: The Bridge company directory combines an organizational chart with unique employee profiles that include a biography, contact information, personal interests, and skills.

Find your skills community: Bridge empowers employees to highlight skills on their personal profile. They can identify skills they want to learn and skills they can help others develop, and in the process establish communities of experts and learners.

Identify Potential Mentors: By searching for skills and interests, employees can identify potential mentors who can aid in their skill and career development.

Jeff Weber, Instructure's EVP of People and Places, will be speaking at the HR Tech Conference about the power of mentorship during the Women in HR Technology Summit on Tuesday, October 1 and the Ideas & Innovators in HR presentation on Friday, October 4.

Attendees of the HR Tech Conference can experience Bridge at booth 2032 from 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 3 and 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 4. For more information, visit hrtechnologyconference.com.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY
The HR Decision Maker (Employer) and Employee surveys were conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Instructure. Both were administered online to those in the United States. In the survey of HR decision makers (referred to as "employers" below), respondents were screened on their employment status (only full-time employed), job title (director-level and above), company size (at least five employees), and involvement in HR decision making (either partial or primary decision maker in 'employee training and development programs'). 310 complete surveys were collected from April 26 – May 3, 2019. Sample was weighted based on the size of employer (number of employees).

In the employee survey, respondents were screened on their employment status (only full-time employed) and the size of their employer (at least five employees). A total of 1,433 interviews were conducted and completed from April 26 – May 6, 2019. At least 150 interviews were conducted with employees in four DMAs: NYC, Chicago, Dallas, and LA. The sample was weighted on education, age, gender, race, region, income, and size of employer to align with targets among employed Americans. Sample from each of the DMAs were weighed individually to DMA targets of employed adults.

ABOUT INSTRUCTURE
Instructure helps people grow from the first day of school to the last day of work. More than 30 million people use the Canvas Learning Management Platform for schools and the Bridge Employee Development Platform for businesses. More information at www.instructure.com.

CONTACT:
Becky Frost
Sr. Director, Corporate Communications
Instructure
801-869-5017
becky@instructure.com 

SOURCE Instructure