Training magazine has announced that SCC Soft Computer was selected for the seventh time in eight years for a coveted place among many of the world’s top companies for employee-sponsored workforce training and development. The Training Top 125 is considered the most elite ranking among Fortune 500 companies for workforce training and leadership development.

Since 2002, when Training magazine first began its ranking of the top 100 companies for employee-sponsored workforce training and leadership development, SCC’s Educational Services department has been chosen from a field of over 10,000 entries to rank in the top 100 companies in the United States. SCC began competing for this award in 2002 and has ranked anywhere from 97th to 51st overall in the Training Top 100.

In 2007, Training increased the field of competitors to 125, included companies from around the globe, and changed the name to the Training Top 125. SCC vaulted up the ranking and placed 14th in the 2007 Training Top 125, moving in to the Top 15 and sharing the spotlight with corporate giants. In 2008, SCC joined the elite Training Top 10 and placed 8th in the top 125. With the Company’s placement for the first time in the Top 10, SCC joined the ranks of industry powerhouses.

On February 9, the first night of the Training 2009 Conference & Expo at the black tie gala at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, SCC’s Educational Services team was thrilled to learn that the Company’s upward climb since 2002 has continued, securing the Company a coveted position among the elite Training Top 5 with a ranking of 3rd in the top 125.

To see a complete list of the 2009 Training Top 125, visit the magazine’s Web site.

With its placement for the first time in the Training Top 5, SCC joins the ranks of industry powerhouses PricewaterhouseCoopers (1), KPMG LLP (2), EMC Corporation (4), and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (5). In-depth profiles of each of the top five companies appear in the February 2009 issue of Training.

SCC President and co-founder, Jean Hakim observes, “For SCC to be able to provide the best products and the best service to our clients, we must ensure that our staff members receive the best possible training and the tools they need to keep their skills up-to-date. Employee retention in this competitive industry is a real issue, and at SCC we’ve looked for creative ways to improve employee retention, get employees onboard from Day One, and continue to get existing employees onboard.”

Gilbert Hakim, SCC CEO and co-founder shares this, “Employee training and competency for healthcare information technology professionals has taken on a special urgency in light of the growing healthcare industry shortage of medical technologists.” Mr. Hakim continues, “SCC hires medical technologists for a variety of positions and relies on the subject matter expertise of these professionals. Nationwide, the pool of job candidates in medical technology has been shrinking as the job descriptions continue to get more and more complex. This, coupled with the aging Baby Boomer workforce, has continued to create vacancies that hospitals and laboratories are struggling to fill. Because of this, attracting med techs, in particular those with advanced degrees and industry certifications, is becoming more of a challenge, and SCC has had to find creative ways to attract and retain these in-demand medical professionals.”

“In just 10 years, we’ve built SCC’s Educational Services department from the ground up, says Don Keller, SCC’s Vice President of Global Education & Training, and Marketing Manager. In February 1998, SCC offered 17 instructor-led courses to its clients and 240 employees. Within just three years, we created a department that today serves 1,400+ internal clients and over 6,000 external clients with a training staff of 40+ worldwide.

We currently offer 5,900+ courses to SCC’s clients and staff, including instructor-led classes, computer-based (CBT) and Web-based (WBT) courses, locally created HTML courses, and training courses on CD.” Mr. Keller continues, “The growth of SCC’s Educational Services department has been fueled by several factors, including a need for better client training and an exponential increase in the number of employees. The success of the department can be attributed to our dedicated and talented team of LIS trainers and subject matter experts, prof! essional development staff, instructional designers and course developers, and communication specialists. SCC is an organization that recognizes the importance of training and continuing education, and values the contributions made by well-trained employees.”