Your chief people officer just approved the latest round of mandatory vendor certifications for the entire customer success team. Every promotion now requires a fresh badge from the same platform supplier that sold the last workflow overhaul.
Teams complete the modules in two weeks flat because the content recycles interface screenshots and click paths. No one tests whether anyone can diagnose why an exception queue stopped moving at 4pm on a Friday.
Six months later the supplier updates its release schedule and half the badges expire. The same people sit through another paid workshop, learning the new button locations while the underlying process logic stays untouched.
Real skill erosion shows up in the metrics that never appear on the HR dashboard. Escalation rates climb because no one on the floor retains authority to rewrite a routing rule when the model output drifts.
Change fatigue compounds when every quarter brings a new certification sprint. Staff learn to treat these programmes as box-ticking exercises rather than investments in judgement they can carry to the next system.
The vendor gains permanent advantage. Each badge cycle deepens dependency on their documentation and support portal, making it harder to justify bringing the capability back in-house.
Shift the measurement. Track how often certified staff reverse an automated decision with a documented business rationale, not how many modules they completed before the next renewal notice arrives.