New innovations are being developed at lightning speeds to drive quicker growth and potency for businesses and society, however there's a scarcity of digital skills in the current market.
An absence of the specific set of skills required to drive such technologies forward has resulted in a business strain and a race between education and technology. With a recent LinkedIn report finding that four of 2018’s top five emerging jobs were in the developing and machine learning space, technical skills such as cryptocurrency, Software as a Service and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming priceless on a CV. Yet many people – young and old – don’t possess digital literacy skills, making it difficult to fill the roles and to train current employees.
There are hundreds of skills that experts have stressed that SMEs and large organisations need to consider to remain competitive, so it’s no surprise that businesses find it overwhelming. Companies can develop their own courseware for reskilling and upskilling employees. Several online learning platforms such as Coursera, Udacity and Udemy have promised to help businesses stay ahead of digital disruption by offering courses in areas including data science, machine learning and AI. Salesforce has developed its own free, gamified online learning platform, Trailhead, which allows users to take control of their own training and develop the skills they’ll need in the future. The companies that are successful in workforce transformation will be able to “harness new and emerging technologies to reach higher levels of efficiency of production and consumption, expand into new markets, and compete on new products for a global consumer base composed increasingly of digital natives”, according to the World Economic Forum.
Businesses must also develop new approaches to workforce development for those outside of traditional talent pools. By hiring people from diverse backgrounds, including young people, minority groups and those without a college education, businesses can tap into a huge pool of high-potential and underutilised talent. Studies have confirmed the benefits of workforce diversity, which drives both innovation and results.
In addition to adopting more inclusive hiring practices, businesses also need to think about how they provide training. Apprenticeships offering practical on-the-job training, in-house training programmes for non-college educated entry-level employees, and partnerships with external workforce development agencies, all play an important role when building a more diverse workforce.
Effective existing skills development programmes, like the Siemens Foundation’s Middle-Skill Initiative, work with young adults to close the ‘opportunity gap’ and build careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Another organisation, Year Up, provides training, support and meaningful work experience to nearly 4,000 young adults annually, with the aim of helping them fulfill their potential in higher education or kick-start a career. Salesforce’s own Pathfinder training program, developed jointly with Deloitte, aims to equip workers with the technical and business skills needed for careers in the Salesforce ecosystem.
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to enable businesses to future-proof their workforces. However, by making upskilling, reskilling and employee retention priorities and freeing up the resources needed to build a continuous learning culture, businesses will be well positioned to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Comments
Post a Comment