As working life becomes more complex through increasingly age diverse populations and advanced automation, how can employers better manage the skills divide?
Over the last 12 months the conversation around the widening workplace skills gap has gained traction and now as we begin a new year, all eyes will be on organisational leaders as they navigate the issue and build strong, capable and resilient workforces.
As roles grow and evolve, multiple sectors such as HR, tech, cybersecurity and finance are experiencing challenges associated with the growing skills gap. In fact, the World Economic Forum previously stated that by 2025 as many as 50pc of employed people will need reskilling as a consequence of the further adoption of technology.
With that in mind, in order to stay competitive and operational, companies will have to address the issue in-house – but how?
Upskilling versus reskilling
Everyone in a company, including those who joined around the same time or who have had a similar experience, will have individual needs when it comes to further workplace education. It is important that leaders properly assess what is lacking so they can devise strong upskilling and reskilling programmes that will empower and improve everyone within the organisation.
Upskilling programmes should target people who already possess solid foundational skills and enable them to build upon their talents, improving overall skillsets and bringing them in line with their colleagues. Reskilling on the other hand allows employers to introduce new and necessary skills, to round out teams and enhance what the individual and the organisation as a whole can offer.
Knowing who to target and how could be key to overcoming company-wide skill divides.
Eclectic skillsets
Often when we get hired, it is as much for our personalities and attitudes as it is for our work history and level of experience. The reason for that is that one is arguably useless without the other. Simply put, you can have all of the hard skills in the world, but you are unlikely to progress if your soft skills are allowed to atrophy. By ensuring that employees have a skillset that encompasses necessary hard skills, as well as crucial soft skills, organisations can develop teams capable of working cross functionally.
Additionally, as the workplace becomes increasingly automated, those who possess soft skills that can not be replicated by machinery, such as critical-thinking and emotional intelligence, may find that they have an edge.
Make the investment
At the end of the day, reskilling and upskilling the workforce in order to address a skills gap takes significant investment, not just financially, but also in terms of time and other resources. Employers should draw out a strategy that details each step towards an end goal, with deadlines and milestones to mark progress.
Because it takes time to build up a workforce and their skills, be realistic in your expectations and open to feedback regarding how training and further education is explored. Employers should also be willing to be flexible. For example some may find that working hours may need to be amended to allow for external courses.
Additionally, at the rate the world of work is evolving, many employees are eager to ‘future-proof’ their careers and may require their employers to enable them to study in areas not directly related to their current field. While this may seem like a waste of time initially, because of the cross functional nature of the working environment, it is an ideal way to work on rounding out skillsets and building a resilient team.
Ultimately, as the youngest of Gen Z join the workforce, soon to be followed by the oldest members of Gen Alpha, the working world is going to become an environment identified by its diverse skillsets and an urgency around closing the growing gap.
Employers who want to attract top talent and retain the employees whom they have invested in, should ensure that everyone, from the boomers all the way down, have their career needs met and are not ignored in a professional sense. That means embracing what every individual has to offer and taking advantage of the many different ways of thinking and operating.
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