6 steps to upskilling your people

The industrialized world is facing a skills crisis. Automation is threatening many existing jobs, but at the same time, jobs requiring knowledge of artificial intelligence, robotics, and other new digital technologies are going unfilled in ever-greater numbers. Hence the need for “upskilling,” the expansion of people’s capabilities and employability to fulfill the talent needs of a rapidly changing economy.

Unlike most conventional job-training efforts, upskilling works, but it needs to be designed and implemented in a fully digitally enabled, comprehensive way. This includes identifying the skills that will be most valuable in the future, the businesses that will need them, the people who need work and could plausibly gain those skills, and the training and technology-enabled learning that could help them. The payoff is immense in economic results, overall quality of life, and increased opportunities. Using real-world examples, “A strategist’s guide to upskilling” explains how to put an upskilling initiative to work in your company or community.