Old Dogs, New Tricks: Upskilling to tackle the new emerging technologies
Introduction
The world today is in the midst of a ‘skills crisis’. Automation is slowly overtaking several jobs, leaving many people unemployed and putting the rest at the threat of being laid off. There is a shortage of talent for the new and upcoming digital economy, resulting in a gap between the employees of the current and future job market.
To bridge the gap between the skills that employees possess versus what employers want is to introduce ‘upskilling’. The term ‘upskilling’ implies teaching the employees or workers in an organization additional skills, such that they can keep pace with the challenges of an ever-changing economy.
According to the European Commission, there will be around 756,000 unfilled positions in the European IT sector by the end of 2020, and this number will increase in the coming years.
Why is upskilling the need of the hour?
One of the significant reasons why skill gaps are emerging is due to the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics taking place in shorter cycles, creating a gap between jobs and the skills required to perform them.
According to a NASSCOM report, around 40 per cent of India’s 4 million workforces will need re-skilling in the next five years to keep up with emerging technological trends, while by the year 2025, more than half of present-day jobs will become automated, leaving around 75 million people jobless.
Therefore, companies must plan and stay ahead of the digital disruption. With the rapid growth in technology, workers must be able to adapt and work with different forms of techniques and understand how they will bring value to businesses.
Source: Dorothy Dalton
While upskilling is essential in today’s world, many organisations avoid spending resources on training their employees, preferring instead to hire a new workforce that already possesses the required skills. However, the benefits of upskilling employees far outweigh the costs incurred for doing the same.
By upskilling existing employees, many organisation have witnessed a rise in workplace productivity, as workers believe that the company cares about their growth, in turn boosting their confidence levels and leading to better performance. When employees are motivated, they also tend to stay in a company for a longer duration, as they can foresee a positive future and have higher hopes for career advancement. This motivation further inculcates a more profound sense of purpose in them, which translates into higher output at work and increased customer satisfaction, since workers are updated with the prevailing trends in the industry and can hence, offer best recommendations and insights to their company’s clients.
Additionally, when employees are happy, customers are delighted as well. These customers can also become the organization’s brand advocates and are more likely to recommend its services to others.
Lastly, upskilling existing employees is much more cost-effective for a company over hiring new talent, since it would demand a significant chunk of time and resources to train and accustom the latter to the workings of the firm.
How can companies upskill their employees?
While there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ rule that all companies require for upskilling their workforce, there exist several strategies by which employers can impart the necessary training for their employees:
- Analysis of the situation- One of the first steps that organisation need to undertake is to hold discussions with major stakeholders like senior executives, human resources department, and employee representatives. Such reviews would help everyone to gauge the type of skills that employees need to be updated with, how the skills will come handy at work, and how to monitor the progress of the employees by setting targets from time to time.
- Build a skills plan- Before implementing a training program, stakeholders must determine certain factors. These factors may include the jobs would be affected most by automation or upcoming technologies, what kind of employees are at risk, what skills do they require, and how much time should be invested in upskilling.
- Hands-on training- Generic training would not invite as much engagement and motivation from employees as a hands-on training program. To ensure employees understand what they are being taught, trainers must relate their everyday learnings to the workers’ job roles and equip them with the capacity to perform up to their full potential.
- Additional learning resources- Besides on the job upskilling, companies can provide additional support to their employees in the form of learning management systems and e-learning platforms. These resources can be accessed by workers during lunch hours or free time and be designed according to their specific needs.
Source: Dice
To ensure that employees are genuinely learning and implementing their newly acquired skills to their job, organisations need to have assessment programs in place to track their progress. Furthermore, individual mentorship and coaching would also help to alleviate employee concerns and help firms understand what their workers want to learn to address the changing requirements of their job profiles.
Additionally, people can upskill themselves without having to rely upon their organisations or taking a break from their jobs. With the easy availability of courses on e-learning platforms, one can undertake a class, which may be paid or free of cost, and earn certification as well. Many digital learning websites also offer a diploma or postgraduate degree in specific classes, as it will not only help employees to better acclimatise themselves to emerging technologies at work but also enhance their job prospects in the long run.
About Zubi:
Zubi is an emerging technology empowering platform. Helping students take an exponential career leap by providing learning, assessments and jobs everything in a single place.
