Is there a remedy for the growing skills gap?

Digital transformation is not the only thing to blame

The digital transformation that has been with us for several years has undoubtedly 'broken the bank', changed every sector of the economy, and transformed the labour market. The transformation has changed existing technologies and tools, which has caused a disruption in the organisation of work. Digital transformation has changed the perception of leadership, which has evolved from an authoritarian model to a more open and flexible model. Male and female leaders are now required to be adaptable, innovative, open to change and able to make decisions quickly in a rapidly changing environment. A key task of today's leaders is the ability to inspire and motivate their team to continuously develop and improve their skills.

However, it is not only the digital revolution and especially the exponential development of artificial intelligence and automation that are responsible for the growth of the skills gap. Other factors such as an ageing population (including the workforce), the need to implement sustainability principles and ESG-related legislation, changing customer expectations, but also the lack of an open organisational culture that supports continuous learning and an inflexible approach to talent management. Unfortunately, there are still very few employers who do remember or understand that their most valuable resource is their people and that the key to an organisation's success is their development.

‘In today’s increasingly competitive and constantly changing world, it’s your people that will keep you ahead. Your talent is an asset with limitless potential, and harnessing it is the key to your business’s future growth.’ points Graham Gaddes, CEO, BPP Education Group in the Skills Revolution (2021) report.

Reskiling and upskilling as an answer to the skills gap

According to the mentioned Skills Revolution report, there are four strategies available to employers to help them address the skills shortage in their organisation. First of all, they can 'buy', i.e. recruit new employees; then they can 'borrow', i.e. outsource services. A third strategy is to automate tasks as much as possible. Finally, they can 'build', i.e. develop the skills of team members.

‘Building and expanding the competences of employees is the optimal solution and if we incorporate it into our business strategy we can undoubtedly count on the growth of our organisation. - says Kamila Izdebska, Head of BPP Professional Education in Poland - But the development programme has to be properly thought through and designed. Throughout the process, we must not forget about the company's business goals and the external challenges it has to face in order to stay in the market.’

Which skills should be taken care of first? Of course, it is worth stopping here to focus on the needs of the sector. The authors of the Skills Revolution report, after interviewing 1,500 professionals and conducting a robust analysis, have defined competencies and knowledge that all employers, regardless of industry, should focus on. These are data analytics and analytics, digital leadership and digital skills, risk management and compliance, financial crime prevention and cyber security.

The question is how to effectively manage talent in a company?

1. Let's start by making sure that the HR and Learning & Development managers in our organisation fully understand the company's strategy and the challenges it faces. Can our HR professionals apply people analytics in a sophisticated way? Do they implement technological solutions to improve recruitment or L&D processes? Are they open to transformation?

2. Transformation of the company should be started by looking at the current and future needs of the company in terms of skills and qualifications of the workforce and summarising what the company currently has, i.e. doing a competency gap diagnosis. It turns out that such an analysis is advisable, as 70% of HR executives recognise the need for workforce transformation (according to the Skills Revolution report).

3. Through this analysis, the organisation will be able to define its development priorities and training plans more precisely. It is worthwhile to invite an external expert here - a reputable training company that has extensive experience in supporting Learning & Development processes and developing a development plan and career paths for team members.

“When advising our clients on the optimal development, training programmes, we start with an in-depth consultation. We want to understand the company and its strategic direction, goals, people needs and possible employment plans. - says Kamila Izdebska - In the next step, we use the experience and know-how of our experts, both local and global. With BPP experts, we analyse the educational needs and future skills that the company will need. Once we have identified competency gaps, we report back to our client the information we have gathered on the employees, for whom we also select appropriate training programmes, tailored to the company's goals and needs.”

 

4. We believe it is better to train than to recruit new people, but if you also want to grow your workforce, it is worth thinking about partnerships with universities. Such a relationship can give you access to the best students, to whom you can offer internships or work placements, or recruit them straight away.

5. Let's not forget about building a sustainable business that implements the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Diversity, Equality & Inclusion, among others. Respecting these principles brings - not only to employees, but also to the organisation itself - benefits such as innovative and creative approaches from employees, greater team engagement and productivity, better problem solving.

6. It is crucial to promote a learning culture within the company. Unfortunately, encouragement alone, even warm and sincere, will not be enough. Employees who put a lot of effort into learning need motivation, but also time space. Therefore, it is worth planning their career path with them so that they know what the learning effort will result in and so that they take full responsibility for their development. Using the small steps method, it is also worth rewarding employees for individual professional development achievements.

7. It is worth including innovative training methods such as business simulations and strategy games, participation in hackathons and thematic workshops, use of VR/AR technology for hands-on training in the employee training plan.

“'Let's not ignore the competence gap now or in the future. - advises Kamila Izdebska - Competency needs will change all the time, so you need to respond to them on an ongoing basis. Success depends on the company's openness to change, as well as the team's willingness to learn and commit. These should be managed by the leaders in the organisation. For us, as a training specialist and consultant, it is crucial that our training programmes and learning materials are constantly evolving to stay ahead of upcoming changes, allowing organisations to respond to them wisely in time. We are continually working on this with expert practitioners from the business world.’.”

Article published in FOCUS ON Business magazine May-June 2024 issue.