Talent shortage crunching out your business? Well, you are not alone. The increasing skill gap is not just affecting organizations but nations. It is estimated that 14 G20 countries will miss out on $11.5 trillion cumulative GDP growth because of the digital skill gap. But, it has also left us with a large pool of untapped potential, and we can help you harness it.
The widening skill gap was a serious problem long before COVID thrust automation even deeper into our organizational setup and led to economic underperformance. With almost 40% of employers not being able to find suitable candidates for even entry-level positions, we cannot stress the importance of upskilling and reskilling enough.
Nine in ten managers say their organizations either face skill gaps or expect them to form within five years. But how many of them know how to address these skill gaps? Creating a resilient and productive workforce is now harder than ever. There is a great mismatch between the labor market and employer demands, and addressing the situation at hand is not easy for employers or candidates. Most employers are looking for candidates that can fill an immediate opening or require the least amount of training. Whereas for candidates, it can be challenging to upskill on their own without any help.
According to the McKinsey Global Survey, 375 million workers globally would have to change their occupations in the next decade to better align with the company’s needs. It is also projected that automation will free up 30% of employees’ time and allow them to focus on new work.
Our world is constantly evolving, and so is the technology we use. If we are to keep up with the fast-paced world, we need to evolve with it. When we look at things from an employer’s perspective, all they are looking for is better alignment and productivity. Through reskilling and upskilling, an organization will not only be able to cut costs on hiring new employees but also develop a culture of learning and growth. Investing in competent training programs will allow them to retain their employees and better equip them in line with the needs of the organization. While when we look at things from an individual perspective, it is important to note that reskilling and upskilling are only adding more value to what you already bring to the table. It enables you to sustain in a rapidly changing environment and increase growth opportunities. Now, this is what we call a win-win situation!
How to address the skills gap?
As workplaces transform, it becomes vital to embed learning in the workflow. Bridging the job skills gap might not be as easy as it may seem, but you’ll be able to do so easily by simply keeping the below pointers in check.
Identify skill gaps:
To identify the skills gap in your workforce, you need to first define your goal of development. Then, categorize your short-term and long-term goals to create an outline for what skills you need to achieve them. Once you have your priorities aligned, you can start assessing if your employees possess the required skill set.
Run mapping exercises:
There are several benefits of skill gap analysis; it is an effective way to analyze the potential of your employees. However, there is no standard approach you can adopt. Mapping exercises will primarily depend on the goals you have determined. It is advised to have a team of L&D professionals to help you run mapping exercises. You’ll need to conduct a skill gap analysis and communicate your preferred skill set for each role in your organization, and they will develop a structure to map, upskill and reskill.
Identify learning opportunities:
Post running the skill gap analysis, the next step is to determine learning opportunities for your employees. One key aspect of this step is prioritizing adaptability. Each employee who requires upskilling or reskilling also offers a unique skill set. The opportunities you align for them must sync with their individual skill sets to ensure their learning and transition is easier and more efficient. To start, you can run through employee reviews, access manager feedback, outline their proven competencies, and observe their peak performance metrics.
Develop learning programs:
An essential stage is developing a comprehensive, scalable, and unique learning program for each set of employees. The support you provide to your employees in upskilling and reskilling will help you increase the productivity of the work they do and help them grow as an individual. In fact, as per a LinkedIn survey, 94% of employees said they would stay with a company longer if the employer invested in their learning and development.
Running a formal learning and development program is no easy task. It’s best to outsource and allow experts to build cohort-based learning pathways for your employees. You can also opt for a Learning Management System (LMS) to maximize the benefits of the skill gap analysis you conduct. Through an LMS, you can also build onboarding training programs and even have your new hires sync up with the organizational objectives right from the start.
For your existing employees, action learning projects are the best skills gap solutions, and they will help build camaraderie among team members as well. A mild competitive element can go a long way in boosting the performance of your employees during action learning projects. It is vital to make sure your L&D team is constructing a framework that encourages learning, allows practical testing, and offers an immersive experience.
Boost self-transformation in employees:
The four critical aspects of building a good training program include discovering possibilities, diversifying interests, boosting potential, and facilitating self-transformation. While training your employees to withstand the job skills gap, you must also empower them to master the skills and foster the feeling of self-transformation.
Monitoring and modifying:
The last step is to periodically monitor and modify the training programs to be more efficient based on the results. You must understand that each employee has different learning needs and pace, and the learning structure should be flexible enough to accommodate the differences.
Enabling people is the only way to close the skill gap; we must do everything we can to make our employees thrive and innovate. If you are ready to maximize your productivity and business outcomes, Auzmor can help you. Connect with us today to know more!
