In 2017, a McKinsey study revealed that as many as 375 million workers would have to switch occupation or acquire new skills by 2030 because of automation and artificial intelligence. The emergence of new technologies, digital, biological and physical had started to transform our work and this trend has drastically been accelerated with the pandemic.
Leaving our world to adjust in a very short period of time to new ways of living and working, Covid-19 has highlighted and amplified the talents shortage, the urge to update and acquire new skills to be able to adapt to new environments.
Our new world will require new strategies, set-ups and investments and hence new skills from employees and leaders.
The adaptation to new business models
The radical changes brought in by the irruption of the digital tools, has obliged the organizations to adjust to new ways of working in order to become or remain competitive. The importance of these transformations have suddenly been amplified and made critical for survival with the apparition of new business models imposed almost overnight by the pandemic.
- The Safe Distance Economy put in place to avoid physical interactions has reinvented our work and the way we perform it. Some of our activities have only survived thanks to the adoption of technology tools they had refused until then. Medical industry for instance had to turn almost instantly to virtual consultations and remote diagnosis delivery, widely ignored till that period.
- The Transformation of the employment landscape marked with the collapse of entire branches of some industries leaving millions of employees jobless has highlighted the huge imbalance existing between sectors of competencies and required skills to maintain employability. The development of e-commerce, significantly boosted during the lockdown, will yet increase the lag between the traditional industrial sectors and high technologies activities.
- The reorganization of the supply chains, as governments have announced their intention to relocate some strategic productions from overseas back home, will also induce a shift of the demand for new skills based on latest technologies. In this case, geographical issues might be added to the technical ones. The restructuration and anticipated creation of employment has to go through the acquisition of the missing skills.
According to the World Economic Forum by 2030 roughly one third of all existing jobs worldwide are expected to be transformed and 133 million new jobs created to meet the future demand. This cannot be done without upskilling. The new digital skills are in short supply and hiring of external talents is not a viable solution. Then upskilling an become an issue of critical importance for all organizations, without consideration of size or turnover.
With a clear strategy for the long run
- Setting clear directions and a strong lead must come from the top management along with deep commitment from all stakeholders. It will be the result of a focus approach based on an overall analysis of required skills versus the existing ones, systematic review of the types of jobs and employees that will be affected most.
- This exercise also involves a redefinition of work, jobs and career which leads to unevitable organizational changes.
- Aligned with company values for employees engagement and greater efficiency the plan is to be set up in the way that makes the most sense for each organization, Volume training, or one-to-one consultation or on-line session, developed internally or entrust to external organizations.
- Cost of upskilling estimated at an average of US$3,000 per employee in the USA, is always amounting to a small fraction of what would be the cost for the Company of employee's turnover, demotivation and reputation. Setting quantitative objectives allows for evaluation of the plan efficiency.
To build a skill set to help employees adapt to changes
To prevent loosing too many jobs to AI or digitization, in the years to come the accent has to be put on the development of skills which the new tools have not mastered yet, , the soft skills. This also meets with the need of new management methods derived from remote work.
- Fluency of everyone to operate in highly digital environment is a pre-requisite. Already before the pandemic crisis, 82 percent of job vacancies were listed as requiring digital skills of some kind.
- Cognitive skills are needed in an environment where employees are increasingly autonomous. Critical thinking, creativity and innovation will make the difference in a fast-changing and uncertain world.
- Social and interpersonal skills are crucial to maintain the links between distributed team members. Good communication skills will ensure proper circulation of information, sound cohesion of the team at all levels.
- Adaptability and flexibility. It means having an open mindset, being able to work well under pressure, adjusting to new and unexpected deadlines, prioritizing tasks and, in some instances taking on additional responsibilities when the team has depleted after rounds of retrenchment.
Now more than ever, business leaders have the responsibility to refocus their workforce strategy on upskilling and talent mobility, creating the proper environment that supports this new work reality. It is time for companies to invest in their people to survive this crisis and build stronger team in an uncertain world.
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