The lack of skilled manpower in digital technologies is among the key challenges for the Indian IT-BPM sector, according to the 2017 Economic Survey. According to one research estimate, the job cuts in the IT sector could range between 1.75 lakh to 2 lakh annually for the next three years due to under-preparedness in adapting to recent technologies. Clearly highlighting the business case for skilling and re-skilling the existing workforce.
How can companies go about re-skilling their employees?
One of the first steps is to assess the needs of the organization and ensure of that the skills repository supports the roadmap for the future. Every employee should be encouraged to learn new skills that are relevant to their careers and the organization.
There are three perspectives of learning that a manager needs to take into account.
- Industry related training
There are fundamental requirements of industry, which an employee should have. IT professionals need to have basic knowledge of core technologies as well as skills that can be easily transferable to other programming languages.
Making skill clusters, identifying skill adjacency and alignment to the learning methods are some of the ways companies can become business ready.
- Career-oriented rather than job oriented
It is crucial to have employees who are interested in new and upcoming technology, even if your organization is not currently leveraging those skills. Managers need to have a long-term view of skill and career development as opposed to being narrowly restricted to a specific job or project. Having a broader outlook helps learners to optimize their learning and growth not only to their own benefit but also helps them support their team. - Individual and organizational perspective
Not every employee has the same needs nor do they function with the same efficiency. Hence, it is crucial to understand that all employees have different learning capability and grasping power.
You will have employees who are self-driven and like to keep themselves updated with all knowledge and technologies that are launched, while some would require a nudge. When an individual is assessed, you get to know their strengths and weaknesses. Personal assessment will help you gain access to their existing skills and qualifications as well as personalize their learning need.
By assessing corporate perspective, you will be able to identify discrepancies, revealing the knowledge and skills required to advance your company and probably make it a leading brand. In this perspective, the analysis is based on the economy, new environmental policies and changing workforce demographics.
Training as an investment
If an organization does not promote learning or training, employees would not be keen on developing their current skills or learning new skills or techniques, leaving both stagnant.
It is vital to assess if your training methods are useful and productive since learning pays off in the long run and can help you grow and achieve your goals and targets, only when there’s a continuous focus on improvement. The success of any learning intervention relies on the successful adoption of the learning roadmap. Commitment by the leadership as well as developing a learning culture is necessary for the success of a skill transformation mandate.