You Don't Have What You Want: Skills gap and what the L&D function is doing about it
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” This line by the Futurist and philosopher, Alvin Toffler cannot be truer in these times when new advances in technology are bringing forth opportunities that we couldn’t have anticipated in the past. But there is not one skills gap. Every industry or sector is dealing with its own kind of skills gaps. And a bigger issue than that is the misalignment due to changing role requirements.
Workplaces have been reimagined. Learning has transformed. Development is a fast-altering concept. This is the time to empower the workforce. But there is a significant disconnect between the supply and demand of skills at the workplace. 45 percent of businesses are unable to find qualified candidates to fill job openings and 60 percent of all employers have job openings that stay vacant for twelve weeks or longer, which costs them $800,000 annually in lost productivity and advertising fees. The only way to accommodate and adapt to the changing times is through knowledge, instruction, and application. How, where, and what people learn needs to evolve today. A “one size fits all” approach to learning and development will not work and it’s about time that organizations and their L&D functions allow employees to have customized individual pathways that meet their personal and professional demands.
In this new reality, what is needed is the reminder of the fact that organizations must unlearn old, obsolete knowledge and old ways of doing business before they can seize tomorrow’s opportunities. But are organizations transmuting?
Read what the Experts have to say:
- Bridging the skills gap with continuous education - Winning organizations must adopt a culture that embraces lifelong learning: Chad Gaydos, COO, Skillsoft
- The skills gap is real, but a bigger challenge is the mindset gap: Ajay Soni, Chief Learning and Leadership Development Officer, Aditya Birla Group
- Customized & outcome-centric learning for a Skilled Workforce: Krishna Kumar, CEO, Simplilearn
- The learning profession needs to establish a new moonshot: Hemalakshmi Raju, Chief Learning Officer, Reliance Industries Ltd.
- 20 minutes a week- The short and long of corporate learning today: Indira Sovakar, Senior Vice President - Human Resources, Genpact
- L&D is still out of sync with how people learn: Niloy Das, Head of Learning & Talent Management for the Middle East, India, and Southern Africa at a global Fortune 500 company
You can download the October PDF here.
