Preparing for a future skilled workforce

The skills shortage has been a hot topic for decades. And still is today. Employees and employers are divided when it comes to their perceptions of their organizations' abilities to support skills development effectively. There’s a clear skills confidence gap.

And because organizations rely on Cornerstone as a trusted partner throughout their skills journey, Mike Bollinger, VP strategic initiatives at Cornerstone, and Vincent Belliveau, chief international officer at Cornerstone, sat down with Nigel Paine from Learning Now TV to talk about how the organizations thriving now plant heavy emphasis on developing the skills of their people.

The importance of the Global Skills research report

Organizations worldwide acknowledge the need to upskill and reskill employees. As the world of work grows, organizations know they need their people to learn new skills in order to keep up with these changes. The Global Skills research report is a key tool any organization needs for adapting to change faster. According to Vincent, “The Global Skills [research] report aims to provide executives with a data-driven approach to the problem of employee skills, as well as highlighting key takeaways that are actionable for organizations today.”

Ensuring your organization is a high-performing organization

When you read into the Global Skills research report, you’ll notice a focus on how employees and employers felt about their organization’s investment in the development of people’s skills. Organizations of every size saw a slight increase in their skills confidence gap from 30% to 31%.

The organizations with the smallest skills confidence gaps also were more likely to be high-performing organizations (measured on 16 different criteria). Mike explained, “Interestingly, those organizations classed as ‘high-performing’ actually had a notably smaller skills confidence gap, 11%, compared to ‘laggards.’” Laggards are those organizations showing less success compared to their high-performing counterparts.

Why high-performing organizations invest in developing the skills of their people

Based on Vincent’s experience as an industry thought leader, empowering employees and investing in their skills training are the keys to building a high-performing organization. “It's these action items — putting in place the right infrastructure, the right culture, demonstrating executive involvement around skill development — that really match what I see in the market talking to many organizations.”

The number of new jobs emerging due to advancements in technology is much greater than ever before, as is the need for people to learn new skills quickly. Mike emphasized that the skills and development platforms available to employees in organizations can help them find necessary career development information and start developing their new skills. “72% of companies who outperform their competitors in terms of investing in skills development have already started or will start within their first year, compared to just 15% of the laggards,” said Mike.

"Leading organizations invest in developing the skills of their people because the obsolescence of skills is ever shortened,” Vincent added. “And the duration of life of the skill begins to close faster and faster, as how often jobs change and rotate." He wanted to make sure that you and all organizational decision-makers understood that the sooner your organization makes skills development a priority the better.

Closing your skills confidence gap

As Mike and Vincent make it clear, it’s important for employees and employers to align on talent programs. To learn fast and to become a high-performing organization, you need to put a high priority on learning. Organizational success works best when employees feel that you’re helping them learn and grow.