Communications and Leadership Emerge the Most-Consumed Business Skills
Discover the key trends and concepts leaders should keep in mind to address critical challenges through their learning strategy.
Today, most companies realize the importance of employee learning in improving engagement and having a competitive edge. However, achieving the intended outcomes requires more than a learning program. Leaders must identify key trends and concepts to address critical challenges through their learning strategy. Udemy Business recently conducted a study to identify these trends. Check out the key insights.
The business landscape has been changing rapidly for the last three years. Various factors, such as rapid technological innovation, heightened and new workplace complexities due to the pandemic, the Great Resignation, and the current economic uncertainties, have accentuated the need for reskilling and upskilling the workforce so that they are prepared for whatever comes next. Further, skill development helps engage and retain employees.
However, achieving the intended outcomes takes more than an excellent learning program. It requires the appropriate tools and alignment with the organization’s goals and strategies, among others. Most importantly, strong leaders are required to guide the organization and the employees.
Udemy Business recently conducted a study to identify the key trends and concepts business leaders should keep on top of their minds to address critical challenges through their learning strategy. The following are a few key insights from the study.
Companies Should Lead Through a Culture That Reinforces Learning
To be adaptable and resilient, companies should attract and retain quality talent committed to their and the organization’s success. Employees should also feel a connection to their work and organization. And this connectedness can be created through the right company culture.
Deeply embedded learning is vital to a healthy work culture that unlocks critical goals, drives engagement, and drives business outcomes. A strategic learning organization identifies the skills required for the employer and the employee to be successful and the role-specific skills. A learning company that connects strategy to work culture provides its workers with a clear career path, thus engaging and retaining valuable talent. It further fuels the company to meet emerging challenges by ensuring workers acquire the skills required for emerging roles.
See more: 4 Predictions for the Future of Digital Learning and Development
Companies Should Upskill Workforce for Agility
Technological changes were ongoing even before COVID-19, and companies had to find people having the right skills to have a competitive advantage. However, the pandemic accelerated digital adoption, and according to McKinsey, it was by several years. This implies staying innovative and agile is highly critical today. When companies ensure their employees can adapt to rapid and unpredictable changes, they will be poised to emerge ahead of their competitors.
This agility and adaptability come from continuously acquiring more and new skills. According to Gartner, over 30% of skills needed before the pandemic will soon become obsolete.
All these can be made possible with a culture that supports continuous learning and sustained company-wide learning programs.
Companies Must Rethink Delivery To Get the Most Out of Learning
Suppose companies want to develop and engage workers across all levels and business functions. In that case, learning programs must be designed in a way where people can access and learn the skills they require, irrespective of the location. Learning is not one-size-fits-all. A delivery strategy that considers the individual and the entire company will likely produce success. Learning programs delivered through integrated, multi-modal methods provide several opportunities for employees to engage.
According to a PwC study, 77% of employees are willing to pick up new skills or retrain completely. Employers should meet this eagerness to upskill by providing integrated, tailored opportunities to fit the learners’ needs.
Employees Are Mastering Complexity and Prioritizing Communications
To acquire the skill set required by the companies, employees must go beyond a given role’s specific functions. Learners are looking to improve their business competence and expand them across broader categories, such as soft skills, operations, and tech skills.
According to the study, learners are focusing significantly on communication skills. Many employees are looking to learn skills that can help them become more effective at work and drive better business results. Simultaneously, the ability to handle complex work assignments is seeing much growth. About 50% of the learning time spent on the top 10 business skills was spent on leadership and communication capabilities. Besides this, the learning hours for technical skills grew by 49% in one year.
According to the study, the top five surging business skills are customer experience management, non-verbal communication, Salesforce software, digital strategy, and Industry 4.0. The top five consumed business skills are communication skills, project management, leadership, agile, and scrum.
Top 10 surging and consumed business skills
Source: 2023 Workplace Learning Trends Report
Productivity and English Language Are Highly-consumed Personal Skills
The line between professional and personal lives has blurred for almost three years, and people are learning various personal skills throughout this time. While some may be termed personal skills, many also position people for success at work. For example, learners are emphasizing English language skills, which is essential for today’s leadership and global workplace requirements. Skills to manage stress and avoid burnout are also pulling learners in. Skills that empower people to do their jobs more efficiently are also attracting people.
Top 10 surging and consumed personal skills
Source: 2023 Workplace Learning Trends Report
It may be seen from the graph that the skills required to find new jobs were second only to conscientiousness-building for employees. This means workers are still looking for new job opportunities, indicating the Great Resignation hasn’t ended.
Employers Must Identify What Employees Are Learning and Guide Them
The study showed that employees from different industry functions are learning various skills. However, while the company requires some, some are not necessarily applicable to their job responsibilities. For example, among finance and accounting employees, cryptocurrency is one of the top-consumed and surging skills. Similarly, the second most consumed skill is stock trading. While employees may be interested in these areas, they are unlikely to need them for their jobs. The study also suggests that many employees across functions may be developing a few skills required for a new role.
These raise the question of whether leaders should consider it a red flag or simply another layer of what employee learning should offer. On the one hand, this can be regarded as a way of making it possible for workers to engage with work. However, companies may also consider this as misusing valuable resources and may restrict access to certain topics. This is where leaders will have to use careful judgment.
See more: AI and ML Emerge the Fastest Growing Skill in 2022
Conclusion
Companies that support learning vital skills as a cornerstone of a strong work culture will witness better employee engagement and a better-prepared workforce. A comprehensive and integrated approach to learning aligned with the teams’ and individuals’ needs will put companies in a strong position for future growth and make them better equipped to handle disruptions.
The rapid growth in business and technical skills learning indicates a plethora of skills that need to be learned in these areas today and the growing demand for learning them. Employees are keen to upskill and understand the need to continuously advance their skills to meet personal and organizational needs. Organizations just need to provide them with the tools, time, and culture to engage with learning.
Leaders who emphasize the state of learning at their companies and create a strategy that considers the trends mentioned above give themselves better opportunities to have a competitive edge.
What key learning and development trends do you think leaders should look for in the coming year? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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