Embracing the revolution of learning in the workplace

With the evolution of the global workforce over the past few years, the demand for skilled employees across countless industries has also increased. Upskilling is crucial for professionals to grow as the tech industry grows. However, many businesses prioritize operational procedures and leave learning development and upskilling in the workplace up to employees. 

The issue with placing the responsibility of upskilling and development on employees is that it can often create a greater skills gap. This is why it’s crucial for organizations to embrace the revolution of learning in the workplace. Investing in upskilling employees will help close skill gaps and boost employee retention. 

Challenges to implementing learning in the workplace 

One of the major challenges to addressing employment gaps and improving workforce development is forecasting technology advancements. Identifying gaps between current and future skill sets can be difficult. 
 
Because tech is constantly evolving, it often becomes a challenge for employees in the tech sectors to keep up with the skills they need to stay competent. 

“We've got roles now that didn't exist 10 to 15 years ago,” explains Ruth Jennings, skills development program manager, Sainsbury’s, during a session at the CompTIA EMEA Member and Partner Conference. “We moved away from role profiles to a skills taxonomy area, considering what we will need over the medium and long term. We need to find skills to solve those business problems.” 

For many organizations, it's challenging to address the direct needs of their teams and determine how to place skilled employees in the right roles. Many times, it requires defining goals that will help build strategic plans. Jennings suggests asking specific workforce-related questions, such as: 

Understanding the business needs and the pool of current employees that can fill them can be one of the biggest challenges organizations face with workforce development. Once leadership has a good understanding of the skills needed, it’s easier to justify investing in their current workforce in addition to external hiring options. 

Developing employees from generalists to specialists 

Subject matter experts (SMEs) know their departments and their needs better than others with more generalist skill sets. Developing employees from generalists to specialists gives organizations the opportunity to gather key decision makers and SMEs and ask them where skill gaps exist. 

“It's important to ask leadership what outcomes they are looking for because then we can develop a solution and leverage different elements,” Jennings said. “It could be a short-term intervention in our knowledge. It could also simply be a checklist or something more substantial to address skills gaps.” 

Being intentional with this type of training and development makes a greater impact. 

“We ran a generic graduate program, and it wasn’t delivering what we needed,” shares Ruth South, global talent development and apprenticeships lead, Costa Coffee. “So, we turned that off and turned on specific programs for grads in certain skill areas, apprenticeships and niches. In reviewing all of those moving parts, it helped us focus on the right skills for the individual and the division and then we could scale it.” 

Addressing the employee development gap within your organization means getting real with training and development and scaling it up upon success. This will build a better foundation of skilled employees for your workforce. Individual needs will depend on the department's goals and its operational needs within the overall organization. 

Improving connections with employers to close skill gaps 

Employers looking to close skills gaps don’t have to do it alone. Partnering with workforce development experts can help you address barriers, offer more learning opportunities and cultivate a culture of knowledge sharing. 

“I don't believe big organizations will only work with big organizations,” South explains “We work with very large apprenticeship providers, but I think the beauty is where you can find a relationship where there can be agility, respect and something a bit niche for employers.” 
 
Here are three ways a workforce development partner can assist your organization: 

1. Address barriers in the talent placement and recruiting process 

To effectively close skills gaps, it’s important for organizations to address the barriers that currently exist. These barriers can be both internal and external. It may be as simple as reviewing application processes for internal candidates looking to move within the company and external candidates looking to join the team.  

Leadership should be clear about the specific needs the organization has when it comes to hiring for job roles within the company. However, it can be beneficial for recruiting to communicate and understand the specific skill sets based on department or team need. 

2. Offer employees opportunities for upskilling and continuous learning 

Upskilling existing employees can often be more cost-effective than training a new employee. Organizations of all sizes can provide continuous learning opportunities through partnerships with training and development organizations to upskill employees. Offering employees incentives such as discounts or monetary reimbursements can make it worthwhile for employees to embrace upskilling.  

3. Foster collaboration and knowledge sharing 

Typically, the cybersecurity industry is known to be a more intermediate to advanced industry versus a more entry-level sector of technology. Embracing learning in the workplace for professionals who have shown an interest in other areas of the organization can be a good opportunity to foster collaboration within teams. This can promote knowledge sharing across teams to foster cross-sector communication. Knowledge sharing and collaboration can also support employees as they move from a generalist role to a specialist role. 

Use CompTIA training solutions for learning development and upskilling 

Partnering with CompTIA can help your organization lessen its current IT skills gap, while improving employee engagement. Interested in learning more? Schedule a meeting with our Enterprise Solutions Team.