Employee reskilling trends 2021

The workforce is rapidly evolving. The year 2021 will witness organizations placing greater emphasis on transparency, agility, culture and purpose-driven leadership. As per recent industry reports, 54% of the world’s workforce will need reskilling and upskilling by 2022. Validating these findings, a LinkedIn survey revealed that 42% of the core skills required for jobs would change. In India, the unfortunate reality is that over 80% of engineers are unemployable. And as the core job skills change, without appropriate intervention, this mismatch between market requirements, skills, and opportunities is expected to grow more acute in the future. Hence, there is a need to invest heavily in the upskilling and reskilling of youth.

Some of the key reasons why organisations should not ignore the need for employee reskilling

Emerging technologies are transforming the way we work - Disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analytics and RPA are reshaping how organizations do business, engage with customers, and manage their operations. Gartner Predicts 70% of organizations will integrate AI to assist employee productivity in 2021. With an increasing number of organizations depending on these technologies to gain the desired competitive advantage, there is a pressing need for global businesses to respond effectively and focus on future skills and talent management.

Organizations will move toward a data-driven culture – This shouldn’t come as a surprise that data-driven organizations are better at decision making, and evidence is mounting that it makes commercial sense too. For instance, a McKinsey survey reveals that data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, 6 times as likely to retain those customers, and 19 times as likely to be profitable. The year 2021 will witness enterprises integrating data and analytics in their business strategy. This will allow them to differentiate themselves from the competition by making data-driven optimization as part of their daily operations.

Employees will proactively reskill themselves for the future – As new-age technologies are disrupting traditional business models across industries, employees need to reskill themselves to stay productive and relevant. Reskilling doesn’t always mean going back to college to get additional degrees. Instead, professionals across many industries are seeking company run training programs to help them gain the edge and stay competitive. Enterprises are increasingly supporting talent through various reskilling initiatives, which include a mix of online tests, virtual classrooms, industry guest speakers and working on projects under professional guidance.

Learning Management Systems are now available for on-demand education: In a technology-powered world, it’s no surprise then, that reskilling too has jumped on the bandwagon. Enabling location-agnostic, on-demand learning facilities, tools powered by Learning Management Systems are increasingly picking up pace for being centralized portals offering a quality experience, bringing the classroom, and training sessions online.

We have seen in a recent Korn Ferry global survey of HR professionals that more than a quarter (27 percent) say employee reskilling is their top priority. Reskilling enhances employees’ capabilities and increases retention by providing them with holistic development, inclusive of hard and soft skills such as programming and communication. Through reskilling, industries can expect to create a workforce of future-ready talent.

By Lakshmi Mittra, VP and Head, Clover Academy