New Report: Now is the Time to Seize the Skills Advantage

Welcome to the year when Learning and Development (L&D) leaders can turn the skills crisis into the skills opportunity. 

A new report, The Skills Advantage, contains data, advice, and ideas to add energy to your L&D strategy. Even organizations struggling with employee turnover and other pain points amid the Great Reshuffle can use skills-based planning to help their people and business thrive. 

The report’s insights and tips draw from 3.4 million Glint employee engagement surveys as well as LinkedIn behavioral and survey information. Read on for more context about the skills opportunity and a preview of the report’s key takeaways.

Skills are critical for business success

“Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen a seismic shift in the global workplace,” LinkedIn Talent Solutions Senior Director Amy Borsetti writes in a column for Chief Learning Officer. “Companies are still rethinking their working models, cultures and values. A big part of this evaluation is a renewed focus on upskilling and reskilling as they work to retain talent, as well as a shift to skills-based recruiting.”

The Institute for Corporate Productivity is also shining a light on the skills opportunity with a new study that indicates, “Not only do most organizations not know the skills and capabilities within their workforces today, but … they also have a lack of knowledge on what is needed in the next one-to-three years.” 

Consider these stats from the institute’s survey of 1,300 HR and business executives across 80 countries: 

• Only 12% consider upskilling or reskilling efforts in their organizations to be effective.
• Only 15% indicate their organizations are highly effective at analyzing the gap between current workforce capabilities and future business requirements.

At the same time, the study found that high-performing organizations — participants that had better revenue growth, profit, market share, and customer satisfaction than their competition — were 2x more likely than low-performing counterparts to say their workforces are ready for the future.

Employees also want to stretch their skills

In key regions around the globe, job roles have been created, displaced, and changed at a record pace in recent months. 

Meanwhile, fresh insights in The Skills Advantage report reveal almost a quarter of employees are not confident that their skills are being put to good use in current roles — a strong risk for turnover. In fact, employees who feel their skills are not delivering value are 10x more likely to be job hunting compared to those who do feel their skills are effective.

It’s not surprising that Glint data on employee engagement and company culture shows the top driver for an exceptional work environment is now “opportunities to learn and grow.” And the right culture matters more than ever. Compared to peers at organizations without highly rated culture, employees who rate their culture highly are:

• 31% more likely to recommend working for their organization.
• 25% more likely to report being happy working for their organization.

Skills-based planning requires C-suite collaboration 

All of this means L&D can — and should — have a bigger voice in strategic conversations. 

Strong learning culture starts with alignment between L&D and the executive team, points out HR industry analyst Josh Bersin. Once that happens, L&D innovation in the form of “talent mobility and job mobility and growth become much easier to implement,” he says.

Because numbers speak louder than words, many L&D leaders are working more closely with people analytics functions to measure impact and paint clear pictures with data. They’re also reaching for technology that can deliver skills-development insights. 

To build skills and maximize engagement, the report recommends focusing on learner experiences that are personalized, interactive, social, accessible, and inclusive, flagging three important ways to meet the expectations of today’s learners:

1. Make sure content is accessible to different learning styles, abilities, and preferences.
2. Be transparent about skill-building programs to help people navigate and take full advantage of their own learning journey.
3. Connect skills across talent acquisition and talent development to support internal-mobility opportunities.

Final thought: download The Skills Advantage to power your L&D strategy

These are extraordinary times in the world of work. Organizations that prioritize learning are poised to survive and thrive in two key ways — with an engaged and energized workforce, and with always growing skills to outpace the competition.

At the same time, many L&D pros are just starting down this path. They’re teeing up the business case for skills-based planning while also pondering how to break down momentous challenges into smaller steps.