May Newsletter 2023

Poll Results – How Would You Spend Your 5th Day?

Our poll regarding what you would do on your 5th day if you worked a 4-day week sparked an interesting outcome, showing the top runner as “Improving skills/hobbies” with “Relaxing” as a close second.

Some of the comments referring to the poll's top results, point to the fact that this may be down to a change in priorities, where lockdown caused us to self-reflect and turn to upskilling rather than travelling in our spare time. It’s fair to say that a large proportion of the service industry may have chosen “relaxing” as their option after discovering the benefits it posed during the pandemic.

The poll also discussed the climate benefits or negatives to what people would do on their extra day if working a 4-day week, one theory suggesting those who work less would choose traditionally low-carbon activities. While another theory poses those who work more, therefore have less free time, will choose more carbon-intensive activities such as choosing faster modes of transportation due to being time-stressed over public transport.

Since 1970, CO? emissions in the UK (per capita) have fallen roughly 56%, currently showing 5.2 metric tons per person in 2021. However, in order to preserve a liveable climate, average emissions per person per year will need to drop to the 2-2.5 tons CO? range by 2030, according to the Emissions Gap Report 2020 by the UN Environment Programme. So, depending on the skill or hobby you’re wanting to improve, your carbon footprint for the activity could be relatively low by making sure you’re using renewable energy while you upskill.

To do this, ensure that you use the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), and travel in environmentally friendly ways by walking, cycling, or taking public transport wherever possible. So if you have started working 4-day weeks and have an extra day, try to be carbon-aware when you decide on your activities!

Upskilling New Graduate Employees

Following lockdown, new graduates entering the workforce, have found that they lack soft skills compared to their team members. This often leaves new recruits struggling to cooperate with their team members.

Mainly due to the social isolation measures inflicted during lockdown, graduates who are now coming into the workforce have found fewer opportunities to refine their soft skills as the majority of their learning was online-only. Previously graduates would have gained more skills through presentations to their peers and seminar / group discussions and classroom debates.

However, this doesn’t mean that graduates aren’t eager to get into the workforce, they are simply looking for more upskilling opportunities. And as Forbes highlights, “Upskilling must be an ongoing process.”

There are a few things employers can do to help graduates in the workplace:

• Identify the Gaps

Ask your teams and research where the gaps are in skills and development before determining what upskilling programmes to go with. Assessments and honest appraisals can allow you to take stock of where your team’s strengths and weaknesses are in order to find the best course of action.

• Commit

It’s not just about identifying the problems; you then have to follow through and invest in their continual development. It won’t be a one-off cost, upskilling is an ongoing process, so you have to be able to commit to a long-term investment to promote growth and encourage employee retention.

• Offer Professional Development

Many graduates, and others, coming into the workforce are looking for professional growth once they are in your organisation. They don’t want to stagnate in one position, instead wishing to upskill, improve and even reskill in order to progress within the organisation and create a career in favour of job-hopping. By offering opportunities for professional development through upskilling in areas such as leadership, communication, problem-solving, and project management, team members would feel happier in the knowledge that they could progress if they so wished.

The above are just a few examples of what could be done to help graduates in the workplace, but you could also offer mentoring schemes – namely reverse mentoring – for those more experienced team members who are wanting to upskill their digital proficiencies. This would be an opportunity where the graduates are able to mentor the experienced employees in skills they are more proficient in, and your organisation can make the most out of their unique knowledge and skills that they can bring to the workplace.

Neoskill offers many courses in what we call power skills to help your teams understand each other, to learn more about them contact us here.

Introducing Your Teams to AI

Artificial Intelligence or AI is a big buzzword right now, and some of your team members may find themselves unsure of the technology, while others are picking it up extremely quickly.

Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, has been shown to boost worker productivity by?14%, while reducing stress and increasing employee retention in customer support roles. However, one of the main issues related to this type of technology is that it will hurt people’s jobs rather than help them. That is why leaders must introduce artificial intelligence to their teams in a strategic and as smooth a way as possible using the following steps:

1. Demonstration

Make AI look approachable by demonstrating how to use ChatGPT to draft copy for clients or create social media posts. That will help your team understand the advantages of artificial intelligence enhancing, rather than replacing, their work.

2. Clear Best Practices

There are many legal and ethical best practices of AI that leaders must not neglect when discussing it with their team. The implications may differ by industry, but protecting client information is the most important. Set rules with your team about using artificial intelligence in their work; provide training sessions on securely using the technology so everyone understands the risks.

3. Feedback

As each department may have different uses for AI – for example, your Media team will use it to create copy for social media posts, while in Sales, they would use it to help analyse their selling history and identify market trends. It’s crucial to encourage feedback from your employees when introducing this technology so that it is used in the most efficient way for varying job roles.

4. Check-Ins

Artificial intelligence is continually evolving, and new tools are emerging almost weekly. It’s therefore vital to check-in with your team to help them stay on top of the technology at least once a month.

David Creelman, CEO of Creelman Research in Toronto, quotes “[…] it does seem reasonable to expect that it’ll be easier to get these new technologies to do an average job than it will be to get them to do an excellent job.” Meaning, artificial intelligence is an excellent tool for grammar checking but won’t make you a best-selling author by writing the book for you.

The only threat AI poses is to those lower-performing employees doing a below-average job, where artificial intelligence can automate their roles easily. Humans are still needed to check the work of AI and correct its mistakes, so it’s a matter of learning the technology and knowing your area of expertise more than it does.

Neoskill News

Recently, we completed the delivery of a high-profile course for a large blue chip tech company where we customised training to a specific team, delivering live sessions over two days, to three different theatres – Americas, APJ & GC, and EMEA. By communicating effectively with the client, we were able to ascertain what the needs of the teams were and ensure that we obtained the latest information in order for the course to be as relevant as possible.

Teamwork was needed to create a smooth and seamless online learning environment, where our team both delivered the training, presented case studies, answered questions and did research during the sessions. The course was a big success, as you can tell by these wonderful comments:

“Very engaging! Fun! Lots of interesting information! I think you are great and want you to come to all our trainings!”

“Loved the energy and the way complex topics were explained in a simple way.”

“Information was very well organized. Great presentation and enthusiasm. Really enjoyed the training!”

We have been busy behind the scenes building a brand-new website, updating our look and streamlining our information to make it easier for you to find exactly what you need, so watch this space.

We have a new Client Portal up and running. “What is a Client Portal?” you ask. Neoskill’s Client Portal is a secure electronic gateway which houses customised training documents specific to each client company, accessible over the internet through a web browser. Our portal also makes it easier for clients to access resources and information related to their customised training materials - a knowledge 'bank' for their employees - after signing on to use our services.

If you’d like to discuss any consultation services or training needs with us, please contact us here.

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If you’d like to discuss any training needs for your team(s) or organisation, please?get in touch.