Rebuilding learning equity: The key to overcoming the skills gap

There is no skills gap.

This statement may sound mistaken, misinformed or downright ridiculous. It contradicts piles of research from the likes of Deloitte, Fosway Group and The World Economic Forum, which proclaimed a “reskilling emergency,” based on the finding that 42 percent of existing core job skills are expected to change by 2022. This number is probably even higher given that this research was published in January 2020, just before a global pandemic disrupted how work is done in pretty much every industry. “Skills gap” is even mentioned in the article’s title!

It’s clear that organizations do not have enough people with the skills needed to execute newly minted business priorities. According to LinkedIn Learning’s “Workplace Learning Report 2021,” this list includes everything from digital fluency and remote work to resilience and mindfulness. However, these kinds of skill deficiencies are far from new. Frankly, they’re the reason learning and development exists at all. The workplace is perpetually changing. New roles are always being created. Job requirements are under constant review. Until we can accurately predict the future, there will always be skill shortages. It’s the nature of work, not a sudden and dramatic talent crisis.?

Missing the mark on opportunity

What would you do if you returned home to find your basement flooded??

1. Grab a bucket and start bailing
2. Shut off the broken pipe
3. Call a plumber

“2” is the obvious answer. It’s basic cause and effect. If you went with “1” or “3,” you’d end up even deeper underwater as the real problem (the broken pipe) continues to add to your perceived issue (a flooded basement).

Right now, disruption is engulfing organizations and transforming jobs. Many teams are reaching for buckets — aka, building boot camps and education programs on high-demand skills. This may reduce the water level for a brief period, but the next disruption is always just around the corner. Chief learning officers must act to find the real issue — the broken pipe — that is causing organizations to fall behind the breakneck pace of change. Rather than get distracted by timely skill gaps, L&D must instead address the pervasive and damaging lack of opportunity.

Put simply, workplace learning is not fair. Some workers have access to robust talent development offerings. They can make time for in-depth learning programs and access subject matter experts in their moments of need. Other employees do not have this access or flexibility. They may rely on their peers and managers for support. But, more often than not, they’re left to figure things out on their own. These opportunity gaps foster inequities within the workplace that extend beyond talent development. They hinder mobility, reduce engagement, increase frustration, deepen inequality and impede performance.?

For example, “The State of Frontline Employee Training 2020 Report” from Arlington Research and Axonify revealed that only 58 percent of frontline employees receive regular learning opportunities. When the pandemic pushed people to take on new tasks or transfer into new roles, only 48 percent were provided with learning opportunities. It’s no wonder that 39 percent of these employees do not feel prepared to do their jobs properly in the current environment.

“Opportunity gap” may be an unfamiliar term, but it represents an amalgamation of familiar L&D challenges.

• The mindset gap?relates to the tendency for organizational stakeholders, from executives to frontline workers, to perceive learning as a check-the-box activity instead of a business-critical function.?
• The priority gap?reflects the ways in which learning is often deprioritized within the everyday workflow in favor of short-term operational capacity of cost savings.
• The inclusion gap?refers to the inability or unwillingness to provide equitable support opportunities to everyone within the organization.
• The reality gap?reflects the disconnect between the design of learning programs and resources and people’s day-to-day workplace context.
• The digital gap?highlights the disparities in technology investment and availability across different organizational functions and employee groups.?

The metaphorical water gushing from these disparities has been pooling for years. Today, the accelerated pace of change is accelerating damage to the foundation and causing the house to destabilize. It’s no longer just an L&D problem. Everyone has the same sinking feeling because they’ve realized that an organization can only transform as fast as its people can learn. As long as these opportunity gaps remain unsealed, the business will struggle to keep up and become increasingly vulnerable to disruption.

Taking action to restore equity

CLOs must take the lead in restoring learning equity. L&D teams cannot close opportunity gaps from the bottom-up. CLOs must leverage their influence to shift the organization’s perspective and provide their teams with the resources needed to enable persistent development opportunities at scale. It’s undoubtedly a huge problem to solve, but you can kickstart meaningful improvements with a few targeted actions.

Stand against antiquated mindsets. Time is the biggest barrier to skill development. People are constantly asked to do more with less, especially during periods of significant change. L&D quickly gets sidelined due to the perception that it’s an “unproductive use of time.” This short-term thinking has pervaded organizations and contributed heavily to skill deficiencies. CLOs must push for a top-down mindset shift. They must help their peers recognize the cause/effect relationship between learning and results. They are perfectly positioned to lead the charge to make learning a foundational part of everyone’s job. L&D must be prioritized alongside performance. To start, CLOs can build the business case for improving staffing by demonstrating the potential return from improved performance and reduced turnover. In turn, this will ensure people are consistently permitted the time needed to focus on long-term skill development.

Recognize development alongside performance. How does your company identify “top performers?” Is it based on sales results? Customer satisfaction scores? An algorithmic combination of multiple KPIs? When was the last time an employee was recognized for their commitment to skill development? CLOs must partner with HR and operations to integrate L&D into recognition programs. Employees should be recognized for growing their skills in the same way they are for hitting sales goals. Managers should be held accountable for enabling internal mobility and building bench strength just as they are for achieving quarterly results.

Shift from programs to systems. Content doesn’t close opportunity gaps. If it did, L&D would have solved these problems a long time ago using the thousands of courses available in the LMS. CLOs must challenge their teams to think differently about the role they play within a modern business environment. Agility must become their new guiding principle. CLOs must communicate the business’ overall direction, including short and long-term objectives. Then, they must guide the installation of channels and tactics that will accelerate solution delivery to address the next timely challenge. L&D must become faster and more proactive without forsaking the fundamental principles of learning.?

Invest in right-fit technology. It doesn’t matter if you work in an office, at home or in a retail store. Digital is now the face of workplace learning. You cannot provide every employee with timely, equitable learning and support resources unless you have right-fit technology in place. CLOs must guide their teams to adopt an ecosystem approach to integrated learning technology. Rather than make decisions based on administrative simplicity or cost reduction, CLOs must support investment in tools that provide equitable access to learning while also delivering measurement business value.?

Demand real insight into learning impact. Strong data practices are the foundation of a modern learning ecosystem. L&D cannot proactively identify business challenges or determine the effectiveness of its solutions without the right data. CLOs must foster connections between their teams and internal data experts. They must break down silos and highlight the importance of including people data in decision-making processes. CLOs must also reject meaningless and ineffectual reporting. Executive summaries, shareholder reports and SEC filings should include deep insights into the impact of ongoing investment in skill development, not the average number of training hours completed per employee.

A renewed purpose for CLOs

According to Google, a CLO ensures that the company’s learning strategy supports its overall business goals. However, thanks to nonstop disruption, a company’s business goals are a moving target. Today, the CEO may be all about digital transformation. In six months, regulatory changes may push executive priorities in an entirely new direction.?

To have the greatest impact possible, L&D must stop chasing the business. Instead, they must adopt a strategy that allows them to adapt and flex to the next priority, whatever it may be. This change begins with a renewed sense of purpose for the team, including the CLO. Instead of defining their roles based on business objectives, CLOs must instead focus on closing opportunity gaps. It must be their mission — and the mission of the entire organization — to make sure everyone, regardless of role, tenure, location, status, demographic or educational background, has an equitable opportunity to do and be their best every day.

This article originally appeared in Chief Learning Officer Magazine in August 2021.