Supporting employee development in a digital economy?

As 2019 closes and 2020 begins, I have taken a few minutes to reflect during the holiday season in North America. I've been fortunate to have traveled to Asia, Oceania, and North America this last year, hearing from many clients and prospects. This has afforded me a perspective on the distinct challenges each has around training and learning & development. It's been a blessing to be able to hear best practices, concerns, and opinions about digital transformation, leadership, and talent management. I would like to share a few observations here.

The first observation is about the large appetite for having digital skills. A recent Forbes article about the future of work reiterated what we have all been hearing about rapid change in the workplace due to technology, and had found "minding the skills gap" would be essential to success. Interestingly my own organization published benchmark research from Asia Pacific called "Mind the Gap" calling to attention the fact that 9 in 10 workers are very concerned about their future skills and employability in a digital economy, while 8 in 10 do not believe their employers are doing enough to provide training in these future skills. That is not to say training is not occurring, but a balance of investing for current and future performance is a concern. Though this study was done in Asia, I have heard similar concerns in North America. This points to a great opportunity for leaders to retain, and sustain employees through the support of learning and increase employee engagement through career development conversations.

Speaking of leaders, the second observation I want to share is around the importance of digital literacy and an understanding of digital mindsets. I had read an MIT SMR article early in 2019 stating "While many core leadership skills remain the same, the demands of digital disruption call for certain new ones, as well". I had heard both in the East and West about the leadership challenges of aligning organizations around digital strategy, with many leaders lacking a grasp of the technology. There is an opportunity for all organizations to support leaders with more resources to understand the impacts of AI, big data, machine learning and other fourth industrial revolution technology, as well as mindsets around innovation, agility, and leading in a more cross-cultural environment. For those looking for a partner to support this type of training, my own organization announced an exciting collaboration with MIT SMR at the close of the 2019 which shows our commitment to the view that leadership and technology are closely knit.

The last observation I will leave you with, as we enter a new year, and a new decade, is actually not a new concept. It is an idea that has been around for more than 2 decades, but also one that I have heard utilized very frequently by many companies recently. It is about the value of T-shaped development previously socialized by Jim Sporher of IBM. Simply put, though many of us have deep skills and understanding in a particular function (the "I" of the T shape), we should consciously develop other skills and knowledge that would provide breadth across other functions across our organizations (The top of the T shape). There is an opportunity for each of us to develop our own skills to be multi-disciplinary, cross-functional with the goal of being more collaborative. Josh Bersin posted an example of how this model applies to those supporting people practices as "Full-Stack HR Professionals".

In closing this post, and 2019, I thank all of you I have worked with this past year, and look forward to seeing you in future travels and collaborating- Happy 2020 all!