Jarred Consulting

One of the top three priorities for HR Leaders in 2019, according to Gartner’s survey of 843 HR professionals, is building critical skills and competencies for the future. Although a seemingly straightforward goal, a recent Gartner report identified that 70% of employees say they haven’t mastered the skills to do the job today let alone being equipped for the future. This is further backed by 64% of HR managers suggesting that employees can’t keep pace with the changing needs of the future business.

Mind the gap

It is obvious that if employees are not equipped with the skills to do the job then the business will struggle to even maintain the status quo let alone move forward and grow. It is easy then to say that identifying the skills gap, developing employees and providing them with the skills is the answer to growth and success. What is harder to work out is how to implement this and empower and upskill members of the organisation wherever they sit within it. A lack of growth isn’t the only problem, it is likely employees will feel frustrated and disempowered knowing they don’t have the skills they need, leading to a lack of engagement with the organisation. Taken to its natural conclusion the business ends up losing good people and the HR team find themselves with a further skills gap due to recruitment need.

Bridging the gap

In order to tackle the skills gap there are three areas for review and investment - skills identification, learning solutions and employee engagement. Everyone is familiar with skills gap analysis and the need to identify the skills of the future. Without this crucial strategic HR activity, no organisation can be truly sure that they can confidently implement their strategic plan. Once these skills have been identified and the gaps uncovered, the need for training and development is obviously the next step. Today, more than ever there are more mediums for delivering training and encouraging learning than ever before, e-learning, app based learning, virtual reality, vlogs and blogs, action learning sets, networks, coaches, mentors…all alongside the traditional class room based training courses. L&D teams are increasingly seeing their role as not simply to push out content they have developed, but to enable employees to access content from a wide range of internal and external sources to create individual learning programmes. It isn’t just about looking at the skills to deliver the business goals but also looking at who is delivering and supporting the people tasked with job. Sometimes the right skills are there, just not in the right place - perhaps there is a good fit sitting elsewhere in the business waiting for the right opportunity.

Removing silos and creating a development ethos across the business

The need for managers to act as coaches and ensure the right people are in the right place to deliver is pivotal, but these managers need to see beyond their immediate remit and understand the wider business agenda. It is important that all levels of management are clear on the strategy and the plan to get there as well as understand their role in making it happen. Too often managers are so focussed on the day job and getting the most urgent deliverable over the line, they don’t have time to think beyond the immediate and think strategically. Organisations need to spend time creating a developmental ethos across the business with managers being networked amongst themselves to build knowledge and understanding of key areas of strength and weakness beyond their own remit. This then allows flexibility and agility of resources, potentially saving time and money as well as allowing the business to move forward more quickly.

Building a learning culture

Furthermore, employees need to be able to express their desire to develop their skills and feel able to try new roles which play to their strengths (and develop their weaknesses), even if not within their current business area. In order for this freedom of thought and creativity with resources to flourish, a culture of openness and trust is key. People must feel their career is of importance within the business and be able to see a clear link between their personal success and that of the wider business. Without this, individuals will be less willing to invest in their development and push out of their comfort zone to deliver what is needed for the business of the future. While many organisations are struggling to adapt to these challenges, high-performing companies are seizing the opportunity to promote a new culture of learning, upending traditional models and transforming how employees learn. These organisations are adopting new mind-sets, fundamentally rethinking what “learning” and “development” mean in the context of their business. They place the employee at the center of a new architecture and new vision that treats learning as a continuous process, not an episodic event, and as a company-wide responsibility, not one confined to HR. Contact us to help you analyse your skills gap and work with you to organise your business, helping you unlock a culture of engagement and learning to ensure success and keep the organisation ahead of the competition.