Skilling-Up For The Future

Today’s world required you to have a strategic plan around making sure you have the right skills in your workforce to compete, and grow your company. Machine learning, 3D printing, AI, and voice search technology are just a few things coming into the workplace thanks to the fourth Industrial Revolution. Look at what happened to the taxi industry with the insurgence of the ride-sharing industry. This new era of workforce requires a new skill set to be acquired, continuously developed, and retained.

Many companies are beginning to realize that in order to succeed in this coming automation age, it is a necessity to develop the skills of their current workforce to meet these new requirements. Simply hiring contractors and gaining new hires will not be enough, and letting go half of your workforce because they don’t have the right skills will negatively impact your company’s culture. For employees, it is important they know their own direction in the company, and what their path looks like for “re-skilling” and/or discovering new work opportunities within the company.

1. Gain a complete understanding of your workforce gaps today, and what future skills you will need. Begin working on putting your company’s strategy into a vision of what skills are needed, and include what values are at stake.
2. Design a plan to meet your future demand. Craft the initiatives that include the hiring-process, skill-training, and contracting. Your upgraded talent and operations substructure will be put in place to reinforce this new performance management system.
3. Implement quick disciplined discipline. Now is the time to create a cross-functional team that includes members of HR, and your business team members, to ensure nimble plan execution.

Making sure you have the right skill set is so important, especially in this war for great talent, and the intense hiring difficulties we are facing. Your talent strategy is an important pillar of your company’s strategic strategy.