For Life Long Learners!

In a recent collaboration, BCG and WEF have imagined various scenarios for what the future of work may look like by the year 2030. Unsurprisingly, in their report, Eight Futures of Work, the need for re-skilling – meaning an organizations’ need to provide venues to today’s workers so they can develop the skills and capabilities needed for the future workplace – is highlighted several times.

It is true. In the future:

• we will learn on the go,
• our learning experience will be customized,
• our learning content will be curated to maximize outcome,
• we will be expected to switch in between different tasks.

Though the ongoing discussions about the future of work is often emphasizing the urgency of re-skilling, life-long learning and overdue upgrading of our educational systems, only a few ideas and a handful approaches exist when it comes to actually identifying pragmatic and productive ways of planning job transitions, which can facilitate minimization of resource strain both on organizations as well as the affected individuals themselves.

In a recent study by Monika Hamori of IE Business School of Madrid, who has been on Thinkers 50’s radar, across a number of 1481 employed learners, only 5% reported having financial support from their companies in online coursework. Training represents one of the biggest gaps between employee expectation and employer benefits for the 21st century. It is no longer enough to craft meaningful and secure jobs, we are now stretched by the need and desire of growing new skills.

And we can ALL learn. 

Following WEF 2018, we got together with a few specialists to develop some tangible ideas as to how organizations can map out job transition pathways and consider re-skilling opportunities, using the power of digital data to help guide workers, companies, and governments to prioritize their actions, time and investments. Today, you can find the downloadable summary report on our site here.

Remember, the traditional frames of well pay, employment security and benefits are long gone. The 21st century requires all of us to approach our ‘jobs’ as CEOs of our own companies, looking for opportunities of growth, profitability, productivity and re-learning simultaneously. If we can facilitate ‘re-skilling’ for our employees, we have a better chance to drive longer term engagements.

In that, learning can serve both as a great productivity and retention tool!