The current situation sweeping the world due to COVID-19 has brought to the forefront more than ever before the need for skilling, reskilling, and upskilling in the wider corporate world, and not only. What was once a “nice to have” is now imperative especially given that suddenly many of us have been thrust into working with new platforms, new technologies, and even new environments.
It is notable that as published by Randstad in 2019, industries across the world were already, long before COVID-19, being faced with skills gaps and shortages. It was estimated that France would require 80,000 more IT and electronics workers than will be available by 2020, while the US would have to deal with having 250,000 fewer data scientists than needed. In the UK, 23 percent of people lacked basic digital skills despite the fact that they were required for around 90 percent of all new jobs. We can imagine what those numbers are today. So what is the solution? It should then come as no surprise that the answer lies in skilling, reskilling, upskilling employees which is the approach we take at Randstad. To reskill is to learn new things, completely different, while to upskill is to update and strengthen our existing knowledge and skills.
At Randstad, our activities lie in being close to our employees in order to have an ongoing dialogue concerning the individual needs and aspirations of each of our employees, one by one. We accomplish this in a multifaceted strategy which includes, surveys, one to one meetings, mentoring programs, and coaching. This, coupled with the ongoing and emerging needs of the business brings ample opportunities for upskilling. How do we do this? By various methods including classroom training, webinars, and now, one to one video chats, to name a few.
In the ever-changing workplace, we should remember that in every challenge there is a lesson to be learned. We can use this unprecedented time to our advantage and use this opportunity to build new strengths, gain new knowledge, and hone in (and even create new) professional relationships that can all play a part in taking our career one step further, even reinventing ourselves as professionals and within our jobs.
If you would like more information and to learn strategies and tips for developing your own upskilling and reskilling programs to unlock the full potential of your people, join our upskilling and reskilling webinar with chief people officer Cindy Keaveney and Wesley Connor, VP, Global Learning and Development.