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How to keep up with rapidly changing skill demand & close skills gaps

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Reejig
May 25, 2022

The way we work is changing, there’s no doubt about it. The pace at which technology is evolving, and the opportunities it provides talent and organization is exciting, but comes with a change of skills to meet the new needs of work. 

The skill sets held by people are rapidly needing to shift. The speed of this shift? Faster than you’d imagine. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report found half of the workforce will need to be reskilled by 2025, and goes on to report that technological advances will displace as many as 85 million jobs in that period, while also creating 97 million new roles. 

With so many workers impacted across industries, this major upheaval needs to be carefully managed. Organizations will need to reskill and upskill employees in unprecedented numbers while facing fierce competition for new talent. So how can leaders identify their skills gaps and close them in time?

Workforce optimization starts with workforce intelligence

You can’t action reskilling and upskilling at scale without first understanding your current skills taxonomy, a huge challenge for HR leaders handling large workforces. Implementing workforce intelligence that gives you visibility over the skills taxonomy within your organization is a key first step to understanding how you can future-proof the skills within your workforce.

With improved knowledge of your company at the macro level, you can accurately spot current skills gaps within your workforce that need to be filled now to get ahead of any future problems.

This kind of visibility and intelligence doesn’t just help you with workforce planning — it gives you a major advantage over competitors when it comes to retaining your best talent. By knowing the skills that make up your workforce, and how those skills can be transferred to different roles, you can easily and proactively approach the right people within your organization and deploy them to where they are needed most.

Proactive learning and development

Every HR manager knows that clear communication of employee learning and development opportunities is key to retention. Multiple reports relating to the ‘Great Resignation’ have shown a lack of growth opportunities is an overwhelming and consistent reason behind people leaving their jobs.

As new roles emerge and existing ones evolve, personalized and proactive learning and development programs that offer employees the skills they need to serve these roles — and their own passions — are crucial. As well as moving your people into roles that will maximize their impact on your organization, you’re also communicating your investment in their career paths, showing flexibility, and helping employees imagine a long-term future with you.

4 steps to set you up for success as skill demands change:

1. Leverage real-time workforce intelligence data to rigorously examine the skills of your workforce and where your skills gaps lie. Consider where you’d like your workforce to go and what skills you need to get there.

2. Hire and develop talent based on the skills the organization needs for today and tomorrow.

3. Create personalized career paths to advance individual careers and intentionally address skills gaps across the organization.

4. Be proactive in approaching employees with learning and development opportunities that are personalized to their skillset and career pathway.

 

THE IMPACT

Introducing Workforce Intelligence

Reejig’s Workforce Intelligence is designed to act as the central nervous system for all of you talent decisions, providing you with the skills intelligence you need to spot skills gaps and highlight leading indicators that show where your workforce is heading.

Powered by Ethical Talent AI, workforce intelligence makes it easier to understand departments and employees poised for growth, predict future skills shortages, and identify the relevant learning and development opportunities to reskill your people.

The power of workforce intelligence doesn’t stop there through. After identifying the employees primed for reskilling you can reach out and communicate directly with those employees; offering them learning opportunities completely personalized to them, their skills, and their career path. 

 

The skills needed to power your workforce ahead for the future are going to continue to evolve — and so are the development needs of your people. Getting ahead of what skills you’re going to need tomorrow, today, shows your investment in the retention and future of your current workforce. And that will pay off in a workforce filled with meaningful careers, ready to stay and work with you.
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