Area9 Lyceum Blog

Despite the billions of dollars spent on talent development every year, hiring managers in a recent survey revealed that their employees had persistent gaps in “soft skills,” including communications, business acumen, and customer service. According to the Career Advisory Board’s 2018 Talent Activation, Employee Experience and Skills Development survey, these gaps are not being sufficiently addressed even as employers seek to develop a more highly engaged workforce.

Every year, millions of people make “new year’s resolutions”—and organizations, in their own right, do much the same by setting goals for the year ahead. As we reach year-end, ask yourself: how did 2018 stack up against your plans, and what does 2019 hold?

As employers address their talent development needs, more than half of organizations are offering opportunities for employees to “upskill” and “reskill,” according to a recent report from the Association for Talent Development. Their goal is to take positive action to upgrade or build new skills in the workforce.

As with the previous 3 industrial revolutions, when the 4th industrial revolution arrives it will bring with it rapid technological change. More specifically, the 4th industrial revolution will be the automation revolution, characterized by an increase in robotic and automated technology in all sectors of life. It therefore goes without saying that the implications of these changes will be far reaching and will affect every sphere, including employment.

The world is on the brink of a 4th industrial revolution that will build upon the 3rd — the digital revolution — and which will be characterized by rapid technological change and automation. The shift toward automation, already occurring, is projected to have far-reaching consequences for every sphere of life, including, of course, employment.

It is not a matter of if, but when: technological change and increased automation will disrupt more than 25% of jobs in the future in Canada, for example. Businesses not prepared to adapt will be left behind.

Many traditional corporate training tools are the unfortunate cause of learning fatigue — a combination of ineffective, one-size-fits-all e-learning, disengaged learners, and tight training deadlines. Do you recognize any of those symptoms in your training?

Wherever you are in the world, you’ll always be able to find a McDonald’s restaurant. The McDonald’s secret to global popularity can’t be found in any secret sauce: its success is a result of the corporation’s cultural astuteness. Whether serving a market that is predominantly vegetarian, or one that avoids beef, or pork, or enjoys fish, McDonald’s adjusts its menu to the local cultural flavor — to great success. While we aren’t responsible for McDonald’s corporate learning we have to assume that someone at McDonald’s at some time received cross-cultural training.

Human Resources builds its team by bringing talented workers into the company. This is great, but to make a real lasting business impact the department needs a talent management strategy; it needs to hire highly engaged, high-performing employees all the time. Hiring employees who you know will be all that seems like it could be a difficult problem, but is it, really?

Employees who do not feel they can achieve their career goals at their current employer are 12 times more likely to consider leaving, according to IBM.

Millennials are no longer just a small cohort of recent graduates entering the workforce. Many have reached managerial positions and, in some cases, have been working up to a decade beyond their post-secondary education. According to Abacus Data, in 2018 in Canada Millennials will make up the largest cohort in the workforce, making them the most represented of any other age group; also, more Millennials are eligible to vote in Canada than Baby Boomers.

Do you ever think about how odd it is that we still use resumes to apply for jobs? With all the world’s technological advances and connectivity, employers still want to see a bunch of bullet points on a piece of paper. It’s weird, isn’t it? With all the things that have changed and are changing in the work environment, wouldn’t resume-use change too?