As we enter the final quarter of 2024, what once seemed like the distant future of work is rapidly becoming our present reality. The digital age is intensifying the skills gap, with the World Economic Forum's 2024 Future of Jobs report revealing that 44% of workers will require significant reskilling in the next five years.
This shift is driven by rapid technological advancements—such as AI, automation, and data analytics—that are outpacing the ability of organisations and educational institutions to keep up with the necessary skills.
Adding to the complexity, the post-pandemic 'Great Resignation' remains a major force, with 28% of employees planning to change roles in 2024, compared to 19% in 2022.
For L&D professionals, this means navigating a landscape where not only must you address evolving skills needs but also implement effective strategies to retain top talent and align with your organisation's business objectives for the next 12-24 months.
In this blog post, we'll examine the current state of the skills gap, explore the factors driving this shift, and provide actionable insights to help you strategically manage and bridge these gaps.
How to bridge the skills gap
Engaging the workforce: How to retain your top performers
A 2024 Gallup poll revealed that only 30% of employees feel engaged at work, with 74% of disengaged employees actively seeking new opportunities. This disengagement can be an even bigger risk to organisations that are already suffering from a skills gap in their workforce.
Imagine this scenario: You advertise a position for an AI specialist, navigate a fiercely competitive job market, and finally secure the ideal candidate. But just six months later, they're poached by a competitor or attracted by a more lucrative offer. This is happening all too often because employees are more mobile than ever due to hybrid work environments. Organisations must acknowledge this trend and be proactive.
To combat this, organisations should consider how they can reengage their employees and create a culture that makes them want to stay, regardless of any shiny promises they may receive from outside noises. LinkedIn's Learning at Work Report found that 9 in 10 employees believe learning and development provides a sense of purpose to their work and therefore increase their engagement.
Attracting top talent is just one piece of the puzzle. In 2024 and beyond, L&D professionals must partner closely with the C-suite to create an environment where top talent is not only challenged and nurtured but also aligned with the organisation's broader vision. This alignment is crucial to prevent your top performers from leaving when presented with tempting offers.
To be proactive in retaining staff, L&D can play a central role. By fostering a supportive and engaging workforce, L&D can help retain talent and ensure that employees remain committed to the company's long-term goals.
Meeting the expectations of Gen Z and Millennials
In addition to the fight for top talent, organisations face the added challenge of meeting the expectations of younger generations entering the workforce.
As the presence of Gen Z and Millennials increases in the workforce, their values and beliefs toward work and learning are reshaping employer approaches to L&D. A Deloitte survey reveals that 71% of Gen Z and 64% of Millennials are contemplating leaving their current roles in search of better opportunities, driven largely by desires for work-life balance and career growth.
In response to this change, L&D professionals need to customise training and onboarding programs to match remote and flexible work policies. Additionally, utilising learning technologies to establish transparent career progression pathways can assist employees in understanding how their roles can develop and contribute to the organisation's broader objectives. When younger employees can clearly see opportunities for advancement within a company, they are more inclined to embrace the organisation's vision and commit for the long term.
The future of talent management: Closing the skills gap
Looking ahead, addressing the global skills shortage remains a top priority for learning and development professionals. A 2024 report by Korn Ferry projected that this shortage could reach 85.2 million workers by 2030, potentially costing companies up to $8.5 trillion in lost revenue annually if left unaddressed.
Learning technologies offer a scalable solution to this challenge, enabling organisations to rapidly upskill and reskill their workforce. By leveraging data-driven insights, companies can identify emerging skills gaps and proactively address them through targeted training programmes. The integration of AI can further enhance these programmes by providing personalised learning pathways that adapt to the evolving needs of both the organisation and its employees.
How to use your learning management system (LMS) to bridge skills gaps
To help employees reach their potential and fulfil critical roles, it's essential to define the competencies needed for each position, identify the gaps between current and desired skills, and connect these dots with effective learning programmes.
Step 1: Outline your competency frameworks
Begin by creating competency frameworks for the roles within your organisation. This should provide a comprehensive picture of the skills and behaviours needed for success. First, capture and represent employees' existing competencies in a digital system.
Step 2: Create competency frameworks
With up-to-date competency profiles, employees can explore success profiles within your organisation, comparing their skills with role requirements. This process empowers them to consider non-linear career paths, evaluate how their current abilities line up with potential opportunities, and identify the steps needed to reach their desired positions. Tools like 360-degree evaluations offer additional insights by comparing employees' self-assessments with feedback from peers and managers, guiding their career development.
Step 3: Map out your success profiles
Next, map out the success profiles for each job role. This will help you fill positions and measure employees against both their current roles and aspirational ones.
Step 4: Award competency application
As part of a blended learning journey, you can recognise employees' successful application of competencies. For instance, line managers can use tools like the 'Badges' feature in Thinqi to award employees who demonstrate these competencies in their daily work.
Step 5: Use reporting
Your talent management tools should allow you to run reports across the organisation based on the success profiles you've created. This helps you target specific audiences or identify employees who are 'ready now' (i.e., meet all required competencies) or 'ready soon' (i.e., meet most but not all competencies).
Step 6: Create relevant learning programmes
Once employees have checked their competency profiles against desired success profiles, you can link any missing competencies to relevant learning programmes designed to fill those gaps. These programmes can range from workshops and coaching to blended learning experiences, all aimed at addressing specific competencies. Employees can then self-enroll in these programmes through your platform, or you can enroll a cohort of 'ready soon' individuals to develop their missing skills.
Creating the workforce of tomorrow, today
To stay ahead, it's crucial to harness the power of learning and development teams and implement robust talent management strategies. These strategies should not only support employee growth but also proactively identify skills gaps and collaborate with the broader business to create highly targeted and impactful learning programmes. This approach will not only help to bridge those gaps, it will also foster a more productive and engaged workforce.
Ready to build a talent management strategy that prepares your team for the future of work? Download our expert guide for free below and get started today.
