Three keys to building a more skilled post-pandemic workforce

Organizations are now moving towards the hybrid working model, a blend of office and remote working. While the situation has pressed on aligning to this model a "necessity" for the new workforce, many people feel that closing the skills gap can make the journey more fruitful. 

However, some organizations are still getting used to this style of working. It involves leadership and managerial skills along with rational thinking and decision-making abilities. Besides, social and emotional skills must also be a part of a healthy work environment. It is also crucial that the companies keep an eye on the future and build the employee's skill set according to the technological revolution.

To kickstart your skill-building adventure, a bit of advice would be to observe the companies that have already successfully implemented this technique and try to reflect it in your company as well. However, to ultimately get adjusted to the post-COVID working practice, there are some steps you need to follow. 

Let's take an example to understand this scenario. A prominent insurance company's executives were well aware that they had a skill's shortage. The business was losing its star players to better-elevated firms before the outbreak. 

Step 1: Find the original initiation

With AI and data analytics capabilities becoming increasingly vital in the sector, executives worried that their present staff was slipping behind. But where, how far, and how rapidly would they go? One CEO mentioned that they had over a hundred job groups and two thousand-plus distinct types of employment. But, how could they get started? Some managers and AI validated the skills inventory, allowing for a comparison of people's CV entries, as well as their experience in the industry and accolades. 

Step 2: Make skill development a habit

The organization created a skills hub. This hub began as a test project with the company's accounting and call-center departments, two crucial areas where technology had already threatened to render many talents (and responsibilities) obsolete. A permanent business unit, overseen by the company's head of talent, was tasked with managing the market dynamics of skills, for example, by developing fundamental learning programs for all employees as well as specialized reskilling programs. The hub supplied summative assessment to help employees develop critical skills and abilities where jobs needed to change and retrain to help people prepare for a different function when responsibilities were being removed.

Step 3: Take an ecosystem view

Some companies adopted an ecosystem attitude during the unstable initial periods of the COVID-19 crisis. Majid Al Futtaim, located in Dubai, reskilled 1,000 people from its theatre company to work in its supermarket business within only two days. Meanwhile, US-based The Food Industry Association (FMI) and HR technology company Eightfold.ai collaborated to build a talent exchange to enable dismissed and laid-off workers to discover open positions in other corporate firms. The market eventually accumulated more than one million job vacancies and 700 free programs to help people upskill.

Conclusion

Leadership that is open to changing old assumptions will give companies an advantage when it comes to skill-building. To gain an edge in the market, it is necessary to initiate a skill-building program now!

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