\n\tInertia is the amazing force that helps an object in motion stay in motion, but it\u2019s also the force that keeps stationary objects from moving. Reskilling and upskilling efforts often stall out right at the beginning as projects get stuck in the paralysis of analysis.<\/p>\n
\n\tToday\u2019s times call for wholescale reskilling initiatives. Whether due to artificial intelligence (AI), automation, the COVID-19 pandemic, or an altered regulatory context, \u201cbuying\u201d new talent isn\u2019t nearly as cost-effective as building it with people who already understand your mission and culture. To move quickly and effectively, you can\u2019t bite off an analysis of every role in an organization and all of the skills required across those roles\u2014that takes years and is largely irrelevant by the time it\u2019s finished. The best way to get started is narrowing focus and prioritizing need.<\/p>\n
\n\tEXAMINE THE TALENT TREND DATA<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIf your business leaders don\u2019t already have a clear picture of roles that will be impacted by either demand or decline, it\u2019s a good time to reflect on economists\u2019 insights through tools such as Emsi. COVID-19 has accelerated a number of predictions\u2014such as eliminating many brick-and-mortar retail roles and accelerating the need for a stronger technical staff. The pandemic also has led to increased hiring in many roles that are high in their \u201cautomation index,\u201d such as cashiers and warehouse workers. Using this data, you can get a clear picture of impacted roles in your industry.<\/p>\n \n\tIDENTIFY SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES FROM IMPACTED ROLES<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tAfter narrowing down to the five to 10 most critical roles seeing demand and decline, your next step is a skills analysis. Historically, talent development was focused on specialization, but adaptability is today\u2019s golden ticket. Look for the skills that are the most durable and transferable in nature\u2014frameworks, mindsets, and ways of solving problems, as well as the technical skill \u201cgotchas\u201d you\u2019ll need to address. Pay attention to a role\u2019s common audiences for interaction and communication.<\/p>\n \n\tFIND THE ADJACENCIES<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s highly unlikely to find a direct path from areas of decline to demand. It\u2019s much more likely you can find roles adjacent that have similar skill sets and expectations of moderate growth. Similarly, you can and should do the same sort of skills analysis on two to three adjacent roles with expectations of growth and lower chance of automation for each of the prioritized roles. This allows you to focus on 15 to 30 roles in the organization, creating avenues to jobs that are likely to stick around and serve as a pathway for a longer talent pipeline.<\/p>\n \n\tLEVERAGE AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH TO CHANGE<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s no silver bullet for talent reskilling. Anyone trying to sell you that idea should be shown the exit promptly. Embarking on a reskilling initiative requires pulling multiple levers simultaneously. Once you have a complete picture, use all of your available tools to get where you need to go:<\/p>\n \n\t1.<\/strong> Leverage your existing content libraries and providers to curate content tied to the needed upskilling and reskilling.<\/p>\n \n\t2.<\/strong> Realign to debt-free tuition assistance programs in ways that reward employees oriented toward skills you need to achieve strategic objectives.<\/p>\n \n\t3.<\/strong> Proactively promote development opportunities through marketing campaigns to your employees.<\/p>\n \n\t4.<\/strong> Work with business partners to create a marketplace of trusted subject matter experts (SMEs) within your organization to mentor and stretch projects to allow employees to develop new skills.<\/p>\n \n\tAs your organization develops the \u201cchops\u201d for large-scale upskilling and reskilling, overcoming the inertia of paralysis will get easier as your company becomes a place where talent comes to grow and find opportunity.<\/p>\n \n\tAs a principal consultant at Guild Education, Matthew Daniel helps Talent Development teams at Fortune 1000 companies think about how to skill people for new roles, upskill people in existing roles, and outskill those displaced as a result of the future of work. Daniel has worked on L&D strategy at companies such as General Motors, Nike, Edward Jones, and others.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \n\tThere\u2019s no silver bullet for talent reskilling. Anyone trying to sell you that idea should be shown the exit promptly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":362,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[30],"class_list":{"0":"post-11718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-magazine","7":"tag-how-to","8":"magazine_issues-september-2020"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n