Digital Training and Learning is key for staff retention

Research conducted by AlphaBeta in Australia for AWS has shown that companies which had invested in digital skills training have seen increased revenue and improved employee productivity, PLUS higher employee retention and satisfaction amongst those interviewed .1

The report, Building Digital Skills for the Changing Workforce in Asia Pacific and Japan,  looks at the increasing skills gaps - and emphasises  the need for digital skills training.

Digital skills training will not only boost productivity, but will help retain your staff.

Over 80 percent of NZ and Australian companies surveyed who had implemented training say that digital skills training helped with a higher employee retention - but  not more than 30% have a digital skills training plan in place.

Fraser Thompson, co-founder and principal of AlphaBeta, says the survey shows implementing digital skills training has ‘really important’ impacts on employee engagement and retention.

“A huge portion of the reason people work for us is actually learning and development opportunities.”

Learning is not only a 5 year stint at university - it is Lifelong journey .” Says Cassandra Parton - CEO of Nexttech Learning 

The opportunity to learn and grow was one of the top two key attractions for employees in a survey of Datacom staff last year. 2. 

Greg Davidson, Group CEO of Datacom - who invests heavily in learning says the importance of fostering continued growth in the workforce can’t be understated.

“There’s no point just doing academic learning without applying it to project oriented activity. We have a  really conscious program that follows up any training people do with reassignment to work that is relevant to help cement the skills”

A strong mentor culture is also required , he says 

“Everyone in leadership in our company is encouraged to help connect there teams to development opportunities  and career pathways.”

Simon Dewar of BSI Digital Learning talks about the danger of digital overwhelm!

- When we’re unable to focus because of competition for our attention from multiple sources causing  stress and anxiety 

 - COVID-related uncertainty and unpredictability. The end of the pandemic won’t be well defined, and we won’t ‘get back to normal’ but will have to find a new sense of equilibrium.

- Environmental factors such as a lack of physical and social structures around work and learning – no training room or office.

- Social factors causing more  distractions than usual – Children at home, mobile phones with notifications, apps specifically designed to give dopamine rewards for our attention.

How can you as an individual or corporate - overcome digital overwhelm .

Obviously - understanding the digital world through training and learning is part of the solution .

Best practice to get people to engage 

• An increase in the number of digital skills-specific micro-credentials and courses .
• An easy seamless way for people to do these courses - (maybe Duolingo for Digital Learning) 
•  Broadening the awareness of training options.

Examples of Portals Available 

Australia’s Skill Finder portal, a one-stop portal for digital skills, suggesting similar is needed in New Zealand.

Nexttech’s Elearning Portal https://elearning.nexttech.edu.au/

Singapore’s Industry Transformation Maps creating the digital skills frameworks. It  takes a holistic approach, looking at a sector, key trends for the sector and works backwards to understand the skills and training required to support that, and wrap it into the education framework. 

Thomson recommends a 3 pronged approach 

• Supporting employers to create a portal to help provide a way for their employees in their quest for lifelong learning 
• Empowering them to drive digitisation within an organisation and
• Providing targeted support for underserved communities

References 

1. The research surveyed 7,193 workers and 2,166 employers across seven countries: Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Singapore.
2. Inspired by Heather Wright’s article https://istart.co.nz/nz-news-items/digital-skills-training-for-productivity-staff-satisfaction/

How to hire and retain the right talent

In a McKinsey article - the stats are validating what we all seen to be feeling …… it’s harder to recruit, retain and maintain the right people and if you want to win the war on talent - you’ve gotta come to the party! 

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 4.3 million people voluntarily quit their jobs in December 2021, slightly below a record high in November 2021.

Their departures have left a huge hole in the labor market. 

The number of current job openings (10.9 million) exceeds the number of new hires (6.3 million). At a recent survey at Mckinseys recent survey of almost 600 workers who voluntarily left a job without another in hand, 44 percent said that they have little to no interest in returning to traditional jobs in the next six months. 

The rules of the game have changed. 

• you need to pay higher compensation,
• offer flexibility, 
• community, and 
• an inclusive culture 

The cost of switching jobs has gone down significantly.

There is less of a stigma associated with showing a gap in your résumé. 

Employees in many industries are confident that they can find work anywhere, whenever they are ready - They have seen friends and colleagues depart and survive, and they are confident that they can, too.

You need to redefine your attraction and retention strategies and build a value proposition that takes employees’ whole lives into account.

Why they left

• uncaring leaders, 
• unsustainable expectations of work performance, 
• lack of career advancement
• Overwork with less staff

Those that took new jobs cited

• Professional development - ability to learn
• workplace flexibility, 
• adequate compensation and 
• reasonable expectations about performance as top factors in taking a position 

What can you do to retain your team . How do you bring them back—and keep them?

Paul Findlay of Reach shared some interesting insights at our Nexttech Transformation forum facilitated by Bill Mclellan 

• life balance  - maybe offer subsidised cleaning services, gym memberships, free learning or on-site childcare services that would allow employees to eat lunch with their children
• Have a reason that makes them feel they are adding value and making a difference 
• providing extra days off for professional development or mental-health breaks
• Bonuses for great work 
• Recognition and create a feeling that your team is being listened to 
• Pay 100 percent of the tuition costs for employees seeking higher education. 

The bottom line is that companies must take a different approach, focused on the following core principles.

Doing something bigger than yourself

Fostering psychological safety and a sense of community, and measuring outcomes. Rather than conducting only exit interviews, adopt “stay” interviews, asking people how they are doing and what they need to continue in those roles?

As Mark Purbrick of Peoplogica said - have a joining party instead of a leaving party! 

Cultural factors can make a company more attractive to join and, ideally, provide more incentive to stay.

The power of collaboration 

Stack the deck in your favour - Expand your talent pool

Think more creatively about candidates: 

What about the nontraditional workers who aren’t even on their radars? 

Bring in Diverse groups 

As Fiona Love says - being innovative without Diversity and Inclusion is like playing sport with one hand tied behind your back! 

Based on Mckinseys research , this untapped source of labor could be as many as 23 million people. 

Lower the barriers to entry and rethink requirements for certain roles. 

Remove bias from the recruitment process!!

Consider students , those doing part-time or contract work , people you can train . 

Consider ex inmates - remove any questions about convictions or arrest records from job applications and to delay background checks until later in the hiring process.

Use Referron and encourage your team to find their friends using referral programs—for instance, launching a personalized “refer two friends” campaign, asking existing employees to recruit within their networks—and acknowledge that the best candidates may be outside the immediate radius of the company’s headquarters.

Use AI or overseas assistants to augment your team members skills Could functions be outsourced or automated ? 

In one company it was found that salespeople were spending the bulk of their days processing orders and managing documents rather than pursuing actual sales.

How can you create more value for both employer and employee using AI VR and BPO (business process outsourcing )

Thanks to the team at Mckinseys 

Aaron De Smet , Bonnie Dowling , Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock, Laura Pineault, and Nicolette Rainone at Mckinseys for their article 

 The team at the Nexttech Transformation Forum - Cassandra Parton, Bill Mclellan, Mark Purbrick, Craig Saphin , Jane Valmadre, Paul Findlay , Ayon and Emma Sidney for their contribution at the Nexttech transformation forum 

The team at the BSI Diversity Equity and Inclusion Yarning Circle - Martin Stark, Kala Philip , Bindi Kuroz, Arthur Backouche, Peter Mousaferiadis, Imy Banaken , Ivan Schwartz, Anne Marie Elias,  Scott Hoskin and Ivan Kaye

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/gone-for-now-or-gone-for-good-how-to-play-the-new-talent-game-and-win-back-workers?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck&hdpid=e880de8e-a068-4ae9-a966-0e38c7f892a1&hctky=1453454&hlkid=a7d555df1afd491f814df284bba8d570

women in business

Supporting disability (or coolability in the workplace )

 

Effects of Russia being Isolated from Global Internet

What will the effects  be if Russia is cut off from the  Global Internet ?

For Russian population ? No tiktok, Facebook or insta - aaaargh

For world - will there be ramifications of increase in global cybercrime? 

Interesting Article from  Mohiuddin Ahmed is  Lecturer of Computing & Security and Paul Haskell-Dowland is Professor of Cyber Security Practice at Edith Cowan University.