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/