Upskilling your recovery

The hiatus caused by the pandemic is waning fast, but how equipped are you and your business to take advantage of the opportunities that are presenting themselves?

Understandably many organisations put their upskilling programmes on hold as the pandemic ripped through our plans for 2020.

To take advantage of the opportunities available during the post-pandemic boom, on a personal and business level, each of us need the right set of skills to prosper.

Workforce surveys suggest 41% of workers say their lack of confidence in having the right skills means it takes them longer than expected to do routine tasks, and one in five report this reduces the quality of the work they’re able to complete.

Combine this with the acceleration in longer-term trends towards automation and greater digital skills requirements within every role, and it becomes clear there will be winners and losers from the great unlocking of society and the economy during 2021.

The imperative for individuals and business alike is to acquire new skills in the most cost-effective fashion to maximise return on investment.

Three key approaches lay at the heart of getting this right: 

1.       Understanding existing skill sets to identify transferable skills. Examples of airline cabin crew retraining for in-demand health and social care roles over the past year show how transferable skills (in this case caring for others, working well under pressure, and 24/7 shift working) can reduce the time taken to retrain for new roles.

2.       Tailoring learning to suit individual preferences and routines. Old fashioned classroom settings and timetables must make way for programmes that suit students learning styles, preferred working locations and lifestyle preferences.

3.       Making learning practical. Passive learning experiences such as video-based tuition lead to almost immediate degradation of new skills.  Actionable learning with reinforcement over time is critical to creating enduring capabilities.

Flexible programmes, tailored to build on exiting skills and delivered in a way that ensure real improvement in business performance are what underpins effective upskilling, and supports individuals and organisations looking to leverage a competitive edge.

This approach underpins our in-demand programmes in areas such as software development, project management, business communication and visual design technologies. With immediate starts on all programmes, you and your teams can get new skills faster to take full advantage of the post-pandemic opportunities.