Barriers to employee skills training

Cornerstone survey suggests integrating training and skills development into workflow

Barriers to employee skills training

Cornerstone survey suggests integrating training and skills development into workflow

During the pandemic, Cornerstone People Research Lab (CPRL) surveyed 1,000 employees and 500 C-level and HR managers worldwide to investigate opinions with respect to skill development in the workplace. According to the data collected, presented in the report A License to Skill: Embracing the Reskilling Revolution,  61% of employees cite lack of time as an obstacle to their development.

This fact, considering the continuous evolution of the demands of the labor market, is not reassuring for the employees themselves. In fact, 30% of them fear that in the next few years their job will no longer be needed; 47% think that their role will undergo a radical evolution in the next few years; 21% are afraid that their role will become digitally too technical and will be assigned to more qualified candidates; 18% think that their role will be automated and performed by a machine. 

All of this generates negative emotions that affect attitudes and behaviors, sometimes unconsciously: anxiety, uncertainty, detachment, lower productivity, increased absenteeism and turnover.

Training: a source of greater serenity

Training, together with clear feedback and mentoring, is the best way to combat these fears. It is necessary, however, to push employees to find a precious and scarce resource: time to train and develop skills.

When learning is integrated into the workflow, employees can acquire skills while completing normal work activities, and time is no longer an issue: information is acquired in the moment of need, often making the learning experience itself more effective, which is experienced as a more natural and effective process precisely because it is active and based on the contingency of the situation. In addition, employees apply what they have learned immediately, thus fixing concepts.

The combination of work and training activates a virtuous circle: the employee completes his work while improving his skills, bringing long-term success to himself and the company.

To make this possible, technology is certainly indispensable. Didactic technology, in this case: in fact, using a good LMS (Learning Management System) is fundamental to create and update courses that can be used at any time, even short training pills, and deliver them to all employees, promoting a path of continuous training. 

According to Fabio Todaro, Senior Regional Sales Director for Italy, Cornerstone OnDemand, "We need more than just technology. The idea that employees should conduct continuing education needs to come from all levels and be part of the fabric of an organization. Learning technology can facilitate employee continuing education, but the real secret to change is to initiate a corporate cultural transformation."

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator


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