Seeking the Future: Navigating the Landscape for Emerging Skills
This week, I had the opportunity to engage with various global leaders to discuss enhancing the role of Workforce Planning and Recruitment in our organization. Specifically, we explored how these functions can transition from executing orders to adopting a more advisory role, particularly in identifying the skills we need to develop. The discussions yielded some promising opportunities for this strategic shift.
We specifically discussed the sources through which new skills can be identified.
1.0 Monitoring Changes in Vendor Products: Companies can assess the evolving skill requirements by keeping track of updates and new features in the products and services they purchase from vendors. This includes understanding new technologies, processes, or methodologies introduced in these products, which might necessitate new skills or knowledge for optimal utilization. (API Development skills, Cloud Integration skills, and Data Dictionary skills can be understood through this)
2.0 Skills Impacting Productivity: Identifying which specific skills contribute most significantly to productivity can help companies focus their training and hiring efforts. This involves analyzing internal data to see which competencies and knowledge areas correlate with high performance and efficiency. (PowerBI, Project Management, Collaboration, and Copilot skills will become obvious through this lens)
3.0 Industry-Specific Trends: In sectors like retail, staying abreast of industry-specific trends is crucial. For instance, in adaptive retail, which involves tailoring the shopping experience to individual customer preferences and behaviors, understanding evolving trends like personalization, digital engagement, and data analytics becomes key. Companies need to identify skills that align with these trends.
(Personalization, Experience enhancement, and advanced CRM skills will become evident through this)
4.0 Risks Highlighted in 10K Statements: Public companies are required to disclose risks in their 10K filings. Companies can identify skills needed to mitigate these risks by examining these statements. This could involve understanding regulatory changes, cybersecurity threats, market shifts, and other challenges requiring specific expertise. (AI Ethics, Cybersecurity, Regulatory changes, and other similar skills will become evident through this)
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5.0 Startups Disrupting the Ecosystem: New entrants in the market often bring innovative approaches and technologies. By analyzing how startups disrupt their industry, established companies can identify what new skills they need to compete or collaborate effectively. This might involve adopting new technologies, business models, or operational strategies. (you may have the skills, but startups may apply the Skills to workloads differently. It will be critical to capture the same. For example, when Warby Parker disrupted the prescription lens industry, they focused on "Home Try On" as a workload that translated to multiple skills.
6.0 Academic Institutes with Specialized Focus: As discussed in previous emails, there are several skills that academic focus institutes for Design and Quantum computing
We can then develop a model across Build, Buy, and Borrow Strategies.
High Score (e.g., 10) in 'Buy':
Low Score in 'Buy':
Board Member | Mentor-Investor | President & CEO | Listed Unicorn, Pre-IPO Soonicorns | Harvard Business School | MBA-NYU Stern, LSE, HEC | Author Igniting Minds with a Million Views | Incubating CEOs Gurukul
11moExcited to explore the emerging skills for workforce planning! It's important to stay future-ready in a dynamic work environment, Vijay Swaminathan.