Expert talks about importance of creating a culture of continuous learning amid fast-changing skills demands
With generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and other technological advancements coming into the picture, it’s highly important for employers to help workers develop new skills, according to one expert.
Nearly half of C-suite leaders (48 per cent) stress the need for continuous reskilling among their employees, according to a previous report from Accenture.
“We're all hearing a lot about GenAI. To be a successful adopter of any new technology – but especially Gen AI – we're seeing leaders needing to embrace the opportunity to really reinvent work and reshape their workforces, and skilling is really at the heart of that,” says Janet Krstevski, managing director for talent & organization, Canada practice, Accenture, in talking with Canadian HR Reporter.
“This ability to quickly learn and apply new skills, and what I call learning agility, is and will continue to be critical in the future. And I'd say individuals can't do this alone, so organizations must create a culture of continuous learning to support employees along the way.”
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Creating a culture of continuous learning
When it comes to creating a culture of continuous learning, there are five dimensions that employers should focus on, says Krstevski:
- Being skills-driven.
- Focusing on recognition; rewarding learning and obtaining new skills.
- Having dedicated learning time to allow people to be able to skill up and make skilling really part of work.
- Having purposeful alignment, i.e., access to relevant, curated and diverse learning that's integral to your business strategy.
- Promoting skilling and encouraging workers to share their learning journeys with each other.
Nearly half (48 per cent) of employers feel their employees are barely or not at all prepared to use artificial intelligence (AI) or GenAI, according to a previous Deloitte report.
These days, learning needs to happen at a faster pace and in a more focused approach, says Krstevski.
“The speed at which skills are changing – especially in the technology environment with Gen AI – is moving way faster. The shelf life of tech skills is cut in half or more. And so if you are only training in the old ways of weeks and months of training in a certain area, by the time you're done with that training, it's going to be time to bring new skills or there's new tech and new things to learn.”
The key is to have workers go through “micro-learning,” she says.
And that’s something that Accenture is already doing, says Krstevski.
“We doubled down on digital skilling. We call it TQ – tech quotient. And we also promote what we call ‘work-learn fusion’ to promote learning agility at scale – infusing the learning into the work that we do.
“As you talked about technology, roles face constant shifts in the required skills. So this learning culture in tech needs to emphasize this continuous upskilling to really keep pace with the trends. So micro-learning opportunities, just in time resources that fit seamlessly into your people's daily workflows [are really important].”
Nine in 10 (90 per cent) C-suite leaders say they'll either need to adjust their organizations significantly or transform their reskilling strategy amid the entirely to adapt to today’s continually evolving learning demands, according to data from Accenture.
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‘Skills and knowledge can always be expanded’
For workers, it’s important to “embrace this notion that you can always learn more, and that your skills and knowledge can always be expanded”.
She also tells workers to “own your own learning”.
“Leverage everything that your organization provides and share and build a learning network. Figure out what's working, share it with others, seek feedback and then have this collective commitment to learning together.”
For employers, it’s highly important to “demonstrate that commitment to learning and encourage experimentation,” says Krstevski.
They must also create a safe space for employees to try new tools and approaches and not fear of failure, provide access to learning resources and incentivize continuous learning.
Few employers are measuring the return on investment from employee training, according to a previous report.
