Recent research condensed for busy talent development executives
Economic Downturn and Talent Are Top Concerns for Execs
Which emerging risks is your organization monitoring and preparing for now? According to Gartner's latest Top Emerging Risk Trends report, the economic downturn is No. 1. Issued quarterly, the report is based on insights from a network of more than 250 risk-management and audit senior executives. Executives' anxiety about how to manage postpandemic talent is second.
- Rounding out the top five out of 20 emerging risks are ransomware attacks, supply chain disruption, and inflation.
- Leading talent concerns include diversity, equity, and inclusion responsiveness; hybrid workforce disparities; remote working–era mental health; and vaccine mandate–related attrition.
- Three main causes for the macroeconomic downturn are driving it to the forefront of executives' minds: Central Bank rate hikes, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and COVID-19 variants.
"Talent risks are particularly concerning to executives because they are being driven by multiple root causes. … By focusing on innovating their workforce management of hybrid and remote workers, offering employees more flexibility when possible, and expanding their recruitment approaches, organizations can develop a competitive talent strategy that meets the challenges of the moment."
—Matt Shinkman, vice president with the Gartner risk and audit practice
Read the full Top Emerging Risk report.
The Unfolding Knowledge Crisis
Organizational intelligence—a company's collective know-how about products, processes, customers, and other data that gets built up over time—often has depended on traditional in-person operations. But that needs to change.
Data from Benchmark Portal's 2022 Knowledge Management Survey, a study of 1,000 knowledge management senior leaders, reveals that a robust KM system is becoming the central nervous system of today's hybrid and remote-first companies.
- Seventy-three percent said they adopted new KM system software during the previous 18 months; more than half are planning a major upgrade of an existing system in 2022.
- One in five has added an internal KM champion to compensate for the remote work paradigm.
- Three-quarters reported a greater need for employee training on KM systems as a substitute for immediate access to in-office expertise.
"Everyone from the C-suite to sales to customer service needs information to be successful, but it's harder to tap into with the shift to hybrid and remote work. As the workforce left the traditional office and dispersed, so did the collective brain trust that keeps many organizations running smoothly."
—Sagi Eliyahu, CEO of KMS Lighthouse
Delve deeper into the 2022 Knowledge Management Survey.
Wanted: Data Literacy Training
Tableau commissioned Forrester Consulting to research the role data skills play in driving business outcomes. For the global study, Forrester surveyed more than 2,000 executives, decision makers, and individual contributors in 10 countries, all working at global companies with 500-plus employees.
The report highlights how despite an increased demand for data skills, insufficient training and investments are leaving business leaders with a false sense of security.
- By 2025, nearly 70 percent of employees are expected to use data heavily in their job, up from 40 percent in 2018.
- The majority of employers believe data-skilled employees make better decisions.
- Only 39 percent of organizations make data training available to all staff.
- Eight in 10 workers say they're more likely to stay at a company that trains them on data skills.
"Data offers a key competitive advantage. To unlock the power of data, businesses must invest in their most essential resource—their people—by providing opportunities for data training and development beyond traditional data-focused roles."
—Mark Nelson, president and CEO of Tableau
Read Building Data Literacy: The Key to Better Decisions, Greater Productivity, and Data-Driven Organizations.
Time to Recognize Different Digital Collaboration Styles
This report confirms what many already know: Digital collaboration affects people in different ways, depending on their personality traits and preferred working style.
The Harris Poll conducted the study with some 3,000 respondents across the US, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. Respondents work full time and participate in at least one virtual meeting in a typical workweek.
More than half said they believe people have a preferred collaboration style—relational, expressive, or introspective—that affects how they connect with others and get work done online.
- Fifty-six percent said that the loudest, most active voices that dominate others are a problem in digital collaboration.
- Workers who identified themselves as introspective said they felt that virtual meetings are mostly people talking and sharing versus getting things done.
- Seven out of 10 respondents admit to multitasking while in a virtual meeting, including three-quarters of expressive collaborators and 80 percent of introspective collaborators.
"While there is positive momentum around digital collaboration, there are also challenges and different collaboration styles among the respondents. As the workplace continues to evolve, companies will benefit greatly from addressing the needs of these workstyles."
—Nathan Rawlins, CMO of Lucid Software
Learn more about the 2022 The Way We Collaborate Report.
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