Thomas-Brandt

Thomas Brandt

In a rapidly changing workforce landscape, where job roles are being re-evaluated, workforces are adjusting to hybrid models, and new ambitions are set, organizations recognize that building talent goes beyond recruitment. It’s about harnessing the potential of their people and fostering actual development through an effective skills training strategy. According to the World Economic Forum, 50 percent of all employees will need reskilling by 2025, highlighting the urgency of a strategic approach. Here, we explore how organizations can navigate this transformative journey to reskill, retain, and re-engage their teams.The Importance of a Skills StrategyThe skills training marketplace is emerging as a central focus for growing organizations worldwide. The demand to train new skills and adapt training dynamically has surged, fueled by remote work, digitalized workplaces, and evolving consumer demands. In light of these changes, having a skills strategy becomes paramount.Understanding the skills within your talent pool and identifying skills profiles are vital steps for organizational success and growth.It’s also vital to consider that skills-based organizations make a significant impact. Research from Deloitte finds that organizations that embed a skills-based approach are 63 percent more likely to achieve results than those that have not adopted skills-based practices, which emphasizes the effectiveness of aligning organizational practices with a focus on skills.Steps to Build an Effective Skills Training StrategyStep 1. Define roles: A fundamental aspect of a skills training strategy is understanding the roles within your organization. Developing a skills taxonomy—a standardized approach to categorize job titles and skills—provides a clear foundation.Step 2. Create a skills map: Evaluate how defined roles and skills align with the actual skill landscape within your organization. Conducting internal audits and engaging employees to identify their skills, ambitions, and additional skills outside their daily tasks contribute to uncovering hidden talents and potential.Step 3. Conduct a skills gap assessment: Identify areas where skills are lacking or insufficient within each department. Consider future projects, expansions, and potential talent churn, and explore upskilling and ad hoc reskilling programs to address current and future skill gaps.Step 4. Build a capability academy: Transform your skills training strategy into a capability academy—an evolving platform focused on continuous learning. As the organization changes, it’s key to adapt the skills training content to meet evolving needs, encouraging a learning culture where employees develop long-term capabilities. With a learning management system (LMS) like eloomi, you can select courses curated by industry experts, matching employees to relevant content. The platform offers continuous learning, fostering a culture where employees collaborate to build transferable and long-lasting capabilities.Benefits of a Strategic Skills Training StrategyHarness new skills and agile mindsets.Increase employee engagement.Boost adaptability to change.Identify future leaders.Reduce staff turnover.Build consistent organizational knowledge.Reduce time spent on paperwork planning.As organizations navigate the complexities of the modern business landscape, a robust skills training strategy emerges as a key driver of growth and resilience. By understanding the evolving skills landscape, defining roles, and creating a continuous learning environment, organizations can position themselves for success built to last.

Building a Skills Training Strategy for Organizational Growth

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“Just program it in HTML5.” “We are switching to HTML5.” “HTML5…HTML5…HTML5…”Sound familiar? What does this cry for HTML5 mean for e-learning developers?That Was ThenWhen e-learning was first gaining momentum (about 15 to 20 years ago), building courseware required some degree of programming capability: HTML and JavaScript to build a primary code base, ActionScript in Flash to create interactive objects and content, and a good knowledge of SCORM standards.I would present at conferences and proclaim that attendees needed some of these programming skills. People would smile, shake my hand, and agree to learn more programming skills—and then they would hire me to create their programs for them. Simply, many instructional designers and facilitators charged with building e-learning were not interested in computer programming.Fortunately, e-learning authoring tools came into prominence. Soon, everyone was an e-learning programmer. You simply opened PowerPoint, created a presentation, and clicked a button to have an interface wrap your PPT in a nice SCORM package.And for a long time, many e-learning authoring tools exported solely to a Flash format, and the .swf files they generated required the Flash player for learners to view the content in a browser. This was great because the Flash player was already built into every desktop browser, so everyone could view the Flash content.Voilà, your e-learning projects were complete! Check the box! Done!This Is NowIn 2015, however, the Flash player does not function on mobile devices, and is even falling into antiquity, in some experts’ opinions. Instead, industry leaders are rallying behind the HTML5 banner. Led by Apple, the cry has sounded: “Flash is DEAD!” Meanwhile, programmers like me are saying, “Long Live Flash!” Why? Because e-learning “programmers,” who solely use authoring tools to build their courseware, are not able to create compelling e-learning interactions with the support of Flash.Indeed, most companies are asking for HTML5 to become the standard, and traditional e-learning programmers are forced to comply. So, although the advent of authoring tools was a good way for companies to rapidly build e-learning libraries (because they made the “programming” piece of e-learning development as easy as creating PowerPoint slides), it’s not good when the standards start to change.Here’s the rub: HTML5 requires developers to go back to being programmers. In fact, the same designers rallying behind the HTML5 banner are taking a collective gasp, asking: What do you mean my authoring tool can’t export to HTML5? For developers like me, it’s an easy leap back into the world of hand coding, WYSIWYG programming, and browser testing. Developers who have only used authoring tools, though, are probably going to struggle in this new world.To be sure, several popular authoring tools now export to HTML5, but the consistency of the projects to work across browsers is still an issue. The authoring tools are getting better, but until a pure HTML5 authoring tool is available (they are coming!!!!), the best way to create HTML5 content is to code it specifically for the device used in your environment. Bottom line: The only way to properly create a solid HTML5 course is to hand code it yourself.Basically, this means that industry has come full circle—back to programming our own e-learning courseware, back to web standards, back to structured programming. So, if you ran away from programming and hand coding (and into the arms of your favorite e-learning authoring tool), but are now on the HTML 5 bandwagon, you are going to face a huge learning curve.For guidance on how to pair e-learning development tools with your own programming skills, check out Technology for Trainers, 2nd Edition. This updated ATD Press book guides technology-hungry trainers through e-learning development, with brand-new chapters on mobile devices, learning management systems, and e-learning development software.

Thomas Brandt

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