Based on a survey of 2,500 full-time employees in Germany, India, the UK and the US, only a quarter of employees find talent development programmes as highly effective. Others find lack of time (42%), learning formats (30%) and leadership support (26%) as main obstacles.
As a result, 35% of the respondents lack confidence about possessing requisite skills to succeed in their roles. Also, more than two in five employees have concerns about job security due to skill gaps.
“This data highlights a significant issue: one-third of the workforce is questioning if they have the right skills to excel in their roles,” said Ciara Harrington, chief people officer, Skillsoft.
“These skill gaps hold workers back from reaching their full potential and can hinder organisations in achieving their key business objectives,” she added.
Those surveyed rated leadership skills as the most critical aspect for achieving success in the current workplace, followed by soft skills, technology skills and AI/machine learning skills. They said their managers view leadership skills as the most vital competency for team members to possess though nearly a third (31%) said this is their greatest skill gap. More than two in five (43%) believe the same about their AI/machine learning skills.“As workers face an increasingly complex set of responsibilities, ongoing change in the workplace, and disruption spurred by generative AI, it’s critical for organisations to proactively build their talent’s skills. A skilled, agile workforce is inherently more confident, capable, and productive,” said Harrington.Despite the proliferation of GenAI tools, more than three in five (62%) employees rated their organisation’s AI training programme as average to poor.
To succeed in skill-building goals, nearly two in five (39%) employees are seeking a blended learning programme comprising online, on-demand courses, interactive and experiential opportunities (37%) and live, instructor-led training (37%) in particular.
Harrington said, “Effective learning programs take a blended, multimodal approach that goes beyond building skills and drives measurable improvements in job performance and behavioural change on a continuous basis.”
More than four in five (82%) employees said their organisations are taking steps to transition to a skills-based model. The most common actions driving this transition are providing skill and role-based learning paths (28%), performing skill gap analyses (16%), and implementing a skills taxonomy (16%).
The transition is, however, nascent. Only 19% employees say they receive regular skills assessments, which is a critical component of skills-based strategies.