Report highlights the most in-demand skills and demonstrates learning’s pivotal role in building a future-fit workforce.
As the workforce transitioned to operating remotely, consumption of learning content increased exponentially, and new topics emerged as not just popular but mission critical. Widespread training was needed to help workers pivot to the skills required to collaborate in a virtual world. At the forefront was the development of “power skills,” including agility, communication, resiliency, and adaptability. Necessary and applicable across industries, departments, and disciplines, power skills equip individuals and organisations to be successful in challenging times. A digital learning, training, and talent solutions organisation named Skillsoft, released Lean into Learning: 2020 Annual Learning Report. Following a year that brought a pandemic, an uncertain global economy, and worldwide social reform, the report illustrates the long-overdue social, cultural, and organisational change that resulted, and the critical role of learning in building a future-fit, resilient workforce.
Learners continued to shift course, adapting and consuming content that enabled prolific skill gains on a number of future-fit topics. The report highlights trends and the learning behaviours of more than 1.1 million unique learners—examining which skills are most in-demand across topic areas, including business, digital resilience, and technology. Safety and compliance were also a focus as new COVID-19 prevention regulations were put into place. Top course growth includes:
- 552% growth in Encouraging Team Communication and Collaboration
- 652% growth in Agile Software Development
- 367% overall global increase in diversity, equity, and inclusion content accessed
- 407% Trust Building Through Effective Communication
Ron Hovsepian, Executive Chairman, Skillsoft, said, “This year has been transformational in so many ways, galvanising our collective mission to succeed, grow, and persist…Work has changed irrevocably, and building a truly future-fit, resilient workforce requires access to the tools needed to learn and achieve. We envision a world where learning is democratised, establishing an engaged, active, and optimistic workforce prepared to face the challenges of the future.”
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) courses saw a surge across industries and disciplines, illustrated by a 367% overall global increase in diversity content accessed on the platform. Between May and June, completions of a course on Understanding Unconscious Bias grew by 1200 percent. The future of work requires real diversity, true equity, and meaningful inclusion. A Gartner study on Diversity and Inclusion Build High-Performance Teams predicts that, “through 2022, 75% of organisations with frontline decision-making teams reflecting a diverse and inclusive culture will exceed their financial targets”. As the business world continues to expand through digital transformation and globalisation, products, and solutions must address the needs of a wide variety of people.
Hovsepian added, “Post-pandemic, the world won’t go back to business as usual. More than 50% of organisations agree that work has permanently changed…In the U.S., 80% of workers want at least one COVID-19 policy adopted permanently, such as flexible hours and remote work. Data also indicates rising expectations for organisations to afford greater autonomy while concurrently investing in holistic growth.”
The confluence of extreme circumstances accelerated digital transformation and a recent McKinsey Global Survey of executives found that organisations have accelerated the digitisation of internal operations by three to four years while their digital product offerings have accelerated by seven years. For many organisations, this means new investments in technology, changes in staffing, distribution, sales, or service. In fact, 45% of organisations are planning to increase tech investment. As organisations develop teams to deal with increasingly frequent change, agility is a priority. Since January, there has been a 652% increase in agile software development course completions, and five of the top 15 Skillsoft digital badges are focused on the topic.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
