Enhance The Skills, Not Job Titles

There was a time when professionals were running after higher designations and heavier paychecks in the name of their personal growth. But, now it’s the varied amount of skillsets one possesses which is getting them a good hike as well as a permanent job. One of the biggest learnings that companies have had in the past year is that what’s got them here in terms of skills and future-readiness of employees, would not take them to the next level of this newly transformed world of work. Upskilling and reskilling is the way forward to survive in the professional world now. 

“At BCCL, it became our top priority to redefine our learning and skilling architecture and align it with the Learning Strategy and the BCCL Competency Framework. And as a part of this initiative, all the relevant training programs have been aligned on the skills and competencies identified in this,” states Amit Das, Director-HR & CHRO, Bennett Coleman group. 

Organisations are taking another step in this direction, launching Agile Learning Themes, which are not just aligned to but are also extremely relevant to the ecosystem, the context of the environment, changing trends, etc. For example, digital and social-emotional skills have become highly valuable in the time of the pandemic. Companies are now being at the forefront of identifying skill gaps and development needs for solid professionals and high potentials basis job roles and aspirational roles. 

According to the 2021 Workplace Learning Report by LinkedIn, 59% of L&D programes globally have identified upskilling and reskilling programs as their top priority in 2021. Resilience and digital fluency have been rated as the top skills to build in this new world of work. Organisations today are looking for talent that has the skills to rapidly learn, adapt, practice resiliency and take advantage of entrepreneurial mindsets, to respond to this reality with the ingenuity to earn an income. As companies accelerate their automation plans and many jobs continue to be remote, employees across every sector will need to acquire new skills that enable them to think and work in different ways. 

“Approximately 15 lakh engineers and close to 85 lakh management graduates pass out every year, and there many organizations who don’t have structured program for this cadre building. Even though many use campuses as one of the hiring source. They are still not able to offer training and mentoring program. Thus. the appropriate approach to address this skill deficit is to take talent from the campus, train them, mentored them properly and make them ready for your future talent, skill ready,” believes Anil Mohanty, Head of People and Culture, Medikabazaar.  

The pandemic has changed hiring as we know it; from the volume and type of candidates, we are reimagining how we interview, hire and onboard them. Hiring managers have had to adapt at lightning speed, reimagining entire staffing strategies within the space of a few months. Organisations are no longer looking to hire for full-time employment only; they are replacing full-time employees with contingent workers, gig workers and freelancers. Work is getting measured on hourly work rates. Project based work is also gaining momentum. The entire hiring process has also become virtual with newer technologies coming into play to enhance the hiring process in this new world of work. 

Since the onset of the global pandemic, companies have been exploring various digital avenues that can streamline processes which were earlier defined by in-person interactions, especially in relation to the hiring and on-boarding of new members. “We are also considering the use of Chat bots to engage with prospective candidates, as well as AI enabled CV analysis/parsing, thereby creating a more efficient method for shortlisting. And as a result of the accelerated pace of digitisation across functions, we have seen numerous new roles emerge. This includes roles across the functions of Data Science, Analytics, People Analytics, Experience in Digital & Performance Marketing, amongst others.” states Amit Prakash, CHRO, Marico.  

Looking at the way the world is facing one disruption after the other, employers are now looking for people who bring along skills and qualities like resilience, agility, and the ability to manage ambiguity. New-age competencies are very different; organisations need people who can build tomorrow, who can enable the organisation to future-proof itself. Even on the employee side, people are now seeking different things from their jobs. People want to work the way they want to. According to a PwC survey, workers today want more digital skills, more inclusivity, and more flexibility.  

Organisations that want to maintain their status of an attractive employer must repackage and reimagine themselves and come up with new-age people management strategies that focus on skills and on creating that ecosystem that aligns the goals of the organisation with the goals of the individual. Further, organisations that will be able to upskill their employees and future proof them for the future will be the ones that will remain ahead of their times.