Workforce transformation done right
By the ProEdge team | Published: July 5, 2021 | Read time: 2 minutes
Workforce transformation done right: Aligning personal and corporate upskilling goals
What’s in it for me? Whether we realize it or not, that thought crosses most of our minds when we’re asked to do something. At work, the answer can be nebulous. But, if you’re leading an upskilling effort and want to get the most out of corporate investments in learning and development, you should make sure the personal upskilling goals of employees are closely aligned with the company’s own goals and objectives.
It’s not as hard as it sounds to get that sort of yin-and-yang. But, it's common for organizations to not go far enough to line up those dual goals in a holistic and purposeful way when they choose and deploy upskilling platforms. Leaders often view training as a perk, alongside tuition reimbursement or software building courses. That mindset hamstrings what you can get out of a learning program.
Upskilling can and should benefit both the learner and the company. It should provide content and training that gives employees the necessary digital skills for today, and the future, to close skills gaps and achieve goals–making your people feel like they’re getting as much or more than they give.
Intentionally aligning personal and corporate goals creates a framework for outcomes that benefit everyone. Keeping that front and center can propel the entire organization forward on the path to growth, workforce transformation, competitiveness and a culture of innovation.
Fewer than 20% of global executives say they’ve made “significant progress” in establishing an upskilling program
Many companies, however, are falling short on their upskilling initiatives—and executives are worried it’s holding them back. Fewer than 20% of global executives say they’ve made “significant progress” in establishing an upskilling program, according to our 2020 CEO survey. And that’s a problem: 74% of CEOs said a lack of key skills threatens the future growth of their organization.
What skills are missing?
Identifying skill gaps is a major challenge. Which digital skills do you have in-house already? What skills will be needed in the future to remain competitive? Once you know, the question is how to train employees in ways that close gaps and keep them engaged. Before choosing an end-to-end training program, companies should conduct a skills gap analysis to uncover their skills mismatches. There’s a platform available that helps you do just that––as well as gain a deeper understanding for how those findings compare with their strategic objectives and goals.
ProEdge is an end-to-end workforce planning and upskilling platform designed for digital business transformation and citizen-led innovation. The ProEdge Plan component draws on more than 250 million labor data points to identify skills that are missing and create workforce skills profiles that help companies benchmark their gains against current and future market demand, industry trends and labor data.
ProEdge builds user profiles for your workforce based on individuals’ roles, resume or curriculum vitae, function and experience. Then our AI engines automatically generate customized, relevant learning pathways that are challenging, adaptive and fun. The coursework available through the platform helps your people pick up skills using real-world, function-specific business examples to show how they can apply those skills right now in their role.
Dashboards give leaders visibility into employees’ progression and provide easy-to-understand windows into where a company should focus their upskilling efforts next.
Captivating content
Common reasons learning platform engagement declines over time are boredom and lack of variety. Once employees complete assigned coursework, they tend to drift away from the platform and stop pursuing other learning activities that could benefit them and the organization.
ProEdge offers more than 17,000 learning assets curated from over 30 select content providers.
We strive to keep learning fresh and interesting. ProEdge offers more than 17,000 learning assets curated from over 30 select content providers. This allows for ProEdge’s training content to be appealing, relevant and enhances knowledge of emerging industry and job function issues. It also helps them stay current about global workforce trends, including new skills their industry peers are learning. Our diverse content also gives workers opportunities to recognize and acknowledge shortfalls in current competencies, which can inspire them to learn new skills.
Content is organized and offered as role- and function-based, so it’s directly applicable to the skills employees need on the job. That means someone in sales will learn Agile methodology in a different way from someone in supply chain and procurement.
ProEdge coursework is available on demand via written, video and audio formats accessible to people with hearing, visual and other impairments. Trivia games, quizzes, infographics and other interactive features help keep users engaged. Many of the modules are bite-sized––some just five minutes long––so learners aren’t overwhelmed and can consume content on their own terms on desktop or mobile.
The variety of curated contributions from recognized industry courseware providers, like Coursera and Udacity, gives learners the sense of belonging to a wider knowledge community. They can feel a sense of pride as they complete coursework and learn new skills. Showing how those skills fit into the broader context of their function or industry gives employees a deeper appreciation for how they can help their organization achieve growth and innovation goals.
Credentials create incentive
Role-specific credentials help incentivize users to acquire the skills that they—and the organization—need to help them be more successful.
We’ve researched and identified more than 20 functional areas critical for corporate performance and growth, and created ProEdge Credentials to give employees a way to confirm they’ve learned––and can apply––new skills. Learners can earn credentials in areas like finance, manufacturing, research and development, supply chain and procurement, marketing, legal and project management.
As learners work through ProEdge fields of study specific to their function, they complete a capstone project based on a real-life business scenario. A PwC subject matter specialist reviews the capstone project and gives feedback and recommendations for improvement if the completion criteria aren’t met. After successfully completing a capstone project, employees earn a ProEdge Credential for that body of knowledge.
Our team developed ProEdge Credentials with guidance from leading organizational frameworks shaped by dozens of global colleges, accreditation agencies and policy organizations. PwC has won more than 40 awards for excellence in learning, including 15 Brandon Hall Gold Awards and two Training Magazine distinctions.
Learning related skills in the flow of work
Once a learner begins to tackle a new skill, they receive recommendations for other skills and learning pathways. This helps build on their experiences and exposes them to more content on related trends and emerging technologies.
For example, learning about data automation might lead to exploring data extraction, visualization or artificial intelligence. Based on role and function, if ProEdge determines that learning more about specific skills is useful, the platform serves up relevant courseware to help learners dive deeper.
Offering additional related content to help learners expand on what they just learned creates more skills diversity. It can also foster and advance a culture of continuous learning across the organization.
Communicate benefits to improve adoption
Some employees who are successful in their current roles might think they already have the skills to thrive. Getting folks on board with upskilling means you need to communicate wins broadly. Have a plan for how you’ll share what’s in it for your employees.
Focus on the benefits of acquiring new skills and role-based credentials that help them become even more productive, competent and efficient in their current role.
To overcome objections and get all employees excited about learning new skills, focus on the benefits of acquiring new skills and role-based credentials that help them become even more productive, competent and efficient in their current role. Demonstrate the advantages of applying new digital skills to the repetitive and time-consuming parts of their job. If they can automate tedious tasks, they’ll have more time for high-payback and creative activities.
An employee on the sales team could learn to use data automation tools for admin tasks, freeing up time for more valuable work like business development. Offering an internal social platform also seamlessly allows employees to collaborate or seek help from colleagues For example, an employee on the sales team might post a question on the learning platform asking if someone would like to collaborate on creating code for an automation bot.
Upskilling correlates with growth
ProEdge integrates with existing human resource and learning management systems to customize upskilling plans for each worker and help make the most of investment budgets. Among top companies with advanced commitments to upskill their employees, PwC’s CEO survey found 37% reported greater business growth. And half of those same companies saw accelerated innovation and digital transformation.
Organizations get more ROI on upskilling dollars when their employees can apply what they learned in ways that benefit their functional area and the overall business. When individuals find they’re actually interested in learning new skills––and those skills also align with the company’s goals––everyone can win.
Invest in tomorrow
Stay ahead of the curve with PwC ProEdge, the revolutionary way to upskill your people and prepare your organization for tomorrow. This unique platform allows you to pinpoint critical skill gaps and effectively help close them with automatically generated personalized learning pathways. Leading curated content, coursework and hands-on learning empower your workforce to make an immediate impact through citizen-led innovation. Access to digital tools enables solution-building that scales across teams. This is how ProEdge helps your people to perform at their highest level—giving them the power to help transform your entire organization.