If you want to craft a career where you’re able to add value, feel fulfilled and stay employed over the long term, then there’s one skill that stands above all others. That skill is being able to keep learning. When you keep learning, you are better equipped to adapt and change with the times and perhaps be the one who drives the change. This is what will give you longevity in your career.
In a study by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on The Future of Jobs, the skills that are in demand are changing such that employers expect 54% of employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling. Even if your job stays the same, the core skills you’ll need to perform that job are likely to change. So, if you’re staying still doing what you’ve always done, even if it’s to a high standard, then you risk falling behind. Instead, you have to keep learning and growing.
Now, possibly more than ever, there appears to be an impetus for employees to bring their “soft” skills—such as creativity, leadership, and critical thinking—to work. While traditionally referred to as “soft skills,” in reality these capabilities are critical to delivering business value and adapting hard skills as workforce needs change. However, many employers continue to overemphasize digital fluency and skills such as coding as a reliable way to futureproof our workforce, when in reality, even coding is not immune to automation.
The value proposition of humans in the workforce is shifting to essentially “human capabilities,” such as curiosity and empathy. In this scenario, employers would also need to consider not only how to attract top talent, but also potentially rethink learning and development and better cultivate the social and emotional skills that their workforce needs to add value in the future. (Deloitte Insights: Closing the employability skills gap).
According to Mercer’s Global Career Trends report, “Organizations are in a new “Learn or die” environment where everyone must accelerate their learning to remain relevant.” Technology has facilitated access to learning opportunities, whether external or in-company, through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and mobile micro-learning.
Respondents to digitalswitzerland’s survey underline the employee’s responsibility to learn continuously and invest in such skills. At the same time, organizations should provide talented employees with a broad set of learning opportunities. Lifelong learning opportunities are perceived as an essential tool for any organization to attract and retain top talents. To achieve this, some of the respondents suggest the need for a shift in organizational culture: rather than understanding education and learning programs in terms of workload loss, they should be understood as an investment in the sustainable productivity of their workforce. With the availability of digital learning applications, talent development programs are tailored according to the individual preferences and competencies of employees.
I am really proud of our pioneer approach, back in 2016, when Coursera for Business was launched, with the valuable and flexible support of Jonathan Durrant and Stephanie Durand we started to explore potential ways to partner, and finally, in 2017 we launched a pilot program directed to the Novartis Patient Access community in LatAm, later on, extended globally and to all the newcomers in the function during our Global Patient Access Onboarding in May 2019. The initial partnership with Coursera worked so well that Novartis already extended for all associates in the second half of 2019.
Novartis, a learning and development pioneer in many respects, is taking a unique approach. Understanding that friends and families may be directly or indirectly affected by COVID-19, Novartis is also enabling each employee to extend free access to Coursera to two friends or family members, with this initiative Novartis continues to redefine what it means to “go big on learning”, the new friends and family offering is driving a culture of learning both for Novartis employees and their communities. (Coursera Blog: Novartis Extends Coursera to Friends and Family in Response to COVID-19)
The COVID-19 outbreak has introduced a heightened level of uncertainty in our lives, from our personal health and safety to the state of our livelihoods and the economy. If anything, learning can be a catalyst for hope, adaptability, and action in the face of uncertainty – a way for employees and their families to feel empowered and continue investing in their futures.
Individuals and organizations need to find a way to continuously learn and adapt or face professional obsolescence. But to learn well, individuals and organizations need to learn intelligently, and that means creating the conditions in which learning is easy and rewarded.
What do you think about the need for creating more opportunities for lifelong learning inside and outside the workplace?
