It’s no secret that technology is changing the workplace and the way we do our work in the office. Who is learning what and what are businesses doing to make sure their employees remain relevant?
Here are five of the top trends gleaned from LinkedIn’s 2018 Workplace Learning Report.
#1 Soft Skills Rank Top
From executives to managers and even human resource professionals, the 4,000 professionals polled in the study identified soft skills as the number one priority for their learning and development needs.
While it makes sense to be technically fluent in this digital age of prevalent automation, the pace of change is fueling demand for adaptable and critical thinkers who can communicate well and lead. According to the report findings, soft skills such as leadership, communication and collaboration are in high demand.
#2 Plugging Tomorrow’s Skills Gaps Today
Beyond training to meet the needs of today’s workplace, the report also pointed to the need for employers to think about equipping employees with the relevant skills of tomorrow.
According to the report, future skills ranked second on the list for learning and development needs amongst working professionals.
The aim here is to prevent the occurrence of skills gaps when the need arises, especially in a fast-changing business environment.
#3 The Rise of e-Learning
Amongst employees surveyed, 58 per cent of them preferred to learn at their own pace while 49 per cent of them preferred to learn when the need arose. As far as preferred locations go, 68 per cent of employees highlighted that they prefer learning while at work.
This is where companies have been turning to online learning solutions to meet these varied needs.
#4 Making Time For Learning
Not surprisingly, getting employees to make time for learning ranked as the number one challenge faced by employers and human resource managers. Yet, 94 per cent of employees surveyed said that they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development.
The report suggests that modern organisations need to align development opportunities with employee aspirations, and engage their staff through platforms that they are already spending their time on. For example: e-learning and mobile-learning.
#5 Managers are Critical to Employee Learning
Some 56 per cent of employees indicated that they would spend more time learning if their managers directed them to complete a specific course in order to gain or improve their skills.
The report also suggested that managers could play a more active role in encouraging staff learning and being supportive of the learning process.
To read the full report, click here.