Why Working Professionals are Understanding the Need for Lifelong Learning An individual can become a technologically-proficient professional with good business-centric qualities and delve a bit deeper into why training programs are needed

Considering the transformative nature of digitization, the "D' in it might as well stand for disruption. On account of its ever-evolving nature, the digital disruption has been creating and re-creating gaps in each and every industrial sector, and the corporate ecosystem is no exception. As technology advances, cutting-edge tools become available for organizations to adopt in order to keep up with the advancement, while the HR are also required to acquire the prerequisite skill sets and sensibilities needed to operate the emergent technologies to adapt to a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

However, although this scene might appear grim, people just need to look forward to the other side to realize that there lie the productivity-boosting technologies for organizations as well as superior career opportunities for employees. All that needs to be done is to bridge the gap in between. It is here that learning and development programs like skilling and re-skilling training courses come in to lighten up the picture.

Before discussing how an individual can become a technologically-proficient professional with good business-centric qualities, we must first delve a bit deeper into why such training programs are needed at all.

Three Reasons Why L&D Programs are Beneficial for Both Organizations and Employees

1. Growing Demand for Specialized Job Roles: In light of the fourth industrial revolution, companies are constantly upgrading their digital infrastructure by adopting advanced technologies like AI and cloud computing to lend an edge to their operations and drive productivity. Organizations are therefore looking for technologically-skilled professionals who are equally comfortable working with cross-functional teams as they are with cutting-edge AI-based technologies. The skilling and reskilling programs can thus aid individuals to seamlessly merge with the modern corporate workforce by enabling them to combine first-rate technical skills with intensive industrial know-how.

2. Harnessing the Raw Digital Talent Pool in the Country: One aspect of fast-accelerating digital evolution is that it requires organizations to keep evolving as well. The concern associated with this requirement is captured in a recent survey conducted among businesses in India. 64per cent of the respondents considers digital skill gap as the most pressing challenge in their digital journeys. On the other hand, 49per cent of the employees fears that their current skill sets will be rendered obsolete within the next four to five years.

The same survey, on the flipside, also reveals that India is home to the largest digital talent pool in India. By engaging with skilling programs, amateurs and college-graduates can become job-ready for the in-demand and highly-paid job roles that are emerging in the wake of digital transformations. Whereas, professionals looking for a change of job can leverage re-skilling and career development programs to sail through the rising digital tide.

3. Ensuring a Long-Term and Mutually-Beneficial Organization-Employee Relationship: Employees working within an organization expect it to provide them with learning opportunities and relevant tools and resources to help them grow in their professional journey. In the absence of such incentives, they feel demotivated. Thus, if an organization is to ensure consistent growth and productivity, the onus falls on it to keep its employees happy by making career development and learning resources and tools accessible to them. Which brings us to the next part of our discussion –

How Organizations Can Provide Their Workforce With Learning Development Tools and Resources?

1. Facilitating a Culture of Continuous Learning Across all Verticals

A critical factor responsible for an increased employee turnover rate within an organization is the lack of access to managerial guidance and mentoring to employees. Therefore, one way for a company to establish trust is by enabling the workforce across all verticals by providing every employee with on-demand learning tools and resources like skilling/re-skilling training programs.

2. Leveraging Modern Technologies to Make Learning Tools Highly-Personalized and More Effective

By integrating cutting-edge technologies into their digital infrastructure, companies can enjoy two-fold benefits. In addition to enhancing their operational activities, they can also leverage a combination of advanced technologies like AI, Big Data, Deep Learning, and algorithms, to augment the productivity of learning programs for their employees. Modern technologies can enable organizations to map the professional journey of their employees, and by analysing their individual profiles and histories, they can use the data-mined insights to personalize the training tools and methodology in accordance with a professional's learning abilities and sensibilities.

3. Making the Learning Programs More Engaging Via Gamification

Another method of improving employee participation and response to learning programs is by tying them up with gamification. By combining development tools with peer-supported social communities and incentivising positive actions through rewards and scores, for example, organizations can provide more engaging and immersive learning activities.

4. Offering the Employees With On-Demand Learning Resources

Organizations can also facilitate a 24/7 on-demand access to learning tools and resources to their employees to magnify the productivity of development programs. Employees can thus engage in learning and development whenever they want, as per their convenience, and at their own pace without having to follow a pre-scheduled plan.

In this way, companies can forge a mutually-beneficial and highly-productive bond with their employees. Then together they will be able to turn rapidly-evolving digital transformations to their advantage instead of being hampered by them.