Keeping future ready in the workplace

Daniel Pell at Workday outlines four ways of making sure your job skills are ready for the future

From architects to astronauts, every job requires a specific set of skills. Decades ago, you’d learn most of these skills at school or university (or in the case of astronauts, NASA), before putting them into practice in a life-long career. 

However, in the digital age that approach no longer cuts it, because the skills we need to do a great job are constantly changing. New technology, techniques, cultural norms and more all mean that we have to build skills throughout our lives, and not just in our early years. Today, keeping your skills sharp is an essential part of developing and thriving in your career. 

With research from Manpower showing skill shortfalls in the UK reaching an 18-year high of 80%, many people are struggling to keep up with this new era. That’s why I wanted to share four tips that will help you stay ahead of the curve with future-ready skills:

1.Change your mindset on skills

Before you start building your skills, it’s worth understanding what’s in it for you. Too often we associate training at work with dusty handbooks, decades-old videos or endless meetings. These can feel like tick-box exercises that don’t give us anything in return. However, when a skills strategy is targeted to your needs and offers you relevant, industry-specific training, it can be transformative for your career (and the company you work for). 

That’s why it’s important to think about what’s going to help you improve, grow, and learn — rather than picking exercises or courses for the sake of it. Create a shortlist of what you’d like to explore and engage with your HR team or chat to your manager openly — you might be surprised about the resources available once you speak up. 

2. Use technology to your advantage

Dell Technologies predicts that 85% of the jobs in 2030 haven’t been invented yet. But, this is not just jobs, it relates to tasks too. To navigate the speed and scale of this new reality and help prepare for the jobs and tasks of tomorrow, it’s vital to use technology to build new skills at work. 

There are a range of apps and platforms that can help you to understand the current skills you or your teammates have, identify the gaps, and even offer you a suggested plan for tackling them. 

3. Think outside your role  

Careers today are much less linear than they used to be. We’re more likely to move jobs, transition into a new industry, or even start from scratch. That’s why it’s important to think about the skills that will prepare you not just for what you’re doing today, but tomorrow. 

For many, an important area to focus on will be digital skills. Over a quarter of all UK workers say that they currently lack the right digital skills required for their job, and the World Economic Forum estimates that 44% of workers’ core skills will be disrupted between now and 2027 because of technology. 

4. Explore how apprenticeships can support you  

Whether you’re just entering the world of work, building up your business, or even looking for a career change, apprenticeships should be on your radar. They are a great way to build valuable skills in an industry, while also earning a salary and other benefits.

For businesses, apprenticeships also offer a route to sourcing new talent from outside of a specific sector. At Workday, we recently launched a range of new apprenticeship schemes in the UK to do just this, including a three-year Sales Apprenticeship programme for people who want to enter the technology industry. 

Skills are the engine-rooms of our careers and our workplaces. But too often we don’t give them the ongoing attention they need — when that happens the engine slows, the cogs get rusty, and our workplaces (not to mention our own potential) suffers.

It doesn’t take much, but if we all take a little more time to think about the skills we need, and work together to build them, a more satisfying, productive, and inspiring future of work awaits.  

Daniel Pell is VP and Country Manager, UKI at Workday. Workday Skills Cloud leverages AI capabilities to manage organisational skills, providing curated learning content, development experiences and job recommendations that best suit your current or desired skills. 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and pankration