Increased Skills Helps to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century.
Finding it challenging to break through career barriers? Learn how to utilise up-skilling to improve job prospects
The world continues to experience rapid changes in all areas, including social, technological and economic arenas. According to an article written in Harvard Business Review by Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grastow and Marty Linsky, these changes are here to stay. Thus, it is imperative people increase their awareness in developing and maintaining an updated skills base. Interestingly, the workforce of the 21st century requires a talented and well-equipped talent base, which is equipped to deal with many challenges.
Gone are when educational institutions were seen as the leading providers of formal academic courses, where people received formal education. Instead, many vocational training providers have mushroomed over the last couple of decades and have continued to provide classes to people who want to upgrade their skills. One of the many benefits of upskilling is to enhance job prospects and remuneration.
Up-Skilling Advances Job Prospects
As a result of business models changing more frequently than in previous times, the rate of change will continue to determine how the 21st-century workplace will evolve. Unfortunately, businesses have already jumped on the bandwagon far faster than people have, and human beings have a lot of catching up. Traditionally, human beings may have been hardwired to resist change, but the 21st-century world of work necessitates individuals to adapt to the changes swiftly.
Identifying the need for regular up-skilling is vital for anyone working in today’s workplace, whether an individual is an employee or a freelance agent. Once a development area is identified, it is easy to work with internal and external stakeholders, including HR and training providers, in remedying the development area. It can occur at regular intervals during the year or form part of the appraisal process.
Furthermore, the individual can take traditional skills audits or assessments with training professionals. Even within organisations, employees will need to continue demonstrating a proactive approach to managing/her careers.
Up-skilling is an integral and regular part of their role for freelance consultants and agents. Having up-to-date skills and knowledge is imperative, especially if they are competitive and command daily or hourly rates. An organisation hires a freelance agent because s/he is already equipped with the necessary skills so that s/he can deliver results and outcomes during their contracted period.
Benefits of Up-Skilling
Employees and freelance agents can play an instrumental role in keeping abreast with changes within/her industry by reading and networking with colleagues, professionals, vendors and other industry experts. It can enhance any training courses or programmes. By doing so, several benefits in up-skilling can be actualised, and some are highlighted below:
- Enhance key skills
- Enter new career
- Enhance job/career prospects and opportunities
- Encourage lifelong learning
- Gain skills for life
- Remove barriers and obstacles in career progression or advancement
- Increase professional confidence and competence
- Feel professionally empowered to set more challenging goals
- Enhance CV/resume
- Smooth the transition period from one role to the next
- Increase remuneration
- Increase expertise
How to Up-Skill
A proactive approach is required when making personal or professional skills assessments. The following questions may serve as a helpful reminder when making an early assessment:
- Which development areas have been identified?
- What has led to a need to gain updated skills?
- How will the process be facilitated?
- What steps need to take place?
- Who else can help?
Up-skilling can place in several ways, and some are listed below:
- Vocational courses
- Formal qualifications
- Short courses
- Apprenticeships for young people
- Reading around a chosen topic or industry
- Speaking and networking with industry specialists
Where Can Individuals Find More Information?
For employees:
- HR department
- External vendors provide courses, and this will need to be authorised by an individual’s management
- Local colleges can provide a comprehensive training programme if an individual decides to engage in self-study
- Internal colleagues
For freelance agents:
- Local colleges
- Professional training providers
- Associations
- Trade journals and press
- Networking contacts
Up-skilling has many benefits, including improving job or career prospects and remuneration packages. It is, however, essential to appreciate that the 21st-century workplace requires individual up-skill regularly. In addition, individuals will need to demonstrate the ability to rise to the many challenges presented by technological, social and economic changes.
Gone are days when employees were solely reliant on employers to help with the up-skilling process. Instead, both employees and freelance agents will need to play an integral and proactive role in identifying, assessing and remedying any development areas in an individual’s professional life.