The World Economic Forum predicts that 'by 2020, more than a third of the desired core skill sets of most occupations will be comprised of skills that are not yet considered crucial to the job today.'
Beyond the skills required to perform specific jobs, technology will also determine which jobs matter most in the years to come.
New innovations will change the basis of competition in many markets and alter the sources of advantage for most companies.
But building a winning workforce for tomorrow starts today.
The best-performing companies are already taking steps to attract new talent and widen their lead over rivals.
Here are three lessons every organisation should learn from what the leading companies are doing:
* The roles most companies specify as business-critical will need to change as technology changes. Advanced analytics, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and other innovations are making it possible for companies to compete in new and very different ways. This should lead to new strategies and, with them, new business-critical roles.
Attracting workers skilled in advanced analytics will become increasingly important for a company (as will the technology and processes required to translate these skills into real sources of advantage); industrial engineering and plant management skills will become less critical to fueling the company’s long-term growth.
* Once your organisation understands the roles that will be most critical to winning, as well as the skills and capabilities required to be a star in these roles, it is important to examine the current skills and capabilities of your workforce.
How many employees are capable of being stars in the business-critical roles of tomorrow? Does your company have a sufficient supply of star talent to win? The best companies audit the current skills and capabilities of their workforces carefully in order to identify any gaps they may face.
* An expert recently remarked: 'Assembling a talented workforce is very much like making scotch—unless you cellar something today, it will be very hard to have something worth drinking seven years from now.' The best companies work hard to match their hiring and talent development strategies with their future workforce needs.
Difference-making talent is a company’s scarcest resource. Innovative new technologies are changing the nature of work, as well as the skills and capabilities required to win in the future.
Given the time it takes to attract and develop star talent, it is critical that companies start building the workforce they will need. There is no better time to start than today.
Courtesy: www.hbr.org
