Share
What is happening in the field of learning and development? What do we see companies struggle with, and how can training help them? We asked Jurriaan Bernson, Director of Xebia Academy, to share his experience and fill us in on the trends we should keep an eye on.
What's happening in the knowledge space?
When it comes to learning and development, a large number of companies are not doing as well as they could. If we look at the reason for this, it largely stems from a lack of insight. Organizations don't always know where they are heading or miss a clear overview of employee skills.
As a result, skills gaps go unnoticed, and much-needed learning paths are never created. Especially when it involves staying up-to-date with new data models, programming languages, or cloud solutions, companies are really struggling to get it right.
Organizations that realized the importance of education in time include Danone, which asked us for an awareness campaign and training to support their data transformation, Bol.com, where we provide an ongoing learning program to keep knowledge levels up, and the University of Amsterdam, where we train lecturers in AI.
What are companies asking Xebia Academy?
We receive many requests for Software Development, Data, DevOps, Security, Agile, Product Management and Leadership training, as well as role-specific learning journeys for Architects and Cloud, Developers, and Software Engineers.
Companies also ask if we can provide them with insight into the as-is skillset of their employees and how to develop their to-be skillset.
Finally, companies want to know how to find the right people—often unaware of how they can upskill their current teams. Instead of struggling uphill, they could look at what's already there and develop their people's skills in-house.
What's the ROI of training?
Did you know that you can predict a business transformation's success by the percentage of the budget spent on education? The more you invest in learning and development, the quicker and better you will be able to make the changes. Training helps you acquire the right skills, keep knowledge up-to-date and improve team efficiency.
Not only that, employees want to grow their own skills and careers, and they expect their employer to service that. However, only 24% of employees feel they are equipped to learn the digital skills they need today.
What’s more, personal development is a reason for employees to commit to their employer. Career progression and excellent training programs are among the top three requirements of an appealing organization, a McKinsey survey found. Not surprisingly, employees who feel they can’t achieve their career goals at their current organization are 12 times more likely to consider leaving that company compared to satisfied employees.
So, simply put, the ROI of training is a future-fit and committed workforce!
How can we make that happen?
Together, we can build learning journeys and create growth opportunities that contribute to a betteremployee experience and raise retention levels. In addition, training can help leaders better manage change and anticipate the shifting needs of the marketplace.
An example of the ROI of training is that teams that have learned new behaviors and skills need fewer sprints to validate their value. This means there's a shorter time-to-market, and you can release more.
What's next?
The battle for talent will not be over soon during this Great Resignation. Companies must, therefore, find ways to keep their skills up to date.
Of course, you want to be an attractive employer for new hires, but consider training current employees too. A lot is happening in the field of learning and development. Keep an eye on the following four trends and empower your team!
- Upskilling: there is a growing emphasis on upskilling your workforce, which will also reflect in our training portfolio. Keep an eye on this space; exciting things are about to happen!
- New Learning Styles & Blended Learning: we continue to research different learning styles and tailor our offerings accordingly. For example, we are looking at hyper-personalization for a better employee experience and greater training effectiveness.
Another example is the ongoing rise of blended learning. With an increase in working remotely, blended learning and virtual training have become unstoppable. - Long-Term Learning Solutions: because upskilling your team takes more than a day, the number of long-term learning solutions on offer will increase. We advise companies to explore how they can make continuous learning part of day-to-day work.
- Increased Learning Time Investment: with the rise of the Great Resignation, growth in new digital skills and increased focus on employee satisfaction, we see that the time spent on learning and development has surged. Many organizations will follow Google’s 20% rule.
Want to know more about upskilling your organization? Get in touch with Jurriaan!