In the 21st century digital economy, companies in all industries are becoming “tech companies.” The success of your company depends on your ability to innovate and stay current on the latest technologies. In the past 20 years, we have seen innovation by tech companies become the model for all organizations—open office floor plans, flexible hours, casual dress, employee perks, and even the adoption of tech jargon by CEOs and thought leaders.
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Beyond that, technology itself has become an integral part of every job function’s success—from marketing and PR to sales, finance, product development, and operations. To survive and thrive, companies need to teach their employees the tech skills they need to excel at their jobs.
A new survey reveals that many organizations still don’t do a good enough job of making sure their employees have the tech literacy and technology skills needed to be competitive:
- 90% of respondents believe that employers—not individual worker—have the primary responsibility to boost the tech skills of their workforce
- 56% of respondents believe that employers are not adequately preparing their workforce with future-forward tech skills, and
- 34% of respondents think employers should invest in tech upskilling even for non-tech talent.
This may sound familiar, but it’s a lesson that many organizations still need to learn: technology and tech literacy are not just for the tech workforce. The truth is, every single employee at your organization, even non-tech talent, benefit tremendously from being technology literate, gaining basic tech skills, and even knowing how to correctly use tech terminology. There are big opportunities here for HR professionals to boost the tech literacy of their organizations.
Here are a few reasons why tech literacy and knowledge of tech skills are essential to your organization’s success:
Recruit and Reskill: The battle for tech talent has turned into an all-out war. HR recruiters are discovering it is far too competitive to find and recruit top tech talent. Instead of trying to out-do each other in frantic bidding wars for talent, companies are thinking more creatively about how to fill their vacant job positions. Teaching tech skills to your existing workforce can often be a smarter and more cost-effective strategy than spending time and money trying to lure passive job seekers to your organization. Since they are already familiar with the company structure and culture, reskilled employees can also be more effective from Day 1, reducing onboarding time. Instead of fighting to recruit new talent, think about how you can upskill and reskill more of your existing employees. You will reduce hiring costs, increase employee retention and satisfaction, and improve company productivity.
Embrace Innovative Thinking: Even if you are in an industry or sector that does not consider itself a technology company, there are still strong benefits to teaching tech skills to your employees. Tech literate employees are far more likely to implement new and innovative tools that help them do their jobs better and faster, boosting their productivity and performance.
Foster Stronger Teamwork: Tech literacy is just like other forms of literacy—knowing the language of tech can open up doors for more effective communication and stronger teamwork. If everyone speaks the same language, it facilitates better communication, a more collaborative environment and stronger teamwork, which in turn leads to higher performing teams and a more competitive, productive organization. The benefits of better teamwork are real. Just imagine how much better your organization can perform if the tech and the non-tech employees start to understand each other better.
Your next big breakthrough might get sparked by something as simple as an on-site coding workshop or “Learn to Code” day. It’s always a good idea to keep feeding the curiosity of your talented people. Why not start today?
Michael Choi is the CEO of Coding Dojo, a leading Coding Bootcamp with campuses in Silicon Valley, Berkeley, Seattle, LA, Dallas, Chicago, Tyson’s Corner, and Tulsa, and an online program. Coding Dojo is unique in that it teaches students the skills to quickly learn any new coding language, in addition to rigorous training in 3 full stacks in 14 weeks. As a result, their highly sought-after graduates hit the ground running in any company they join and are immediately impactful.