As 2018 comes to a close, many human resources (HR) and learning and development (L&D) professionals are working to prepare their staffs and organizations for 2019 and beyond.
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In 2018, we saw virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and automation reach new feats and heights in L&D and HR. But what should we be watching out for and considering in 2019? And what will ensure we’re developing a prepared and productive workforce?
Here are 3 essential things you’ll want to consider if you want a well-developed and productive workforce in 2019 and beyond.
1. Highly-Targeted and More Strategic Recruiting
A well-developed and productive workforce starts with the recruiting phases of an organization. Poorly selected new hires will never be able to fit in and be productive at an organization, regardless of the amount of training they receive.
We already have automated platforms analyzing job candidates who apply to organizations. But moving forward, we’ll also see recruiting strategies evolve on social media outlets and become automated across various platforms.
And more and more employers will also administer cognitive assessments and skills assessments during their recruiting phases to help weed out candidates who won’t be a good fit for their companies’ cultures.
Additionally, an organization’s culture will become extremely important in the candidate-selection process. And organizations will also begin to prioritize diversity when recruiting new employees.
According to Deloitte research, diversity and inclusion are now top priorities for more than two-thirds of executives who were surveyed, and they view it as very important for their organizations. Expect diversity to be extremely important for your organization, too.
2. Consistent Upskilling
L&D departments are becoming one of the most valuable departments in any organization because of their critical role in upskilling employees. The average skill only lasts around 5 years or less in the workforce now, and employees must be upskilled constantly to keep up with rapidly changing technological innovations and the ever-changing demands of workforces across various industries.
Currently, over 90% of U.S. employers plan to maintain or only slightly increase the members of their staffs due to digitalization over the next 2 years, which means that most employers will need to focus on upskilling their existing workforces and supplementing them with additional skills.
And according to Becky Frankiewicz, president of ManpowerGroup North America, “If we take collective action to help develop the right blend of technical and soft skills, people will augment rather than compete with technology.”
3. Ability to be Agile
In 2019 and beyond, you will need to work toward building and sustaining a truly agile workforce if you want your organization’s employees to be productive. In the near future, only agile workforces will be able to adapt to and excel in constantly and rapidly changing work environments and industries.
Read The Ins and Outs of Training and Developing More Agile Employees for more information on how to build a more agile workforce and why it’s so important.
In tomorrow’s post, we’ll highlight five other essential things you’ll want to consider if you want a well-developed and productive workforce in 2019 and beyond.