Educate to Elevate

I recently ran a poll across my social media channels and asked the question:

"Do you feel you need further education or training around your skill set to take the next step in your career?"

I was completely taken aback when the results came in as it was a resounding – ‘yell yeah’ with 100% of respondents saying YES – I need more education to elevate!

I then started to ponder; well whose responsibility is this.

Is it the employees or the employers?

I really believe it’s both.

As an individual, we need to be aware of how fast paced the world is moving and keep relevant. Automation and digitisation, along with a globalised workforce, are all threats to roles in the future however I’d prefer to turn it around and say they could be opportunities!

Have a think about your role and ask yourself these questions:

• Could your role, or parts of your role be automated?

• Could work in your role be digitised? i.e. turned from physical information into a digital format.

• Could your role be outsourced overseas as it could be done remotely?

If you answered yes to one or more of these then put on your thinking cap and work out what skills you need to get ahead of the curve or move sideways into a new field. This is the time when I’d recommend it would be a good career move to take control and focus on your professional development.

Then we come to the employers. With technology changing the way employees work, job instability and a focus on contract and short term roles, now more than ever you want to attract and retain the best staff and make sure you’re elevating their skill set to help grow your own business. Creating a partnership with an online or blended learning provider is a great tool to incentivise and support staff or alternatively bringing in consultants to run workshops or longer programs. This will not only provide longer term financial benefits due to reduced turnover but also increased productivity and outcomes for the business.

With responsibility spread across employees and employers, now more than ever I’d encourage open and transparent conversations around the direction of careers and businesses and hopefully by doing so, it creates a win-win for everyone.

Be fabulous

Lisa xx