The emerging role of digital technologies in corporate training

Degreed co-founder and former CLO of LinkedIn, Kelly Palmer, highlights the importance of upskilling and reskilling throughout people’s professional lives and, indeed, the percentage of workers who need it within their organisations is high. According to her, it is not just a question of relearning, but of continuing to learn new skills that are required for the future or improving current competences in order to remain successful and relevant in the company. We need to be aware that any field of work is going to undergo change and, in order to do so, we need to think about how to improve skills and competences, not just on an individual basis, but on an organisational and governmental level. Board member and Director of Learning, IE University and former CLO of McKinsey, Nick Van Dam, says there is a huge need to help companies prepare for the future and to develop and provide tools that facilitate upskilling and reskilling for their workers. In the coming decades, all companies will face a massive and challenging digital transformation. In this sense, what makes a digital transformation successful is getting both leaders and workers digitally ready, as well as modernising outdated practices. The next decade will bring great opportunities for those who have the right mindset, skills and competences, but it will also be a great challenge for those who do not. He is optimistic and sees many opportunities for companies to assist their employees in acquiring the necessary skills, and that means increasing learning and development practices within organisations. Caroline Mol, director of EDX Europe, believes that the responsibility for reskilling and upskilling lies not only with companies and individuals, but also with nations and governments. She has witnessed a collaborative shift between industry and academic institutions to address this skills gap.
During the round table discussion, points such as who is responsible for upskilling and reskilling and what skills will be needed in the coming years will be discussed. This last point covers soft skills, such as collaboration, problem solving, etc., technical skills such as data analysis, AI, cybersecurity, among others, learning agility, such as motivation or curiosity, or imposing on workers the mentality of the importance of acquiring new skills to optimise their performance or professional retraining.