A recent statement in the Forbes magazine read “Every company is a technology company”. And this statement can’t be disputed in today’s times. There are no major companies in the world that can do without technology today! Technology affects the staff in a lot of positive ways – it improves the efficiency of work and the flow of communication. With advanced technology, a lot of mundane processes get automated. Methods like agile are accentuating the distance between companies that do adhere to it and companies that don’t adhere to it. Those that do lead and are at the forefront of change while attracting the brightest minds. They also end up retaining, if not improving in terms of clients, position in market and growth in all aspects. This is why the top companies seek to dabble, experiment and implement cutting edge technologies.
The average shelf life of technical skills is less than 5 years today. Even if you do take present in-demand skills, a lot of their job roles did not even exist five years ago!
How to prolong shelf life? Evolve with periodic upskilling
Wanting to upgrade skills is nothing new to IT professionals and the way they learn has also changed in a big way today. The change if work environments and advancing technologies has led to the need for regular upgrading of skills. One way skills can be prolonged is train in technical skills that have proven to survive (like Java) and emerging skills like Artificial Intelligence.
The learning styles have also become versatile and extremely flexible. Here are some of the major learning trends of today:
The growth of virtual reality: Virtual reality with presence of tools like hologram projectors and virtual classrooms enhances the training in the workplace.
Hiring from within the organization: A lot of employers are comfortable with internal hiring than looking for new team members. This is why employees are encouraged to upskill.
Mobile Learning is all set to grow: A lot of e-learning platforms and methods are mobile optimized making it convenient for learners.
Lot of workplace Training: There will be a lot more of trainings that take place in the work places in ways that are effective in order to improve results and update the skills of the employees.
Millenials increase the demand for training at workplaces: How millennials look at jobs dramatically increases the training at workplaces.
Companies who do not absorb these principles into their technical training tend to have employees who are ‘job hoppers’. Such companies are also at the risk of having their current loyal leave as they would see it as the only route left for growth. In order to make sure that the brightest and the best employees don’t leave and try to get into the more dynamic company (who may even be a competitor), it is necessary to start applying new technological training from within the organization.
