The Importance of Upskilling During
Economic Downturns
Aspen
Institute: 12.17.2019 by Carol
Morrison & Kevin Martin
“The
illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read.
It
will be the person who does not know how to learn.”
—
Alvin Toffler, Futurist, Business Leader, Author of Future Shock
When the Institute for CorporateProductivity (i4cp) first partnered with UpSkill America at
the Aspen Institute in 2016, the result was a major research study, Developing America’s Frontline Workers.
That landmark exploration of US
businesses’ efforts to build the knowledge and skills of their workforces
produced many valuable insights for performance-enhancing development. In
particular, the research found that companies with consistently strong records
of market performance:
➧ Recognize the power of development to
drive and sustain employee engagement, innovation, and the kind of
discretionary effort on the job that increases productivity and performance.
➧ Invest in effective development of their
workers and advance upskilled employees into better-paying, higher-skilled
jobs.
➧ Understand, and routinely track, the
positive effects of development on levels of workforce absenteeism and
turnover.
Those perennially relevant findings
about upskilling
employees offer important strategic intel for organizational leaders operating
in any business climate. In times of economic downturns, their value becomes
even more apparent.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
Magnifies the Need for Upskilling
When the next economic downturn occurs, it
will do so in what is called the fourth Industrial Revolution, a time
characterized by greater workplace presence of artificial intelligence and work
automation.
Research by i4cp found that most
organizations are not prepared for the impacts that technology brings. In fact,
significant gaps with implications for upskilling were revealed:
➧ Organizational capability (to
effectively utilize advanced automation technology) gaps span
processes, skills, and knowledge—and the gaps are growing. Greater focus is needed
to analyze jobs at the task level, assess talent risk, and upskill/reskill
employees.
➧ Workforce motivation (morale and
engagement) gaps make it incumbent on leaders to build trust through
accurate, transparent communication; empower employees to automate their own
work in exchange for upskilling/reskilling and career advancement; and address
ethical issues related to implementing automation and AI. READ
MORE ➤➤
Workplace
2018: Three Education Pathways
To Good Jobs, Georgetown
2018: A Stronger Nation:
Learning beyond high school builds American talent, Lumina
2017: UpSkilling Playbook
for Employers, Aspen Institute
2015: Skills Gap Report, NAM-MI
2008: Reach Higher America:
Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce, NCAL
2007: America’s Perfect
Storm, ETS
2007: Can California Import
Enough College Grad's. Meet Workforce Needs?, PPIC
2007: Mounting Pressures:
Workforce . . . Adult Ed, NCAL
Based on (7) readability formulas:
Grade
Level: 16
Reading
Level: very difficult to read.
Reader's
Age: College graduate
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