Here’s an alarming number: 73% of workers are actively thinking about quitting their jobs. That's a lot. If The Great Resignation has taught employers any lesson, it’s this: Employees want the opportunity to learn and advance.

However, simply providing generic tuition assistance or generalized learning programs may not get employees where they want to go. That’s why many employers have turned toward a skills-based approach to talent development—focusing on what an employee can do, rather than just what their role requires.

Shifting your talent development focus

By focusing on skill development, employers can gain a clear measure of employee proficiency and use it to provide the type of focused learning and career pathways that increase employee engagement while also making the employer more competitive. Not only does this deepen the organization’s talent pool, but it also democratizes its careers by creating equitable and transparent access to job opportunities.

Giving employees the opportunities to advance their skills helps employers unlock internal talent mobility. Whether it's an employee who wants to upskill because their profession is constantly evolving, or they want to grow in their career to become more senior, or even if they want to reskill to start something brand new, employers should look for clear pathways to achieve these goals.

According to Susan Manning, Senior Manager of Customer Education, Credly, “It’s really about assessing employee skills to determine the gap, then creating personalized development plans so they can actually increase their proficiency with a skill. Their performance then becomes proof of their development.” Having a skills-based development framework to enable a personalized learning experience moves the needle forward for both the employee and the employer.

Different skills-based approaches

A skills-based approach to talent development can include a broad spectrum of formal and informal learning programs—everything from strategic education benefits to credentialing, mentoring and new experiences. This approach recognizes that skill development is achievable in many forms. The key to these different approaches is in measuring development strategically to assess the skills your organization has and then create development plans to obtain needed skills in targeted ways.

One method – credentialing – provides organizations with a way to invest in talent while also gaining measurable data points to understand where skills bench strengths across the organization. Andrew Vecchiarelli, Strategic Initiatives and Learning Manager, BMO Financial Group helped build an internal credentialing program to prepare employees for the future of work. The program, Demo Forward, offers multiple curriculums that cover skills such as data visualization, analytics, cybersecurity, and even power skills like influence and emotional intelligence. Digital badges are given out through Credly as a recognition of the work.

As Andrew Vecchiarelli explained, “Because the program is voluntary and because there is a time commitment, depending on which curriculum you're looking at – it could be anywhere between 13 and 17 hours of work that goes into achieving a digital badge – it really is a clear indication of not only skill development, but of career interest and commitment by the employee. The digital credential actually becomes an evidence point of skill sets that the employee has, which allows our leaders to use it to help plan their own talent decisions. Then ideally, as we continue to look future-focused and through other technology integrations, it'll also suggest career opportunities to the employee that are aligned to their interests and career ambitions.”

Other companies, particularly those with frontline workers, have found that skills-based development is best achieved by providing strategic education benefits with a range of targeted learning options and flexible, non-traditional degree programs, including bilingual options. Enabling employees to pursue their educational goals without taking on debt can be a primary motivator for many essential employees. This can also help to fill basic skill and language gaps that many employees may be lacking. Michael Karicher, Executive Vice President of HR and Training, Remington Hotels partnered with Accelerated Pathways for his talent development needs, explaining, “Their program helps fill a critical gap for parts of our workspace that traditional development programs don't serve very well.”

Getting leadership buy-in

By focusing on a personalized learning experience, employees can build a robust profile of skills that meet their career aspirations and drive the organization forward. However, finding the right skills-based approach requires data-driven decision-making and buy-in from leadership. According to Andrew Vecchiarelli, “Executive sponsorship can be the catalyst that drives your entire talent management engine, but it really takes thinking about how skills change your HR ecosystem and not just how it helps become a proof point of a particular learning experience.”

Support from direct supervisors is also key to successful implementation, as they play a significant role as champions (or gatekeepers) in employee promotion and advancement. They’re frequently asked, ‘What do I need to do to get to the next level?’ If they’re willing to champion a new skills-based development approach, then the program will gain success and the employer will earn a reputation for its culture of fostering employee growth.

Taking the first steps

According to the Working Learners Index, 90% of employees say they would stay with their employer if education was offered as a benefit. Most organizations understand this and strive to offer talent development opportunities that deliver improved results. Ultimately, that’s what skills-based development is about—keeping the employee happy with their role, but also providing them opportunities to develop and move either laterally or vertically in the organization.

Ready to shift to skills-based development? At Pearson, we have the right resources to help you customize the best approach for your workforce. Our programs aren't just discounts on tuition. We offer managed education services that target your skills gap, drive your business objectives and make you an employer of choice. Get in touch with us to learn more!

The digital age has created the need for a new kind of leadership. In the face of constantly evolving technologies and rapidly changing markets, business leaders are increasingly being asked to implement new innovations and cutting-edge alternatives to previous legacy systems to stay competitive.

To succeed in this fast-moving environment, the leaders of today and tomorrow will need to be able to offer three distinct qualities:

1.       Vision 

Vision is essential to developing a coherent strategy and directing results in a rapidly advancing world. Current and future leaders will need to be able to provide their organization with the ability to envision and drive innovation in a useful way. According to MITSloan, these leaders will need to “help build digital capabilities by implementing the right technologies into the right parts of their customer experience, operations, employee experience, and business models.”

In addition, leaders must be prepared to adjust their vision and course depending on new circumstances. This means being able to fully understand your industry and the enormous impact digital transformation has on your business and society as a whole. Leaders who can create a clear vision and execute it well will find success. Those who try to “wing it” won’t last long, as their lack of vision and direction will lead to confusion and delays, thereby preventing rapid innovation and the ability to compete.

2.       Agility

Leaders who can quickly assess new situations and respond with smart and effective decisions are highly valued. Agility is a vital response to more complex and volatile markets. Supporting innovation under these conditions means understanding that projects you’re working on can suddenly lose significance or change course. As a leader, you’ll need to be able to manage a flexible team who can adapt quickly and execute changes effectively.

Furthermore, you’ll need to accomplish these goals with a team made up of a mixture of workers—from fulltime employees to gig workers to contractors and even AI. Markets have proven to reward organizations that can curate the best talent from around the world and manage their resources and capacity with a willingness to change, evolve and adapt. By establishing a work culture and team structure that encourages creativity and rapid innovation, leadership can ensure their organization thrives in a fast-paced world.

3.       Support

The future of leadership is also about empowering others to self-organize and operate in a less hierarchical system. This not only encourages agility, but it also allows for greater participation, involvement and contribution from everyone on the team. Leaders should take a more supportive role—encouraging, inspiring and nurturing others to grow and collaborate as they work remotely from all over the world.

In this supportive leadership role, part of your focus needs to be on connecting people to resources that can help them succeed, gain new skills and advance. You’ll need to find opportunities to both serve and educate your talent in a way that fosters a positive company culture and builds community. ​​By providing learning, mentorship, empowerment and growth opportunities, leaders in the digital age can deliver improved results not just for the organization, but for society as a whole. 

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Looking to developing your leadership skills or earn your business degree? We’ve got you covered! At Pearson Accelerated Pathways, we give you the freedom to earn a degree your way—anytime, anywhere. See how it works.