A recent survey of CEO's, by PwC(1), has highlighted the growing concern among business leaders, who have recognised a shortage of transferable soft skills in the working population. New entrants into an organisation lack essential interpersonal, communication and business skills to be effective, productive and - even more important - to be competitive. Yet, there is an ultra-modern and simple solution available now, today, to help you recognise and reward talent, and develop the talent pool in your company.
The ProblemThere has always been a gap between the soft skills employers want and those employees possess. The nature of the last economic downturn profoundly changed business in many ways, not least of all to link personal development programmes to tangible performance and business linked improvement in the workplace.
Many businesses use performance related rewards to incentivise development, recognising people as investments and the unique skills they bring to the job. Enabling employees to learn what they need, when they want to learn (without interrupting the working day) and on the device of their choice, is critical to attracting the right talent in the first place and to retaining talent within the organisation to achieve ongoing business benefit.
What Do Businesses Think?In a recent survey, some 66% of CEOs think that the top two priorities should be:1. A skilled, educated and adaptable workforce.2. An adequate physical and digital infrastructure.
However, we still come back to the expense and time for training for businesses, plus the difficulty in judging the effectiveness of such training. CEOs now need and want to manage their talent pipeline and to develop a culture of reward. A solution for present and future needs is here; it is both cost-effective for businesses and measurably useful for your talent pool.
What is the Solution?Technology drives innovation - it always has done and in the global marketplace of ideas, technology has provided a solution to your business training needs to close the skills gap that is harming businesses and employees alike. It is also a great way to complement your existing workforce and work with them in a manner they will find useful.
What is needed now is a focus on training and creating a positive environment for personal and professional development to try and close their skills gap - to develop and retain their existing talent by improving their workplace culture. Only Bookboon provides a fully comprehensive solution; our eLibrary Solution is suitable for 100% electronic learning or blended study. This means, employees may learn at their own pace, in their own way, in the methods they choose in line with the business technological availability.
The Key Benefits of Bookboon's eLibrary Solution
- Employees may go at their own pace and in their own time. A classroom removes them from the work environment and pace progresses only as fast as the slowest employee.
- eLearning delivers results much faster and more effectively than classroom based learning
- Improving employee soft skills that are a great benefit to your business, increasing efficiency, job satisfaction and employee retention.
- Employees can skip elements they already know.
- Employees are encouraged to take charge and responsibility for their own training and realising that their development, employability and pay now depend on this.
We have over 500 eBooks immediately available to your employees that can and will improve their soft skills. Our content is produced by industry leaders and peer reviewed to make sure you get the best quality business training available today.
If you would like to know more about the topic on soft skills education, then download the eBook The Experts Teach: Training Skills; available at bookboon.com.
(1) PwC's "Government and global CEO" report from 15 February 2016: pwc.blogs.com.