We are living in a skills-based economy. Businesses and individuals prioritize skills to determine professional value – a shift from the traditional outlook of valuing levels of education and experience above anything else. Individuals’ skills and ability to acquire new ones are currency in today’s competitive marketplace. Demographic factors like the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation and disruptions caused by the acceleration of emerging technology require organizations across industries to ensure they have a workforce equipped to thrive in the years to come. However, doing so requires a shift in thinking among the talent-focused managers in the business. They need more skilled professionals in emerging areas of business and technology and an approach that enables ongoing, flexible training and retraining to stay ahead of the curve.
In a rapidly transforming world, the four-year degree provides a good foundation. Still, barriers to entry, including cost, accessibility, and time, coupled with skills that need to be learned on the job, underscore that degrees are only one piece of the puzzle. The solution to the skills gap is refocusing on career-long learning and certifications beyond traditional degrees.
The New Focus in Organizations
At the heart of the challenge is that the nature of work is accelerating rapidly, with emerging technologies, AI and automation, sustainability, hybrid work, and geopolitical dynamics at play. New skills are needed today and in the next decade, and those responsible for training programs and recruitment activities must keep these skills in mind. Areas focusing on technology proficiency, data analytics, critical thinking, and cross-functional collaboration will be critical professional skills as tasks become more automated. Companies must ensure that professional development programs exist to help employees continue to hone and develop the skills most required for success in their organization. In doing so, they will be better positioned to attract and hire the right candidates for their organizations in an increasingly competitive market.
The Future is in Flexible Credentials
While the demand for talent is high, the barriers to entering many fields are still preventing individuals from taking advantage of available job opportunities. As a result, employers and business leaders are finding recruits from diverse backgrounds across different areas of expertise. So, how are they bridging the skills gap for the sector they are trying to enter? One effective way is through professional certifications.
Professional certifications enable potential employees to demonstrate their expertise by successfully passing a rigorous exam(s) on relevant and timely industry-specific subject matters. As businesses evolve with ever-advancing technologies and the latest innovations, the ground rules for hiring viable candidates are also changing. Organizations need to develop workforces that understand new ideas and technologies, allowing them to stay relevant in a quick-paced technological age in which in the next five years, 23 percent of global jobs will change due to industry transformation. Ongoing, more flexible certification courses that refresh skilled professionals in line with wider change will increase employee productivity, attract potential new hires, and increase retainability for those with the company. In addition to helping organizations by equipping staff with essential new skills, organizational support for continuing education in the form of certifications and other shorter-term courses and programs also shows commitment from organizations when their employees are actively working to grow their existing abilities, keeping them ahead of competitors and promoting continuous learning to expand their skillsets.
Why A Shift in Mindset Must Come First
However, for many training and recruitment managers, there may still be a barrier to taking such certifications seriously, such as augmentations or even alternatives to traditional academic degrees. The challenge for professionals, though, is that organizations may deprioritize funding for professional development and certification, particularly when budgets are tight. On the flip side, employers may be reluctant to invest in these programs for fear of employees leaving the organization once they have the new training and development to get a more attractive position elsewhere. But, given the need to fill gaps left by retiring boomers and the acceleration of technology creating the need to upskill quickly, serious consideration must be given to a new mindset of looking at employee qualifications. This is also an important shift in diversifying workforces to include people from many backgrounds.
Organizational success is becoming more closely linked with employee development as the demand for upskilling and innovative ideas continues to rock the business world. Certifications provide leaders with a unique opportunity to expand the talent pool by bringing in people from diverse backgrounds who can offer unique perspectives while satisfying the knowledge required for the function of a job. As leaders struggle to retain talent and keep employees happy, offering support for certification programs in partnership with professional organizations might just be the trick to ensuring fluency and retention within organizations – benefiting employees and employers alike.
