Learn new skills. Embracing technology – including artificial intelligence. Developing leaders.
Call it your 2024 wish list.
“Everyone is talking about skills, skills, skills,” said Rebecca Stern, director of online learning and teaching platform Udemy.
Many employers focus on finding people who can fill jobs rather than taking a “skills first” approach – identifying people with skills that can drive the organization.
This is a little different than matching a role to a resume, job title, or experience.
“Very few have actually made that shift,” Stern said during a December webinar called “The 2024 Leadership Wish List.” She's the Director of Leadership and Organizational Development at Udemy.
When there is a shortage in the talent pool, employers may have employees who can improve their skills to help drive business strategy. Retaining high performers and recruiting talent effectively is beneficial, Stern said.
Even as organizations focus on human skill sets, technology will play an increasing role.
The AI tool ChatGPT, which can be asked to generate text, images and videos, is just over a year old, but Udemy has more than 1,200 courses on the technology. As of December, Stern said 57 million minutes of learning related to artificial intelligence — called AI — had occurred on the company's platform.
“I think he will become the best personal assistant we have that we always wish we could have and never knew we could have,” Stern said.
But even potentially effective technical advances are often met with hesitation.
Christine Tao, co-founder and CEO of leadership development firm Sounding Board, said companies are “pumping trillions of dollars” into digital transformation initiatives. But many of these efforts will fail, not because of technology, but because of people and ineffective change management methods.
“We really have to help our leaders change their mindset around change and embrace new skills,” Tao said during the webinar. If not, the money invested in AI initiatives may not be sustainable or have the expected impact.
Helping people understand how their jobs will evolve and how they can stay involved is crucial, Tao said. Training plays a role.
Organizations with strong coaching cultures are twice as likely to be rated as high performers, Tao said. They're also twice as likely to innovate effectively, and more likely to “delight customers” and exceed financial goals, according to research by Sounding Board.
In one study cited by another organization, executives estimated that 40% of their workforce would have to reskill due to the implementation of artificial intelligence and automation over the next three years.
In its Learning Trends Report published in November 2023, Udemy identified the most in-demand leadership skills, based on interest in specific content on its platform. The top four are coaching and developing others, team building and organizational collaboration, empathy and interpersonal skills, flexibility and change management, Stern said.
To share a thought, favorite quote, or other piece of wisdom about leadership, email Lisa Green at lisagreen@jg.net. beckon It also appears online as a blog at www.journalgazette.net/blog/lead-on/
