How the labor market and corporate training has changed
Today, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies are increasingly influencing the labor market. This trend is especially noticeable in the example of large companies in the field of big data, robotization and advanced analytics.
In general, over the past three years, neural networks have already challenged experienced specialists in various fields. According to polls20% of Russians are afraid of competition with AI in their profession – this is especially true for representatives of the fields of logistics, retail and trade.
However, experts insist that new technologies can replace humans only in routine processes, freeing up time and resources for more complex and creative tasks. To remain in demand, workers are encouraged to learn how to use AI. Demand for specialists who can work with these technologies in Russia grew up by 62% over the past two years.
This is a great opportunity for those who are ready to expand their skills, show flexibility and retrain to meet business needs. In 2023, the number of jobs that require on-the-job training will increase. has grown 2.5 times.
In addition, such vacancies offer higher salaries. According to Avito Works development director Dmitry Puchkov, this is due to the fact that the desire of job seekers and employees to learn new things and discover fundamentally unusual areas of activity is “the key to a successful career.”
In those companies where new technologies have been introduced, specialists can work less with routine and go deeper into micromanagement. Instead, they get the opportunity to devote their time to process optimization and competent management. This is especially true when it comes to the demands and ethics of younger employees.
Today for applicants importantso that the hiring company takes care of the emotional and physical health of the team – that is, it is human-centric.
And here technologies again come to the aid of business, with the help of which Can collect and analyze data about the preferences, experience, goals and objectives of employees, formulate individual plans for development and advanced training, simplify the learning process and make it more accessible.
People-centricity in business explains both the emergence of a trend towards soft management skills and the demand for courses on team management. They are now among the top most popular at the Workshop, along with SQL, DevOps for operations and development, data analytics and system analytics.
An interesting trend is also observed in the top competencies in demand among line employees. In recent years, “digital transformation” has been included in this category, along with “people management”, “operational efficiency”, “leadership” and “change management”.
This means that modern technologies are increasingly penetrating new professions. Moreover, the more actively they develop, the more specialists are required to service them. Therefore, today there is a growing interest in industrial engineering and AI training courses, and large educational services have begun to integrate lessons on the practical application of neural networks into their courses.
It is important for businesses in the education sector to take these trends into account and offer clients services that free up employee time while increasing their efficiency.
Read on the topic: Who should pay for training: employer or employee
How corporate training works in modern companies
The use of corporate training programs is the norm rather than the exception to the rule: according to RBC, the profit of companies that have invested resources in this area is 24% higher than that of competitors. Today is the opportunity for corporate training There is already 62.5% of workers, and 93% name it as the reason why they do not want to change their place of work.
Research also shows that training opportunities are important already at the hiring stage: 80% of job seekers noted that access to corporate training is important to them, and a third of those hired cited this as a key argument when applying for a job.
However, not all employees have access to corporate training. According to to begdepartment heads (75%) and sales department employees (54%) are the most likely to take part in it. Among accountants and marketing department specialists, only a third of staff (32–36%) are invited to trainings.
Of the companies deciding on the need for corporate training, only 51% pick up it for your own business tasks. About 47% act without a clear plan, relying on advice from experts or requests from employees.
At the same time, most companies prefer independently develop educational programs (about 84%). This solution is not always optimal: a huge amount of resources are spent on creating courses that could be invested in production or increasing sales.
In addition, such programs are often not effective enough, since they are built on the subjective position of the internal team and may not take into account new trends.
As for purchasing ready-made courses, businesses are afraid that a third-party product does not take into account local specifics. This problem can be solved by “program modeling”, allowing the course to be adjusted to a specific request. Now a similar solution is implemented, for example, on the Grade, iSpring Suite, Mirapolis HCM and others platforms.
In addition, today there is a trend towards microlearning — small theoretical materials in the form of mobile formats (for example, voice messages). They are easily changed to suit employee requests and are cheap to produce. According to our data, programs with a total duration of up to 40 hours are easier for employees to master.
A small format helps overcome internal resistance to new things, and in this case it is easier for employees to find time and internal resources for training. However, the duration of courses is still not a key factor when drawing up training programs: 33% of companies do not take into account the duration of training at all, and 55% noted that they are not ready to sacrifice the quality of training for the sake of speed.
Also, the one that appeared during the pandemic still persists. trend for mentoring and small group training. It involves close personal communication, which strengthens the corporate culture.
It is especially important for practitioners to receive feedback from more experienced colleagues. Thus, in training programs it is important to involve reviewers to check the work and curators who will accompany students throughout the entire process.
An integrated approach to training in practice turns out to be much more effective than courses developed from scratch within the company. An important role here is played by the involvement of professional methodologists and experts in the creation of training programs, who help optimize the process.
The opportunity to receive feedback and live communication with an expert and colleagues within the course is also of great importance – all this significantly simplifies the learning process and helps to better master new competencies.
Read also:
5 mistakes when working with premium audiences
Lump sum contribution: what is it and how to calculate
What awaits the education market in the future?
Firstly, Demand for corporate training is not decreasing: according to data for 2024, 39% of companies planned to increase the budget for it.
Secondly, The results of the analysis of the education market demonstrate that companies strive not only to retain key employees, but also to develop their skills for new tasks and challenges, thus increasing labor productivity and solving the problem of personnel shortages. To achieve this, businesses need not just education for employees, but training that meets modern challenges.
In this regard, according to data global research, about 75% of companies plan to introduce advanced technologies into production in the coming years, and 81% plan to use them for personnel training. In this regard, an increase in demand for specialists in the use of these technologies (primarily AI and machine learning) is predicted.
Thirdly, To meet today’s challenges, companies must increasingly focus on successful leadership skills. Of these, Skolkovo, for example, especially highlights change and people management, operational efficiency and leadership. The World Economic Forum emphasizes the importance of analytical and creative thinking, as well as self-efficacy and digital literacy.
The formats of corporate training themselves are changing. The trend towards creating a unified educational environment is actively developing, in which both advanced technologies and classic contact with experts and mentors are equally important. Already, the combination of these methods is helping to develop the market and raise the standards of educational products.
How to strengthen your team
To strengthen your team, increase its productivity and prevent staff turnover, you need to remember several important steps.
Make sure the education is effective. To do this, you need to figure out whether the company’s problems are exactly within the knowledge and skills of the people you want to train. Also make sure that employees are not burnt out, that they receive the necessary support during training, etc.
1. Determine the areas that you want to strengthen first: team management, operational efficiency, analytics or others.
2. Choose a program and platform that will meet the specifics of your business and your goals. First of all, pay attention to the effectiveness of the courses: is it possible to vary them in a constructor format on the platform so that the team does not waste time on blocks that it already understands. Also make sure that the platform is user-friendly for employees.
For example, a key criterion here may be the presence of an internal knowledge base with all training materials or convenient calendars with events and classes. In addition, do not forget about the knowledge assessment and reporting system. The platform must have tests or other formats for assessing practical tasks. The results can be uploaded automatically along with a general report on the employee’s progress in completing the course.
3. Conduct an assessment with employees in each area. Determine what skills they need to learn. Such testing can be implemented both within the company and on the educational platform itself.
As a rule, even generative artificial intelligence can help with this: it automatically collects a test and, based on its results, finds areas of growth in employee skills. In some cases, the AI can give recommendations on a further career path or select additional materials for studying and upgrading skills.
4. Decide on the training format and its implementation in work processes. Pay special attention to the role of experts and mentors – theoretical blocks should be supported by practical exercises with colleagues and mentors. This way, employees will not only be able to consolidate new knowledge, but it will be emotionally easier for them to perceive the learning process.
It is also important to properly distribute the team’s workload. If the educational program cannot be translated into a microlearning format, and specialists need to attend lectures with teachers and regularly participate in group trainings, you need to be prepared for a temporary reduction in the workload of employees.
5. Designate a transparent system for assessing the effectiveness of employee training. It is important that even at the start of training, the team understands what will be expected from employees as a result. Each company has its own assessment of the quality of training: for some it is the level of involvement in the educational program and successful completion of testing, for others it is the growth of key department metrics after X months, and for others it is the ROI coefficient. Think about what is the highest priority for you and your business.
Photo: Rob Hyrons/ Shutterstock
Source: rb.ru
