For an organization to undergo digital transformation, they need employees with specific digital expertise. Competitive markets and industries mean companies want every possible advantage, so to bridge the skills gap of existing employees, upskilling and reskilling are at the core of every DX journey.
But is the actual learning and development process effective?
Daniela Proust, global vice president and head of global people enablement and growth at Siemens, recently went on the MIT Technology Review podcast Business Lab with host Laurel Ruma to discuss this intersection.
Gone are the days of multi-day offsite training sessions. Instead, as they discuss, the technologies that are being implemented in digital transformation efforts are now being used to help facilitate the exact training and learning opportunities workers need.
“Now people learn more often, for shorter periods of time, but training is much more tailored to what they need in that moment, and that is enabled by technology,” explained Proust.
Bonus? “A platform-based learning ecosystem with a learning experience platform at the core enables you to gain insights that we never had in the past,” says Proust.
Here are some additional highlights from their interview:
On getting to a point where learning drives business transformation
“In order to be successful and drive successful business, you need to continuously adapt the roles that you have to drive your successful business. Right?… So if that holds true, we have new jobs, new skills, new competencies all the time. And therefore, we all need to continuously learn and grow. And only then can the business be successful.
In light of a major transformation that businesses are facing, either by new business models arising or new innovation and technologies driving a certain business area forward, you see that you need to accompany that structural change, that structural workforce transformation in order to drive business transformation. So for me, it’s at the core of it.”
On making continuous, tech-driven learning interesting
“At the end of the day, it’s all about relevance so that you get the relevant learning opportunities to the learner at the moment of need. And that also the experience is really great for the individual. Sounds easy, it’s really not so easy to do because everybody learns in a different way. You might enjoy podcasts most, somebody else likes videos or more hybrid interactions or a complete learning path. And you have the whole array at your fingertips so you can pick and choose what makes most sense for you, and I think that is what makes it so powerful.”
On the future of learning and development
“I think the more we bring this awareness across that people… are in the driver’s seat of their own employability, that is really, really important. And it excites me. And I think there, you have to work with concepts like curiosity, work with people and inspire them, ignite a passion for learning. Because usually, people are by nature very curious.”
To listen to the full episode and/or read the transcript, head to the episode page.
