Skills have taken centre stage in the professional world, especially in recent years, as workers are forced to adapt and be more nimble to succeed in the new workplace. Continuous learning and skill-building hold the key to an agile and resilient future as companies and professionals increasingly adopt a skills-first mindset.
Globally, however, including in Southeast Asia, there is a skills mismatch. According to LinkedIn’s 2023 Future of Recruiting report,
finding candidates in the region with the desired talents to fill job roles is cited as a significant challenge by 55% of recruiting professionals.
Rohit Kalsy, Malaysia country manager and head of emerging markets for Southeast Asia at LinkedIn, says: “While the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about acceleration in the adoption of technology globally, its impact has been particularly striking as the region added millions of digital consumers in this period. The region is undergoing a rapid and unprecedented digital transformation,
and there is a greater need than ever to upskill and reskill its workforce.”
Providing skills-building opportunities helps companies attract and retain the best talent. LinkedIn research shows that “opportunities to learn new skills” and “career growth” are among the top five priorities for candidates in Southeast Asia when considering job offers.
“Companies that invest in learning and development of their employees can build good employer branding so that they can not only bring in the right talent through their door but also engage and motivate their workforce,” Kalsy states.
On employee retention, he says companies recognise that skill-building has a positive impact. An overwhelming 94% of organisations in the region are concerned about employee retention and six in 10 are providing learning opportunities to improve it. More than eight in 10 (82%) agree it is less expensive to reskill a current employee than to hire a new one.
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“Companies that focus on skills as the currency in the world of work and move away from more antiquated signals such as educational degree, pedigree or where and how long someone worked, be it in hiring or developing their workforces, will be the ones that thrive in the future world of work. What we are seeing is that, increasingly, organisations will redefine what constitutes a ‘quality’ candidate. For those roles that can’t be filled internally, there will be heightened pressure through the door,” he says.
Globally, LinkedIn research shows that companies that excel at internal mobility are able to retain employees for an average of 5.4 years — nearly twice as long as companies that struggle with it, where the average retention span is 2.9 years. For example, at the two-year mark, an employee who has made an internal move is 75% more likely to stay with the company, compared with
an employee who has not made a move.
“Fixing the ‘internal mobility disconnect’ bolsters workforce agility. Our study finds that whereas most companies are concerned about employee retention, only about three in 10 across Asia-Pacific say their organisations encouraged them to make an internal move. By cultivating a culture of internal mobility through investing in upskilling and learning opportunities, companies will find it
easier to attract and retain top talent,” shares Kalsy.
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Slow progress
While the urgent need to build relevant skills is clear, LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report 2023 highlights a challenge: Globally,
large-scale upskilling and reskilling initiatives are moving at a snail’s pace. About 40% of companies are still in the early stages of upskilling and reskilling efforts (getting the buy-in of company stakeholders and forming their teams to manage the skilling programmes), 54% are at the mid-stage (developing and activating programmes), and only 2% say they have completed
a company skilling programme, while 4% have yet to start.
An important insight from the report is that while large-scale skill-building programmes often take a long time and require a sizeable investment, organisations can also leverage career-focused learning at the individual level to accelerate their upskilling initiatives.
“This streamlined approach harnesses the desire of individual employees for professional growth. Nimble organisations can inspire more skill building at the individual level by offering opportunities for career development and internal mobility,” he says.
“Possible challenges include a lack of time, which suggests that companies can provide more dedicated time, as well as recognition and incentives, to encourage skilling. This can be for learning a new skill, tackling a stretch project, working with a coach or mentor, or growing their professional networks.”
Learning and development
Forward-thinking organisations that take an adaptive approach and continue investing in their talent during these times will be the ones that are agile and emerge stronger. Kalsy believes the role of learning and development in organisations is becoming more
central, cross-functional and strategic than ever before.
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LinkedIn global data shows that 87% of business leaders see learning and development as crucial in helping their companies
adapt to changes, with about seven in 10 considering it a strategic organisational function. Learning and development help create
people-centric organisations, and eight in 10 organisations want to build a more people-centric culture, as part of efforts to create an
engaged and resilient workforce.
“Learning professionals are perfectly placed to help their organisations navigate business disruption and skills shortages. Their influence in the C-suite continues to rise, and executives are aware of the competitive advantage that comes with an engaged
and adaptable workforce that has a growth mindset,” Kalsy says.
According to LinkedIn’s report, regional employees’ No 1 motivation to learn is “progress towards career goals”. About six in 10 learning and development professionals say that learner engagement has increased over the past year, which indicates that aligning skill-building with career goals helps engage and unlock employee potential.
Business leaders can foster a learning culture by setting aside dedicated time for employees to take up learning courses each
week or month, and doing the same themselves. If managers lead by example, employees will be more likely to follow suit. “It can be stressful to juggle learning with looming deadlines or client needs. Companies can give employees specific guidance
on career growth plans, and even discuss their learnings together.
Learning programmes can also be encouraged with contests and incentives. Rewards, whether financially or via internal kudos,
can boost employee participation considerably,” advises Kalsy.
This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia. It has been edited for length and clarity.
