We need an improved talent development model to help us more effectively meet the skill needs of our dynamic and expanding digital economy. A modern apprenticeship model is the answer.
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growing and pervasive challenge within our post-industrial and ever-accelerating digital economy is that of better preparing the emerging workforce for the future of work — today. The importance of human capital development at every level within our enterprises has become even more critical to innovating and creating the competitive advantage required to meet our customer’s heightened expectations in a globally hyperconnected marketplace. Customers and prospects have become much more digitally fluent than they were just one or two years ago and we see this trend continuing to accelerate. This is perhaps most visible via the continued rapid increase in e-commerce as reported by Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks both online and offline spending trends; seasonal shopping from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, 2019, was up 3.4 percent over 2018 while online sales expanded by 18.8 percent during the same period. Use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation and other emerging technologies that underlie and enable these online processes is helping consumers solve their e-commerce problems faster and more conveniently than ever before. As companies continue to respond to dynamic and innovative marketplace forces with greater adoption of
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these technologies, it will require material shifts to their operating models and workforce. As a result, the talent and skills needed to win are shifting as well. According to McKinsey & Co.’s December 2017 report, “Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: Workforce Transitions in a Time of Automation,” by 2030, more than 30 percent of the United States labor market and 375 million workers globally will need to change jobs or upgrade their skills significantly to continue to advance within the workforce. As learning and development professionals, the principal challenge of our practice is recognizing these changing talent and skill requirements within our organizations while leveraging the educational capabilities at our disposal to support them. Further, in a very direct sense, the continued commercial efficacy of our enterprises and their ability to meet customers on their terms with greater speed and efficiency, while at the same time extending American business leadership throughout the 21st century and beyond, will hinge upon our ability to capitalize on this workforce skilling challenge. As in other areas of our profession, innovating and moving beyond traditional human capital development models will be invaluable as we advance our transition as a global economic system to a knowledge- and innovation-based economy. This is where modern apprenticeships can play a big role.
Chief Learning Officer • March 2020 • ChiefLearningOfficer.com 45
