The information age and creating a growth mindset in the workforce
At a glance
Terms such as the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ and ‘Information Age’ are increasingly commonplace as phrases that represent the exponential changes to the way we live and work. Driven by new technologies and insights (derived through data), we find innovative and efficient ways of doing things and adopt them as ‘normal’, continuously changing the landscape we live in and pushing the boundaries of innovation. As exciting as the change is, it is important to understand the impacts and resultant demands on the workforce, in particular with regards to required skillsets - specifically, the digital skills gap.
What is the effect of change on the workforce?
There is a misconception that the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ will result in unemployment. In reality, advancements lead to an increased productivity which affords us the time to make further improvements and roles for ourselves. The challenge is not so much in creating new jobs, but being sufficiently qualified to obtain those jobs that can support personal growth and satisfaction. For society, this is crucial in enabling us to continue to prosper from technological improvements.
The number of middle-skill jobs1 has been decreasing since the beginning of the Information Age. The drivers behind this are not surprising.
The drivers behind this are not surprising. These roles tend to use well-understood rules and processes that can be readily automated as discussed by MIT professor of economics, David Autor. The high-level impact of this trend is employment polarisation and an increasingly diverging society between those in high- and low-paid roles.
“The Digital Edge: Middle-skill workers and careers” investigates this trend in more detail and notes that these jobs are divided by those that require digital capability and those that do not. Unsurprisingly, the number of jobs is growing faster for the former, with higher pay and more opportunity for career development.
Advances in technology and the use of data to improve performance and capability will not make people irrelevant, rather, it is likely to increase the cognitive demand to understand and use the outputs to make effective change.
How can we close the gap?
One word, investment. Investment in education is key to closing the digital skills gap for the middle-skilled, where the terms investment and education carry significant if not equal weight. There are different methods that can be used here, but the balance of guided education, online self-learning and varied on-the job experience is widely recognised as the best approach.
When guidance comes from companies to support the direction of an individual’s learning and they provide opportunities to exercise the skills learnt or develop them on the job, we have a win-win situation for all. The direction should be based on the strategic intent of the company, targeted towards individuals and built on the latent talent of those individuals. When people can apply what they learn to their day job they experience the feeling of making a genuine impact and gain an enhanced interest in what they are doing. In turn, companies benefit from enhanced capability and a more engaged and driven workforce.
The prevailing benefit for organisations that are committed to employee education and are investing the time and effort to get it right, is a high rate of growth in required skillsets and inevitably success in achieving both individual and organisational objectives.
What are the greatest benefits to closing the gap?
By upskilling ourselves and our workforce for the likely tasks ahead, organisations can more readily achieve their objectives and as a collective we can continue to expand human capability. This also fosters and encourages a growth mind-set – people have the confidence, willing and desire to continuously learn and improve their skillset. This is a significantly positive and fundamental shift in psychology, particularly for middle-skilled workers who may see the benefit of digital-skills but have been unable to take advantage of them.
People have shown themselves that, with some support, they can adapt to the changes in the world and can position themselves to grow with it, or better yet, shape it. Perhaps most importantly for companies, closing the gap is helping to empower people and strengthen their engagement with the business.
Looking at the bigger picture, establishing a growth mind-set culture could have a significant impact on our society. It supports both human advancement, reducing the risk of employment polarisation and maintaining or improving quality of life, and possibly … happiness.
1. Those that typically require less than a bachelor’s degree whilst paying a living wage