Dinette Koolhaas is SVP and president at Kelly International.
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One of the foremost (albeit least talked about) challenges for enterprise leaders today is creating workforce capability. While workforce agility, diversity and inclusivity initiatives, and retention challenges such as “quiet quitting” have seemingly made it into the cultural zeitgeist, workforce capability remains a somewhat misunderstood challenge—after all, don’t we expect our employees to be capable of doing their jobs?
The misunderstanding lies in the fact that workforce capability is inherently dynamic. Broadly, the term refers to the collective skills, knowledge and abilities of an organization's employees, encompassing not only their current competencies but also their potential to develop future skills that will allow them to adapt to challenges and seize new opportunities. A capable workforce is essential for adapting to market changes, driving innovation and achieving strategic objectives, and in today's rapidly evolving business landscape, that capability is a critical determinant of organizational success.
A Misalignment Of Need And Action
Workforce capability is therefore top of mind for enterprise leaders. In fact, a UK-based HR survey demonstrated that the challenge was the second most important aspect of people management in 2023 among business-owning SMEs. Survey respondents reported difficulties finding employees with the skills and resources they needed, particularly as those skills are constantly evolving; as a result, many were relying on recruiting overseas.
Our own research has shown that, despite awareness of changing skill requirements, many companies struggle to keep up: While half of the executives we surveyed recognize that the skills needed by their organization are set to change dramatically, only 48% viewed addressing these gaps as a priority, and over a quarter (26%) suggested that they did not have a clear view of either the skills they have now or those they are likely to need in future.
Moreover, while around three-quarters of resilience leaders reported implementing accelerated training programs or secondment programs to quickly upskill talent, only 55% of firms overall reported having done so, with close to half of employees surveyed (41%) reporting that “it is not easy to access development opportunities” to help them in their current roles. This disconnect highlights a critical area for improvement in workforce capability strategies, with the strong implication that many organizations need to improve investment in talent development initiatives.
Assessing And Addressing Capability Gaps
Businesses can boost workforce capability by assessing current gaps, listening to employees, deploying digital technologies and getting serious about talent development—all of which will go a long way towards enabling them to obtain the workforce needed to seize new opportunities and better withstand disruption. We recommend taking concrete steps to achieve these ends:
1. Assess your current level of workforce resilience.
The essential foundation for workforce resilience is increasing awareness and visibility of the talent you have across the business. This type of organizational self-assessment is a prerequisite for identifying skills gaps, enabling you to shift talent to where it’s most needed and ultimately obtaining the kinds of workforce capabilities that are necessary to seize opportunities and maintain competitive advantage.
2. Reset the conversation with employees.
Our dual surveys highlight a disconnect between what executives believe their organizations are doing for employees and what those organizations are actually doing for employees—for instance, around supporting work-life balance and mental health. Having come through the crisis years of the pandemic, businesses need to reset the conversation with employees and start listening to their responses. They need to find and utilize every available channel of communication and be willing to hear what truly matters to employees today. Then, they need to act accordingly.
3. Deploy digital technology.
Technology has the potential to radically reshape the whole employment experience, especially hiring. No industry nor any individual business will remain untouched by digital transformation in the next decade. Talent, HR and other people-management teams need to dedicate themselves to understanding the power of emerging technology, including AI and machine learning, to support their business’s goals. Organizations should also work with technology partners where needed to enhance their ability to map the talent pool available (keeping diversity at the forefront of these assessments); these partnerships should enhance their ability to access contingent talent at speed, matching the business’s evolving needs.
4. Build a culture of continuous talent development.
Businesses are struggling to source the talent they need to meet their objectives. Enhancing the organization’s recruitment capability is often the most obvious solution, but developing existing talent within the organization is equally (if not more) important, particularly when competition for talent remains fierce, and the market, tight. Organizations need to reassess their training and development strategies and examine whether they are delivering the step-change needed to upskill talent via learning and development activities that are aligned with the business’s likely needs over the next five years. They should also re-think the format for all learning and development activities, harnessing technology to ensure that programs reach diverse employees, thus embedding diversity in the organization’s DNA.
A Shared Mission
While efforts to ensure workforce capability must primarily be directed by the organization itself, the practical work of doing so is ultimately shared between employers and their employees. It is incumbent upon the employers to determine their needs, and then provide resources, training and a supportive environment for skill development, be it upskilling or reskilling. They must be mindful about listening to the needs of their employees, as far as hearing their explanations of what skills could enable them to work better and be happier, and they must be conscious about valuing the talent they have.
Employees should take initiative to seek out and engage in learning opportunities and opportunities to apply new skills, both in ways that will add value to their work today and with an eye towards remaining professionally relevant in years to come. They must be adaptable, flexible and curious—traits that will not only serve them in their current roles, but also in the evolving business and technological landscapes of our future.
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