What is the digital talent gap?
According to a study done by Capgemini Consulting in conjunction with MIT Center for Digital Business, they uncovered some staggering stats that will help us understand the phenomenon.
- Over 90% of companies lack digital skills
- 77% of companies considered ‘missing digital skills’ as a key hurdle to digital transformation
- 87% of companies believe a digital transformation is a competitive opportunity
- Only 47% of companies are investing in developing digital skills
- Only 4% of companies are ensuring their training efforts are aligned with their overall digital strategy
- Companies are spending no more than 20% of their training budget on digital
- Only 30% of organizations mentioned HR as being actively involved in skills development
Companies across the globe felt the biggest holes in digital skill sets across their organization in the following areas: social media, mobile, internal social networks, process automation and analysis.
According to the same 2013 study, the below skills are most relevant for the digital age:
- Big data analytics
- Social media
- Mobile devices
- Cloud
To get a bit more granular, skills in this area range from light tech to heavy tech-centric skills. Light tech skills in the digital age include things like social media management, brand building online, online community management, virtual (webinar, presentation, etc.) facilitation, writing for different digital mediums, marketing automation tools management, customer service and public relations. Heavy tech skills in the digital age include things like user interface design, mobile device management, mobile device security, data analysis, app management and design, and much more.
The second half of the puzzle lies in corporations needs to match tech skills with business acumen. The true value of digital skills are born when they are combined with a deep understanding of the business. This is leading to an increased need for employees who have both technical skills plus business and leadership abilities.
So - what can companies do to ‘plug the skills gap?’
Let’s first take a look at what some companies are currently doing. Google partnered with P&G to implement an employee exchange program to help teach their employees how to sell things online. They focused on digital and search marketing to help bring their e-commerce into the 21st century. Nike partnered with Techstars in an incubator program to create new products.
Upskilling employees is an ideal way to empower those who already know your business, with the digital skills needed to close the gap in your organization.
And, this upskilling does not need to be ‘Google-sized.’ Small and medium sized business have options. There are ways to invest in current employees that don’t require you to be P&G or Nike.
Organizations, like ours - offer affordable options for digital and online training for companies of all sizes. We’ve been training teams since 2007 and have supported corporate teams as large as 10,000 employees, and as small as 10. We offer fully customized eLearning programs with the added benefit of leveraging over 400 + hours of existing high quality content taught by Digital Marketing thought leaders, authors, and leading practitioners.
We begin with an assessment to test employee’s digital knowledge to help us build a program to fill your skills gap and augment your employee strengths. We’ll then help design a custom based learning pathway comprised of classes that fit your organization's’ particular skill(s) gap. We also offer LMS integration, marketing support, reporting dashboards, and robust user role access to support any size organization.
We’d love to help you empower your team. Visit our Corporate Training Page or send us an inquiry.