Limited time offer: 30% off all memberships
Upskill and don’t be left behind. Get unlimited access to management and performance coaching whenever and wherever you need it. Get 30% off all memberships. Try it free for 7 days when you choose a Monthly membership.

Offer ends September 29.
Get 30% off
Limited time offer: 30% off all memberships
Upskill and don’t be left behind. Get unlimited access to management and performance coaching whenever and wherever you need it. Get 30% off all memberships. Try it free for 7 days when you choose a Monthly membership.

Offer ends September 29.
Get 30% off
MAIN MENU

Sign-up to our newsletter

Subscribing to the Mind Tools newsletter will keep you up-to-date with our latest updates and newest resources.

Close
Working on it...
Successfully subscribed to the newsletter
Sorry, something went wrong
December 19, 2016

It's Just the Economy, Stupid!

Keith Jackson

, ,

Share this post:

We've highlighted how organizations are suffering because their senior leaders are too slow, or too unwilling, to drive innovation. Research showed that they're failing to use technology to achieve a competitive advantage and to become winners in the digital economy.

But such is the pace of change of technological development that now, just a few months later, the term digital economy is already considered "old hat" in some quarters. Yet alarm bells are still ringing about our inability to keep pace with the rate of change, as individuals, organizations, industries, and even entire economies.

Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental agency that aims to promote economic and social wellbeing around the world, has warned that there is a widening gap between technological advances and the skills needed for the workplace.

He said, "Technology is racing ahead of the skills people have. This is the challenge of our times. There is no longer a digital economy, there is the economy."

Schleicher argues that governments, organizations and individuals need to invest in "fostering lifelong skills" and "making lifelong learning a reality."

But technological development is nothing new – we have lived with it since the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th Centuries. So, why do we have to worry about it now? And what does it mean for workplace learning, managers and team members?

"We Have To Invest In People"

According to the OECD, it’s the increasing pace of change that is new, and that is rendering traditional learning almost obsolete. As Schleicher points out, it was only 10 years ago that "we didn’t have the iPhone®, Google Maps® or digital printing."

He warns that, as a manager, chances are that you are – or soon will be – in charge of a team that works harder than it ever has, but with declining levels of productivity. And without continuous relevant training and learning, graduates will find that they don’t have the skills that workplaces need, and employers will find it harder to find people with the skills that they need.

But Schleicher believes that the workplace can be one of the best places to learn. He said that integrating the world of work and the world of learning should be a priority for economies. He describes the workplace as "an amazing opportunity to learn."

The challenge for organizations and employees is to take ownership of their learning. The rewards for doing are considerable, and the price of not meeting the hanging demands for skills is daunting. The OECD estimates that people with the skills that employers want are three times as likely to earn a good wage than those struggling to acquire the learning they need. But outside some northern European countries such as Sweden, Finland and Denmark, and also Vietnam and China, a lack of investment in lifetime learning is damaging many societies.

Schleicher said, "We do not have another choice. If we just focus on institutionalized learning we will fail. We have to invest in people. We have to shift toward making lifelong learning a reality."

Share this post:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Limited time offer: 30% off all memberships

Upskill and don’t be left behind. Get unlimited access to management and performance coaching whenever and wherever you need it. Get 30% off all memberships. Try it free for 7 days when you choose a Monthly membership. Offer ends September 29.
Get 30% off

You may also like...

July 3, 2023

Deadlines and Promises – a Mind Tools Coaches' Blog

"I'd overcommitted myself – only to find I couldn’t possibly deliver on everything I’d promised. I had no choice but to communicate the issue in the best way I could."

,

June 19, 2023

Taking Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Into Consideration at Work 

Have you ever tried to concentrate on a mentally taxing task when your belly is empty and sending you urgent signals to, "Please eat now!"? I know that happened a lot to me when I was young, and followed an endless series of diets. Food is one of our most basic needs – along with […]

, , ,

June 8, 2023

5 Ways to Support Your LGBTQ+ Colleagues

One of the few spaces that can have real impact in improving LGBTQ+ equality is the workplace. But it takes effort; and it's not only up to our LGBTQ+ colleagues. It's up to the rest of us, too.

,

© Mind Tools Ltd 2023. All rights reserved. "Mind Tools" is a registered trademark of Mind Tools Ltd.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram