Research Findings Offer Boost for Learning Consultancy Services in Corporate Learning and Development

Wendy Edie, eCom’s Managing Director, explained, “The shift to remote working, allied to the economic challenges from the coronavirus pandemic – coupled with, at least in Europe, Brexit’s economic and political effects – are disrupting traditional worker development plans and programmes.

“The World Economic Forum (WEF)’s ‘The Future of Jobs’ report for 2020 broadly confirmed the findings of its 2018 report but also acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns and related global recession of 2020 have created an uncertain outlook for the labour market and has accelerated the arrival of the ‘future of work’,” she continued.

Among the WEF 2020 report’s findings were that:

• Skills gaps are high, as in-demand skills across jobs change over the next five years.
• Employers expect to offer reskilling and upskilling to over 70% of their employees by 2025.
• Some 94% of business leaders say they expect employees to pick up new skills on-the-job.
• Employees now favour personal development courses, which have seen 88% growth since 2018.

“These findings are in line with what our clients and customers are telling us,” added Wendy.

“To be as agile and flexible as possible in developing and delivering relevant learning programmes, we advocate using learning technologies to help create a culture of learning within organisations. We guide clients in the use of digital solutions, showing them how to make full use of the data resulting from these solutions’ reporting capabilities.

“This data-driven approach creates an effective and impactful platform for managing workforce competence and performance, aligned to the needs of both learners and businesses to create significant business efficiencies and increased productivity.”

According to eCom customers’ preferences – as revealed via eCom’s consultancy arm - the top ten managerial skills (in alphabetical order) currently in demand are similar to, but not the same as, those named in the WEF report. eCom’s customers current preferences are to develop skills in:

• Analytical Thinking and Complex Problem-Solving
• Creating a Culture of Respect and Inclusivity
• Creativity, Originality and Initiative
• Customer Service Essentials
• Cyber Security Essentials for all Employees
• Leadership, Mentoring and Social Influence – developing interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence and the ability to respond to the needs of others to drive productivity.
• Resilience, Stress Tolerance and Flexibility
• Soft Skills for Project Managers
• Thrive with Mental Toughness and Resilience
• Understanding Green Practices at Work

“Challenging times require flexibility and adaptability,” commented Wendy. “Organisations wanting to turn challenges into opportunities should provide their employees with agile training programmes to reskill and upskill these workers.

“Learners need content that’s both tailored to their needs and that can be integrated into their day-to-day work. Identifying and providing this content are just elements of the many helpful services that eCom’s consultants provide.”