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Top 3 talent groups to upskill for organizational transformation
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Plan a meetingDigitalization and AI are growing forces across industries, creating more data-driven, personalized consumer experiences and optimized operations. While these transformations present growth opportunities, companies must ensure that they have the skills and talent to make the most of innovation and execute organizational transformation strategies.
In fact, it's estimated that for every dollar invested in technology, around nine dollars need to be allocated to talent. With a strong upskilling and recruitment strategy in place, organizations will be better prepared to bring new services and value to the market with minimal disruption.
To explore the topic further, download our State of Industry Skills Report.
Why upskilling is critical to organizational transformation
Innovation often leads to a common challenge — businesses struggle to optimize their current talent pool to address not just organizational vulnerabilities, but also opportunities. As a result, industry leaders become reliant on the external market to fill the skill gaps needed for transformation.
At the same time, the new opportunities technology offers can only be scaled by an organization if it has capable leaders to guide organizational change management.
To succeed amongst changing industry trends, senior leadership teams need to invest in talent development, attraction, and reskilling to strengthen their capacity for transformation in the long term.
Discover the three emerging talent groups below that will drive organizational and skills transformation across industries.
Top skills and talent needed for organizational transformation
1. Tech talent
Businesses have a shortage of the most highly sought-after talent in the market — tech talent. However, in the current market, it’s not just tech companies who suffer from a lack of technically skilled talent.
Non-tech companies such as manufacturers and life sciences businesses listed twice as many tech jobs since the end of 2022. This comes down to two reasons:
- Companies are automating operations
- Tech is changing the outlook on customer service models.
Tech talent will revamp companies’ operations
Companies in the transport and manufacturing sector are automating manual jobs to increase efficiency, reliability, and sustainability in supply chains. But as AI adoption grows, companies will also expand their spending on operations, smart factories, and renewable energies. This will create new skill gaps in their supply chain pipeline and drive demand for highly skilled talent.
However, despite companies looking to expand and innovate their supply chains, only 28% rate themselves as digitally advanced. That means technology and AI transformation will not only demand a change of skills but also a talent pool capable of filling new data-driven and tech roles.
Companies outside of the tech industry will need pipelines in place to attract and develop talent with key skills in data analysis, cloud computing and AI for organizational transformation.
New customer service models need data expertise to manage complexity
Meanwhile, digital transformation has enabled banking, pharma and retail businesses to create powerful omnichannel brands that build consumer loyalty and drive sales. And the data backs this up. Consumers engaging with an omnichannel brand shop 1.7 times more than single-channel shoppers (i.e., a brand with only an in-store option).
At the same time, with an abundance of products and options to choose from online, in-store, and on social media, consumers are becoming increasingly selective. With so many touchpoints, new strategies are needed to ensure teams have the right data and tech skills to attract and retain customers across channels.
2. Leaders
With tech and skilled talent in high demand, leaders today must find ways to foster a digital culture and workplace that offers career mobility into leadership positions and encourages innovation.
However, poor leadership skills are damaging talent’s confidence in their managers.
HR and learning and development (L&D) leaders must prioritize a talent management strategy and succession planning that upskills leaders to create high-performing and engaged teams.
Structured global academies help global companies cultivate leadership skills, offer employees digital training and create career paths into critical management and C-level roles.
This not only allows companies to address labor shortages and increase employee retention, but it also makes them less reliant on acquiring third-party technical specialists to execute their organizational transformation.
No matter the sector, all leaders will need to continuously innovate their services and develop their leadership pipeline, customer communication, and resilience skills to optimize for change and gain market share.
3. Customer service teams
As technology offers more personalized services across sectors, customer service teams will need to learn new skills to keep up. Additionally, more customer touchpoints and closer relationships will demand greater emotional intelligence as well as problem-solving and inquiry skills to comply with new regulations and display the impact of products.
The banking industry is a great example: Fintechs are changing the landscape of traditional banking, capturing younger customers with more customized services and faster online payments. To stay competitive, employees across traditional banks will need to learn new interaction skills to consult customers in online and offline settings.
Therefore, L&D leaders should develop a strong succession plan that encourages employees to become subject matter experts and allows them to grow into new roles and niche client needs. As market demands continue to shift and evolve, this will help companies ensure they have the right mix of skills to gain clients’ trust in solutions.
Transformation in action: How IKEA reskilled customer service teams to embrace AI
One retailer that has embraced this approach is IKEA. They transformed their customer service and sales strategy in 2021 to embrace the impact of technology with a balance of reskilling solutions and new business areas. They introduced an AI bot named Billie — designed to address routine customer inquiries. Many initially expected that this would lead to the replacement of entire customer service teams, yet the opposite was true.
Instead, IKEA reskilled 8,500 call center staff to become interior designers. This generated billions of euros, and their reskilled customer service teams are now specialized in more creative work, ensuring valuable knowledge is not lost. In essence, they proved that HR and L&D leaders who can reskill their teams and optimize technology to develop new business areas will find success in digital transformation.
Digital transformation and talent management must align in one transformation strategy
The success of an organization will now be defined by its ability to capitalize on innovation. As digital transformation advances industry operations and procedures, companies must match the scale of organizational change with talent upskilling.
Companies that optimize internal operations to personalize consumer experiences, embrace strategic talent solutions, and upskill internally across their talent pipeline, will stand out in a competitive market and gain a stronger foothold in their industry.
Want to learn more about the skills industries need to stay competitive? Download our State of Industry Skills Report.
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About Lepaya
Lepaya is a provider of Power Skills training that combines online and offline learning. Founded by René Janssen and Peter Kuperus in 2018 with the perspective that the right training, at the right time, focused on the right skill, makes organizations more productive. Lepaya has trained thousands of employees.
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Your leadership style is: Democratic
DESCRIPTION: Monkeys have fascinating, complex social structures and hierarchies that involve decision-making, communication, and conflict resolution. Macaques, for instance, are known for their ‘majority first’ approach when deciding where to forage for food. They come up with different suggestions, reach a consensus, and then follow the monkey with the most followers: regardless of its age or status. This is exemplary of a democratic leadership style. Democratic leaders allow everybody’s voice to be heard. They consider the ideas and insights of their team members, giving them the chance to show their strengths and share their knowledge. This leadership style drives participation, teamwork, and personal accountability, leading to higher levels of employee engagement, retention, and workplace satisfaction, as people feel empowered and valued.
STRENGHTS: You are Creative, Stimulating, Innovative, Empowering, Collaborative, and Energetic.
CHALLENGES: When you’re a democratic leader, you might be faced with a risk of inefficiency as it takes longer to come to a mutual consensus. Also, this popular leadership style slightly suffers from the new, hybrid workplace because of the lack of spontaneous encounters at the office.
WORKS WELL IN: Startups, Scale-ups, the Creative Industry & Knowledge-based Industries
RECOMMENDATION: Lepaya training to develop your leadership skills: Collaboration & Influence, Storytelling, Analytical Thinking
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Your leadership style is: Coaching
DESCRIPTION: When you look at horses in the wild, you’ll see that the lead mare will guide the others in a certain direction and sets the pace. If a younger horse compromises the safety of the herd or wanders off, it will be gently and patiently corrected by the mature horses, and taught what type of behavior is preferable. Providing guidance, sharing constructive feedback, helping others learn from their mistakes and improve their skills: these are all typical traits of a coaching leader. Coaching leaders believe in identifying and nurturing the individual strengths of employees, so they can develop and achieve their true potential and contribute to the success and unity of the team. These leaders are all about mutual respect, long-term individual growth, compassion, and two-way communication.
STRENGHTS: You are Supportive, Patient, Loyal, Authentic, Compassionate, Reliable, Inclusive.
CHALLENGES: Coaching leaders aim for long-term success instead of quick wins. That requires a lot of commitment and energy, and it can take a long time to see results. Another challenge for you as a coaching leader is that you might focus on individual development rather than team goals, and you tend to become too involved in day-to-day tasks and micro-management.
WORKS WELL IN: Consulting, Sales & Marketing, Education
RECOMMENDATION:Lepaya training to develop your leadership style: Resilience, Analytical Thinking and Taking Ownership
Do you want to upskill your team? Request a FREE TEAM SCAN!
Your leadership style is: Transformational
DESCRIPTION: The eagle is known for its ability to soar high above the landscape, its sharp vision, and clear focus that allows it to spot prey from great distances. This powerful bird nurtures its young carefully, teaching them the skills they need before they spread their wings and leave their nest. This imagery is often used to represent the transformational leader's ability to see the big picture and inspire others to work toward the organization's goals. One of the other key aspects of transformational leadership is that it emphasizes the importance of empowering others to be successful in their own right, allowing their teams to perform beyond expectations. They usually create an inspiring and motivational atmosphere, providing individual support and challenging their team to always reach for the sky.
STRENGHTS: You are Confident, Bold, Fearless, Analytical, Inspiring, Visionary.
CHALLENGES: You can be dominant and tend to concentrate on the bigger picture which can lead to a lack of focus on details. Being a high-flier, you set your own standards high. However, you can also be demanding for your team. Be careful not to create a high-pressure work environment, because that can lead to employees feeling like they can't keep up.
WORKS WELL IN: Agile companies that require thinking outside the box and a shared vision, like start-ups, the tech industry, design & media
RECOMMENDATION: Lepaya training to develop your leadership style: Empowering Leadership, Collaboration & Influence, Diversity & Inclusion
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Your leadership style is: Servant
DESCRIPTION: Elephants are highly intelligent and social creatures. They live in tight-knit family groups that rely on communication and cooperation. The image of the matriarch leading the herd to find water and food is a great metaphor for managers who like to lead by example without putting their personal ambitions first. This is common to the servant leadership style. Here, your primary role as a leader is to serve your team members by empowering them, supporting their growth and development, and creating a healthy and safe work environment. A servant leader emphasizes collaboration and inclusiveness and seeks to create a culture of trust, empathy, and respect. With their calm and steady demeanor, they focus on building solid relationships with their team, listening to their needs and concerns, and working together in an emotionally intelligent way to achieve shared goals.
STRENGHTS: You are Understanding, Calm, Determined, Responsible, Committed, and like to lead by example.
CHALLENGES: As a servant leader, you’re sometimes so focused on the well-being of others that you tend to lose sight of your own needs and responsibilities. This can ultimately lead to stress and can slow down decision-making processes. Also, you might find it difficult to confront others and hold them accountable for their actions.
WORKS WELL IN: Service industry & non-profit organizations
RECOMMENDATION: Lepaya training to develop your leadership style: Resilience, Storytelling, Taking Ownership
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Your leadership style is: Affiliative
DESCRIPTION: Dogs are known for their loyalty, honesty, and their ability to provide emotional support. They are usually outgoing and full of energy. You’ll find that these characteristics are similar to those of an affiliative leader. The main goal of these types of leaders is to create a company culture that is positive and dynamic. It’s a people-first approach that especially younger generations relate to, as it highly values happiness, purpose, and the sense of belonging to a tribe at work. These leaders celebrate success with their teams and encourage creative thinking. As an affiliative leader, you like to foster a culture of teamwork and inclusiveness. You are open in your communication and aim to create an environment in which everyone feels valued, respected, and supported. You also value personal growth and development, and encourage your team to take ownership of their own career paths.
STRENGHTS: You are Flexible, Calm, Positive, Dynamic, Empathic, Inclusive and Trustworthy.
CHALLENGES: As you highly value a positive and harmonious atmosphere within your team, tackling complex situations can become a problem if you focus too much on avoiding conflicts and negative feedback. This might reduce productivity, lead to underperformance, and losing sight of the organizational goals and objectives.
WORKS WELL IN: Service-oriented industries like hospitality, healthcare, retail, banks & insurance companies
RECOMMENDATION: Lepaya training to develop your leadership style: Taking Ownership, Collaboration & Influence, Resilience
Do you want to upskill your team? Request a FREE TEAM SCAN!