Skills Gap = Foresight Gap

A recent survey by the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) asked organizations to identify and rank the reasons why there is a skills gap in their organization (1).  Almost all the respondents cited reasons that are actually within their control, including:

• Training investment cuts and/or lack of commitment by senior leaders to employee learning and development.
• Lack of skilled talent in one or more of the company’s lines of business.
• Skills of the current workforce do not match changes in company strategy, goals, markets, or business models.

Why are companies sitting on their backsides waiting for these issues to magically resolve themselves when solutions are right at their fingertips? And what will they lose while they wait? In my role in professional education in the chemical sector I’ve had a ringside seat.  

In the past, an overwhelming majority of our customers would say that if they felt the need for training, the money would be found.  That’s the language they used.  Training didn’t require an elaborate, months-long approval process. Companies trusted their managers to develop the workforce responsibly.  Especially in science, where innovation is key, where exposure to a wide variety of ideas creates advances, where team-based projects are the norm, and where technology and conceptual advancements are happening at a rapid pace, ongoing training was seen as essential.

Economic pressures have changed all of that. Training and travel was drastically cut in 2008 in response to the great recession; the long-term delay in restoring that culture of lifelong learning and internally supported training has completely changed the atmosphere in most of the chemical sector.  Many of our former customers have disappeared entirely from our radar screen because external training is no longer even discussed.  Managers who were previously rarely questioned about the value or return on investment of their training decisions, and therefore have little skills on how to do so, aren’t even willing to ask for training.  The scrutiny and hassle just isn’t worth it.

What is the prospect for the future of the chemical industry when learning is seen as too much of a hassle to bother with?  What happens to the company that maintains only its current skill level and doesn’t advance? 

I’ll acknowledge that I’m biased about the value and importance of training. I’ve worked in this field my whole life and I’ve seen the impact it can have.  My contention is that this significant cultural shift has created an awesome opportunity for smart companies to grab hold of and ride to success.  

Any company making a significant and strategic investment in employee development while its competitors restrain and constrict their employees is well-positioned to attract and retain better talent, which sets up just the right environment for innovation and high productivity. That investment is a powerful lever for a company to use to support its employees desires to succeed, to come up with the next big thing or mundane-but-valuable process improvement.   

Simultaneously, technology advancements have made training and educational opportunities for professionals more diverse, more flexible, and more applicable than ever before.  Professionals can gain access to experts from any part of the world and in multiple industries at once.  

These conditions mean that the risk for this investment is lower, and the reward can be infinitely greater for the company that has the foresight and courage to realize it.  

The bottom line is this: training done right provides a return that far exceeds the original investment. The ROI is clearly documented. Why some companies don’t see that and act on it is a mystery.