India – Skillsoft, a leader in digital learning, training, and talent solutions to help organizations unleash their edge, today released Lean into Learning: 2020 Annual Learning Report. Following a year that brought a pandemic, an uncertain global economy, and worldwide social reform, the report illustrates the long-overdue social, cultural, and organizational change that resulted, and the critical role of learning in building a future-fit, resilient workforce.
As the workforce transitioned to operating remotely, consumption of learning content increased exponentially, and new topics emerged as not just popular but mission critical. Widespread training was needed to help workers pivot to the skills required to collaborate in a virtual world. At the forefront was the development of “power skills,” including agility, communication, resiliency, and adaptability. Necessary and applicable across industries, departments, and disciplines, power skills equip individuals and organizations to be successful in challenging times.
- 552 percent growth in Encouraging Team Communication and Collaboration
- 652 percent growth in Agile Software Development
- 367 percent overall global increase in diversity, equity, and inclusion content accessed
- 407 percent Trust Building Through Effective Communication
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) courses saw a surge across industries and disciplines, illustrated by a 367 percent overall global increase in diversity content accessed on the platform. Between May and June, completion of a course on Understanding Unconscious Bias grew by 1200 percent. The future of work requires real diversity, true equity, and meaningful inclusion. A Gartner study on Diversity and Inclusion Build High-Performance Teams predicts that, “through 2022, 75 percent of organizations with frontline decision-making teams reflecting a diverse and inclusive culture will exceed their financial targets”*. As the business world continues to expand through digital transformation and globalization, products, and solutions must address the needs of a wide variety of people.
“This year has been transformational in so many ways, galvanizing our collective mission to succeed, grow, and persist,” said Ron Hovsepian, executive chairman, Skillsoft. “Work has changed irrevocably, and building a truly future-fit, resilient workforce requires access to the tools needed to learn and achieve. We envision a world where learning is democratized, establishing an engaged, active, and optimistic workforce prepared to face the challenges of the future.”
The confluence of extreme circumstances accelerated digital transformation. A recent McKinsey Global Survey of executives found that organizations have accelerated the digitization of internal operations by three to four years while their digital product offerings have accelerated by seven years**. For many organizations, this means new investments in technology, changes in staffing, distribution, sales, or service. In fact, 45 percent of organizations are planning to increase tech investment. As organizations develop teams to deal with increasingly frequent change, agility is a priority. Since January, there has been a 652 percent increase in Agile software development course completions, and five of the top 15 Skillsoft digital badges are focused on the topic.
“Post-pandemic, the world won’t go back to business as usual. More than 50 percent of organizations agree that work has permanently changed,” continued Hovsepian. “In the U.S., 80 percent of workers want at least one COVID-19 policy adopted permanently, such as flexible hours and remote work. Data also indicates rising expectations for organizations to afford greater autonomy while concurrently investing in holistic growth.”
