Upskilling And Reskilling Workers In A Global Business

Professional and personal development is a prerequisite to motivating and retaining talented employees, and it’s therefore vital to business success. So how do we go about it? Louise Gennis, VP Talent Management Acquisition, Learning & Development and Nicki Hay, VP HR Global Functions and Chief Development Office – DHL Supply Chain, explain their approach.

Even back in 2017 – which seems an awfully long time ago now – McKinsey estimated that as many as 375 million people (or, to put it another way, 14 percent of the global workforce) would need to learn new skills or switch jobs as a result of the way technologies such as AI and automation are transforming the workplace. More recently, the management consultancy has found that 87% of businesses are concerned by skills shortages.

According to a more recent report by McKinsey: “The coronavirus pandemic has made this question more urgent. Workers across industries must figure out how they can adapt to rapidly changing conditions, and companies have to learn how to match those workers to new roles and activities. This dynamic is about more than remote working – or the role of automation and AI. It’s about how leaders can reskill and upskill the workforce to deliver new business models in the post-pandemic era.”