Home > News > April 2005 > 25-Apr-2005

Growing skills gaps bring new challenges for organisations, says ASTD

Many businesses find themselves ill-equipped to grow because the skills required to meet demand for growth are in short supply in their organisations. Whether addressing a skills gap or just a lack of capability, training and learning professionals are increasingly asked to play a key role in helping their organisations succeed.

That's the view of Tony Bingham, President and CEO of the American Society of Training & Development (ASTD), who discusses this further in the April issue of the Society’s Training + Development (T+D) magazine.

In the article "Relevance²" Bingham says that the skills gap problem is far-reaching, and there isn’t much time to fix it.

According to a recent ASTD poll of 300 respondents, 66 percent say there is a skills gap in their organisations right now and almost 20 percent say there will be one within the next year. The ASTD says the reason for the skills gap is less about retirement, attrition, or increased use of technology - 67 percent of respondents indicate that changes in the organisation or changing job requirements are the source of the looming gap.

Bingham notes that many companies are aware of the need to “right-skill” or redevelop the skills of their workforce, but they don’t know what to do about it. According to the article, "A survey of 300 finance, operations, and HR executives by Convergys in 2004 found that nearly two-thirds of them admitted to an increasing demand for a flexible workforce. Despite that awareness, the research showed that many companies can’t retain key talent, don’t have methods in place to identify skilled employees, and aren’t providing enough training and development for their most strategic employees."

Training and learning professionals will be expected to take the lead in bridging the skills gap … if they can prove their value and help business leaders develop fully engaged employees. Bingham states, "The issue of relevance has plagued the training profession for decades. Caught between management’s demand to meet business needs and a strong concern for the people in organisations, the training function has long struggled to prove its value … the role of the training and learning professional is critically relevant. The challenge will be delivering on that upgraded expectation."

So, what is the key to success? Bingham says business acumen. "Training and learning professionals who don’t develop business skills and organisational knowledge are destined to be rolled over. Like any key player in the enterprise, the learning professional must demonstrate a high level of contribution by clearly articulating his or her contribution to innovation, growth, and transformation."

External link

The full article, "Relevance²" from the April issue of T+D magazine, can be found at www.store.astd.org. The PDF file of the article is free for ASTD members while non-members may purchase the article for US$10.

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