edX was recently named a Core Challenger in the Fosway 9-Grid™ for digital learning by the Fosway Group, Europe’s leading HR industry analyst. The Core Challenger designation signals a robust core suite, a strong reputation for customer advocacy, and strong regional performance. Reinette McLean, Senior Director of Strategy and Product Marketing for edX Enterprise, spoke with us about what this distinction means for the company, the value of cohort-based learning, and more.  

Can you explain the importance of edX being identified as a ‘Core Challenger’ in Fosway Group’s latest 9-Grid™ report?

Being recognized as a Core Challenger by Fosway reflects our robust position in the digital learning landscape, particularly due to our diverse catalog of credential-granting programs. 

This recognition really highlights the strength of our offerings — specifically, our ability to deliver both cohort-based and self-paced learning experiences that resonate with the needs of today’s workforce. Being named a Core Challenger not only validates our current strategy but also positions us well for future growth.

The modern workplace is evolving rapidly. How does edX help companies and employees adapt to these changes?

In a world of constant change, organizations are only as adaptable as their people — and the skills they bring. Today, nearly half of learning and talent development professionals report a skills crisis, with 49% saying, “My executives are concerned that employees do not have the right skills to execute our business strategy.”

Employees feel this gap too. But what motivates them to learn isn’t just skill-building — it’s career progress. When employees don’t see a path forward, they disengage or leave, taking their skills elsewhere.

That’s where edX comes in. We bridge the gap between the skills businesses need to stay competitive and the skills employees need to grow in their careers. Millions of working professionals around the world use our platform to advance their careers through our credentialed, career-relevant programs — from technical skills to leadership training — all designed to align personal growth with business needs.

This powerful link between learning and career development is what drives adaptability and ensures that when employees see progress, companies see results. 

How does edX’s approach to credentialed learning programs balance the needs of both businesses and their employees?

The first rule of L&D: align with business strategy and needs! So the skills needed by the business are going to guide the organization’s learning and content strategy. The challenge, though, is that it’s equally important that initiatives support employees’ aspirations and needs. edX aims to serve both the business and the learner by providing deeper, more intentional learning that awards learners with certificates validating their newly gained skills from some of the most notable institutions. Plenty of other generic, short-form content libraries provide materials that might check the boxes. But the question is: do employees actually gain skills and confidence in their new knowledge after they’ve gone through those courses and collected badges?  

We believe we’ve struck the right balance here: We’re helping businesses meet their needs with the right content and, at the same time, providing learners with deeper, more intentional learning experiences. Those experiences give learners the chance to validate their new skills by earning credentials from some of the most notable institutions on the planet. It’s a win-win scenario for employers and employees alike.

Can you share an example that illustrates how edX’s solutions have made a positive impact within a company?

A great example is our collaboration with Infineon Technologies and the Technical University of Munich. By aligning our learning solutions with Infineon’s critical business needs — specifically, in high-stakes manufacturing environments — we’ve been able to provide targeted education that supports both operational excellence and employee career growth. The Lean Six Sigma certification, for example, not only maintains high-quality standards but also equips employees with credentials that have long-term career value. 

Can you talk about why cohort-based learning is so important to both learners and companies?

Cohort-based learning is more than just delivering content; it’s about creating rich, interactive learning experiences that drive real engagement. They’re learning from subject matter experts and faculty, alongside other professionals in their field. Students aren’t just watching videos; they’re actively engaging in class discussions, participating in Q&As during live sessions, and getting personalized feedback from instructors. That way, we’re not just facilitating information transfer; we’re facilitating actual growth. And this makes for a better experience for everyone involved. 

Our person-centered approach is especially vital in the age of AI. While AI-driven content creation has its place, going from knowledge to capabilities happens when we engage with experts, collaborate with professionals from diverse industries, and apply knowledge to real-world business contexts. It’s in these human interactions—discussions that connect theory to practice, mentorship that shapes future leaders, and perspectives that challenge our thinking—that the most valuable insights and learning occur. That’s why we believe meaningful, people-centered learning isn’t just relevant—it’s more valuable than ever.

Is there an example that comes to mind when you think about how edX is facilitating  growth?

A great example is Hydro’s use of edX’s Oxford Leading Sustainable Corporations Programme. This initiative was specifically designed to align with the busy work schedules of employees by extending it from 6 to 12 weeks, to ensure deep immersion and skill acquisition, and to align with Hydro’s strategic sustainability goals.

The program curriculum is designed to take an executive-level perspective on business sustainability. Students learned how to integrate environmental, social, and corporate governance factors into their business practices. 

Not only was the student cohort enthusiastic about the initiative, but this program also tied into multiple pillars and goals the company had set toward sustainability and access to quality education. All of this goes to show that when classes are designed with both learners and company objectives in mind, everyone wins. 

How can companies integrate edX’s solutions into their learning strategies?

We love having these conversations with companies who are looking to adapt their learning strategies. We specialize in learning solutions that help clients develop their leaders, drive org-wide transformation initiatives at scale, and stay competitive in their industries. By integrating our credentialed courses into their L&D strategies, organizations can address their specific business challenges and support employee development at the same time. This dual benefit is what makes our offerings so unique and so impactful. 

To learn how edX can enhance your learning strategies through accredited courses, reach out to our team.

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edX surveyed 1,600 executives and professionals about their expectations for learning and development on the job

The arrival of advanced generative AI, and now ChatGPT, has sent a clear message to workers in nearly every sector: The AI revolution is here. Employers are turning to automation to deliver on their business goals, with C-suite executives openly embracing AI as a tool that can enhance productivity and efficiency. But effectively leveraging the power of AI requires a workforce that is skilled in using these tools.

edX’s recently released whitepaper, Navigating the Workplace in the Age of AI, shares insights from a survey of 800 executives and 800 working professionals. The survey finds that, rather than turning to post-secondary institutions to upskill, professionals are expecting their employers to deliver the training they need to meet the future demands of the workplace. 

With this shift in expectations, Learning and Development (L&D) teams will face new challenges and opportunities as they work to bridge the skills gaps that exist for professional learners. How will they achieve this considerable task? This blog reviews findings from the survey, which can offer guidance to organizations managing the learning needs of their employees. 

Who is responsible for learning and development?

The need to upskill is high; C-suite executives surveyed estimated that about half of the skills that exist in the workforce today won’t be relevant in just a few years. Faced with a skills gap, many workers have previously sought out education and training from institutions of higher education. However, the edX survey revealed that this mindset has shifted recently, with more than 80% of employees stating that they now see companies as the new post-secondary colleges. 

C-suite executives overwhelmingly agree (93%), and are tasking L&D teams with ensuring that employees have the training they need to perform in their current roles and to excel in the next two to five years. But are they succeeding?

That answer depends on who you ask. While about half of executives believe there is a strong culture of learning in their organizations and that employees are given the time to learn, only one in five employees strongly agree. If companies want to position individual contributors for success, business leaders and L&D teams need to work together to provide more opportunities for professional learners.

L&D teams are expected to address a number of critical business needs, including performance, recruitment, and retention

According to the survey, executives believe that L&D programs should be focused on upskilling at scale (53%) and driving employee performance (50%), but about half also see it as an important strategy to keep employees engaged.

And they are right to prioritize L&D for employee engagement. Nearly 60% of employees reported that they are primarily motivated to learn at work because they enjoy challenging themselves. Other popular reasons include improving job performance (55%) and working toward a promotion or raise (46%). 

Employers shouldn’t be fearful that better trained workers might leave for green pastures. Only one in 10 respondents reported upskilling in order to get a job somewhere else, and almost 80% said they were more likely to stay with their company long term if it offered better training and development.

Learning options that are popular with employees include libraries of self-paced content, online cohort learning, and face-to-face sessions. The survey found that employees in the Tech, Advertising, and Engineering sectors particularly value high-quality online learning. 

Offering a range of L&D options can also be an important recruitment strategy. The best and brightest are looking to join employers that are as invested in their continuous learning and development as they are. Results of the survey indicated that Gen Z places a particular importance on professional development when selecting employers, gravitating more toward coaching and apprenticeships. Millennials, meanwhile, prefer online learning, underscoring the need for a variety of scalable learning solutions. 

The challenge of providing high-quality learning at scale

As noted, there is a discrepancy between how employers and employees view the culture of learning at their organizations. Unsurprisingly, the survey found that there is a similar discrepancy regarding the perception of employee satisfaction with L&D offerings. While the C-suite believes that a significant majority (65%) of employees are “very satisfied”, in reality only one in three employees agree. Employees are more likely to be only somewhat satisfied (48%) and one in six are actively dissatisfied.

To boost satisfaction rates, companies need to look closely at their offerings to determine whether they can meet the needs of employers in better ways. The survey revealed that the most commonly offered L&D benefit today is still in-person sessions; half of the business leaders said that they offer this type of training. However, self-paced courses and cohort-based online learning are becoming increasingly popular. Online learning options are more commonly offered in the fields of consulting, finance and tech, while a number of sectors, such as advertising and engineering, remain underserved when it comes to online learning. 

Is online cohort learning the scaling solution for L&D?

To answer this question, it’s important to consider what drives employee satisfaction with learning options. According to the survey, the top three requirements that employees have for L&D trainings are:

1. The ability to put knowledge to use via practice exercises (27%).
2. Access to new or regularly updated content (19%).
3. A variety of teaching methods, with videos, readings, and more (17%).

If employees are expected to invest their time into learning, it needs to be practically relevant and as up to date as possible. These top needs can be met by quality online learning. In fact, satisfaction rates are already highest for online cohort-based courses, with 43% of the respondents saying they are “very satisfied” with this option.

With the array of online learning options available to employers, how can they find the right high-quality offering for their organizations? They must prioritize the needs of their workforces. When helping companies select the best L&D options for them, edX For Business breaks down the aims of L&D into three broad categories:

• Supporting performance: On-demand microlearning can help with more tactical and task-related upskilling.
• Building a skill: Longer-form learning that balances practical and theoretical experiences can help employees develop individual skills.
• Building a capability: Learning from academic experts and industry leaders alongside a network of fellow professionals can offer a richer educational experience that builds the capabilities needed to achieve the most critical business goals.

Employees prioritize learning over saving and, sometimes, job security

It’s undeniable that individuals are very personally motivated to learn. About 70% of employees reported actively learning between 0.5-3 hours a week.

However, the survey also found that more than 60% are using content external to their company’s L&D program to learn. Moreover, in the last 12 months, the majority of employees (57%) and executives (89%) paid for external learning content out of pocket. In fact, executives who overwhelmingly believe their L&D programs are positively impacting employee performance would also rather pay for their own L&D than use their company’s resources.

Workers at every level are acutely aware of the fact that they need to upskill themselves, and that the cost of not doing so is higher than the price tag associated with education and training. About half of employees reported that they are willing to make some kind of sacrifice to access better L&D opportunities, whether it be taking a more stressful job or a job with less time off. It’s clear that employees are personally invested and prepared to go the extra mile. The question remains: Are companies willing to match their efforts and enthusiasm, and empower L&D leaders to make a difference? 

L&D programs might be meeting needs now, but are struggling with future-proofing

There is room for improvement, but employees are generally positive that they are learning from their L&D programs. Approximately 80% of respondents say that they have more or less what they need to succeed in their current roles (although only about a quarter strongly agree). However, only a third of employees are “very confident” they’ll be able to improve their skillsets and advance their career using only their employer’s L&D programs. About the same number feel they lack the skills needed to perform their roles in the future when looking just one or two years ahead. 

A significant portion of the workforce also needs direction. The survey found that about a quarter of employees “don’t know where to get started” when it comes to learning new skills. This is a particularly significant problem when it comes to AI skills. Employees are feeling pressure to adapt to these new tools, but are notably more apprehensive than leadership about embracing them. L&D teams should view this as an opportunity to step in and provide the much-needed clarity on where to start and what skills to prioritize. Leveraging the AI Academy at edX For Business can help teams familiarize themselves with the tools they need and the skills that will be required to transition into new phases of work. 

Bringing it all together: What are the opportunities ahead?

The findings from the survey paint a helpful picture for business and L&D leaders as they consider how to tackle the upskilling challenge. As they plan ahead, leaders must consider:

1. Executives and employees see L&D as critical to business success, with many invested in lifelong learning.
2. While employees are personally motivated to learn, they do expect employers to provide all the necessary training to build the skills needed for current and future roles.
3. The quality of the professional development offered not only impacts performance, but can significantly influence retention, employee engagement, and recruitment efforts.
4. There is a sizeable gap in perception between leaders and employees as to how well the current L&D programs are working.
5. Leveraging high-quality online learning can address a number of today’s upskilling challenges, with online cohort learning yielding particularly high engagement and satisfaction rates.

L&D teams are under immense pressure to deliver results. It’s no longer sufficient for L&D to support only employees’ current performance. Professionals are apprehensive whether they have the skills needed for tomorrow’s workforce, so L&D must help them plan for the future and remain relevant in a fast-changing working world. 

Although this presents a considerable challenge, it is also a huge opportunity. Businesses that recognize the importance of L&D for their organizations and invest appropriately in the right types of learning will be better positioned to navigate the obstacles of tomorrow and seize the moment with a workforce that has the right skills to do so.

Research findings are based on a survey conducted by edX and Workplace Intelligence between July 10 and July 24, 2023. In total, 1,600 full-time, U.S.-based employees completed the survey, including 800 C-suite executives and 800 knowledge workers. Respondents were invited to take part in the survey via email and were provided with a small monetary incentive for doing so.

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The most critical social imperative for any business today is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Just ask any recruiter: 49% of those recently surveyed said that jobs seekers do inquire about DEI initiatives. What is more, 44% of all surveyed recruiters reported that some of the candidates they had been in contact with had either turned down an interview offer or a job offer — all of this because of a lack of diversity within the organization.¹

The key to enhancing DEI starts with improved hiring initiatives — it does, however, go beyond that, too. To embed DEI into your company’s culture, you need to weave DEI into the very organizational fabric of your business. Meaning, you need to get everyone on board, from new hires to the C-suite executives; staff at all levels must be able to recognize the importance of the DEI initiatives and to understand what strategies and initiatives are being developed.

This is where learning and development (L&D) comes in — from offering more obvious interventions, like running DEI training programs, to putting in place less apparent actions, such as considering a range of voices, ideas, and needs when designing training programs. L&D plays a key role in starting and maintaining a culture that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion.

DEI in the workplace

Before discussing how your organization can promote DEI, and so that your company can go beyond treating these concepts simply as boxes to be ticked, let’s first define each one of them.

Diversity

Look around your workspace, be it a shared office space or a virtual one: Does every single one of your colleagues come from the same ethnic background? Do you all share the same gender identity? Do you all eat the same meal for lunch? Most probably not. And that’s a good thing, because the more different your life experiences, even the smallest ones, the more effective your team may be at collaborating and coming up with innovative ideas. And, perhaps even more importantly, the more understanding your business will be of the diverse realities and needs of your customers and clients.

Diversity as a concept is based on the understanding that each individual, because of how different they are from all other individuals, is uniquely valuable and has the means, and the required background, to bring a fresh and different perspective to the table. Diversity can be one of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, as well as socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, and other ideologies.²

Promoting diversity within the workplace is more than just tolerating each other’s differences — it requires us to challenge each other and to view everyone’s individual differences as enriching. It also offers everyone the chance to explore these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing way.

Equity

It’s tempting to think that in order to be fair, we should offer everyone exactly the same opportunities in terms of hiring, training, and promotions. But is it really equitable to offer the exact same opportunities for development, for example, to an employee from a privileged background — educational, social, financial — and who may have had an easier start in life, than to someone from a historically disadvantaged and underrepresented one, who may, for instance, have struggled to pay for their studies, or who may not have had the same support system growing up?

While equity is often referred to when discussing pay, it goes beyond compensation. It’s about ensuring fair treatment of all by providing each employee with proportional access to opportunities.³

Rather than asking leaders to treat everyone the same, organizations that promote equity and an equitable workplace should encourage and expect leaders to identify everyone’s specific professional needs and take these into account when making decisions.⁴

Inclusion

It’s one thing to have a diverse workforce, and another to give everyone a voice at the table and offer them a safe and accessible space to contribute ideas and raise concerns. And so, inclusion, in a way, is diversity in action.

When successfully applied, a culture of inclusion removes all barriers, discrimination, and intolerance, and promotes an environment in which everyone is made to feel included, heard, and supported.⁵ In the workplace, inclusion is often the result of efforts that encourage and respect the participation and contribution of all employees. Within an inclusive work environment, we don’t pretend that everyone is the same — rather, we celebrate our differences and allow them to enrich our work by giving everyone the opportunity to voice their ideas.⁶

10 ways L&D managers can boost DEI

It is one thing to understand what DEI is and to grasp its importance; it’s another to actually put those insights into action, because it means having to turn DEI into a business function.

Below is a list of 10 actions L&D professionals and their teams can take to help their organization make that transition.

1. Emphasize the business case for diversity and inclusion
   When workplace teams reflect the social makeup of their target customers, they’re more than twice as likely to innovate effectively for their consumers.⁷ For this very reason, L&D managers must first and foremost emphasize this very business case to leadership, and later collaborate with other departments to develop cohesive plans that link DEI with metrics that matter to business outcomes. Once everyone is on board with these plans, L&D will then help set up appropriate initiatives and programs to follow through.⁸
   
2. Work with a chief diversity officer
   In recent years, many organizations have hired chief diversity officers (CDOs) — in other words, DEI specialists — to oversee DEI initiatives, and to support L&D teams in their efforts. Alternatively, CDOs are also well equipped in helping L&D managers ensure that their DEI goals, strategies, and practical interventions are aligned.Alternatively, some organizations prefer to hire DEI consultants instead. DEI consultants can assist L&D teams in identifying DEI issues at a micro and macro level, and help create training content that addresses these.⁹
   
3. Ensure support across the organization
   To create a sustainable DEI culture, everyone within an organization must be on board. The process starts with the leadership team, who will need to model goals and outcomes — and align them with business goals — and demonstrate active support for them.¹⁰The L&D team can then align their training goals to those of the leadership team’s. This will allow L&D to identify learning gaps in DEI for both the leadership team and the company employees.
   
4. Provide inclusive leadership and bias training
   Bias occurs in the workplace either consciously or subconsciously through choices or assumptions made when hiring staff, delegating tasks, or comparing employees in other ways.¹¹ In order to embed DEI across the organization, executives need adequate DEI training to better understand what inclusive and unbiased leadership looks like. At the same time, HR leaders and their teams should also undergo training so that they too can become aware of any potential bias when working with job applicants and employees, at both onboarding and reviewing stages.¹²
   
5. Conduct DEI training across the company
   Once the L&D team has aligned their DEI needs and goals with the company goals and the CDO or DEI consultant, they’re finally ready to conduct focused and relevant training programs that work toward achieving their unique DEI goals.For DEI training to be most effective, it shouldn’t be sporadic or responsive — rather, it should be proactive and embedded in all learning content and experiences, even when not specifically discussing DEI topics.¹³Bear in mind that learning about diversity, while sitting with a group of homogeneous colleagues, is understandably less effective than interacting with people from diverse backgrounds. For this reason, it’s important to create diverse training groups across the board, promoting inclusivity regardless of the learning topic.¹⁴
   
6. Rethink your learning formats and make learning accessible
   It’s not just the content of your training programs that fosters inclusion; format has a role to play here, too. Traditional in-person or virtual classroom settings can be very useful, but make sure to consider also whether peer exchanges, roundtables, collaboration hubs, or fireside chats might suit the subject matter better and create more effective learning opportunities.¹⁵Moreover, bear in mind the specific circumstances of your employees and how training formats, and the environment in which they take place, can ensure that all individuals and their accessibility needs are included. It means ensuring that venues are accessible to all, but also, and not exclusively, offering the flexibility of online training to remote or hybrid staff.
   
7. Diversify your candidate training pool
   Diverse training groups require a diverse workforce, which first and foremost starts with having access to a diverse pool of hiring candidates. In other words, your organization will need to improve their hiring initiatives, and to do so they will need to take steps to remove unconscious bias when hiring new employees and nurturing existing ones.¹⁶It may be that candidates in your industry tend to be from one particular group. If that’s the case, your best option could be to set up a train-to-hire program. Such programs have proved to be very useful in imparting vital, job-ready skills to people from different fields and backgrounds, and in helping organizations attract and hire a more diverse workforce. Note that an effective train-to-hire program considers candidates’ experience, learning preferences, mentorship, and the need for constant improvement moving forward.¹⁷
   
8. Use tech to remove unconscious bias from the hiring process
   Business leaders are increasingly using new technologies to create safe, open, and inclusive workspaces. For example, artificial intelligence (AI) could help your organization to eliminate bias during the hiring process by removing subjective judgment from the initial application-review process. For example, an AI program could be asked to extract from application documents job-relevant data only, thus avoiding human bias based on background or gender identity.¹⁸
   
9. Train and collaborate with mentors
   All professionals can benefit from a mentorship program. This is especially true of those individuals who come from historically underrepresented and underserved communities, and who may not have had the same social and professional support their colleagues may have received. Mentors must, therefore, give more than advice; they should also advocate for their mentees’ advocacy from the mentor.¹⁹ Similarly, L&D’s work can go beyond merely matching mentors to staff, and instead can also consist of providing guidance to both the employee and the mentor around accountability and growth.
   
10. Track impact and report results
    Progress in DEI will bring positive impact and necessary transformation to organizations, but constant advocacy and accountability will be vital to the initiatives maintaining momentum. L&D managers can boost support and investment for these initiatives by drawing up KPIs, monitoring progress, and reporting on the positive results to leaders – making sure that DEI is more than a box-ticking exercise.

Ready to start your organization on the DEI journey?

Learn how edX For Business can help you turn DEI dialogue into action through innovative L&D solutions.

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Today’s businesses are experiencing tremendous pressure to keep up with human, social, and technological changes. For one, we don’t work the way we used to. We work through digital tools, remotely or in hybrid arrangements, for longer careers and more employers, at full-time jobs and side hustles. Then, there’s our ever-changing world of technology where nothing ever really stays the same.

It’s no wonder that skills gaps are growing across several industries, making it often difficult for organizations, and the professionals who work for them, to adapt to the dynamic demands of their market. McKinsey research shows that even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 59% of leaders already felt that skills building was essential to long-term growth.¹⁴ That figure has since risen to 78%.¹⁵

While technology and digitalization present opportunities for positive change, these can’t be utilized without appropriately skilled professionals — learning and development (L&D) managers — to guide their organization through appropriate developmental programs, and help professionals apply their newly learned skills.²⁰ Nor can such programs be easily set up without a strategy in place, and often without outside expert support.

The age of disruption

We live in an age of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, all of which lead to rapid change within businesses. These are the 10 biggest factors causing disruption across organizations:²¹

It’s no surprise COVID-19 sits atop the list, having accelerated and amplified the impact of other factors, such as digital transformation in businesses.²²

Regardless, all the disruptors above are shifting the skills requirements for a host of industries, most notably financial services, advanced technology, and telecommunications. The business areas most affected, meaning those experiencing the greatest skills gap, are data analytics, followed by IT management, executive management, HR and talent management, and sales and marketing operations.²³

How professionals and companies are responding

A recent GetSmarter survey of nearly 6,000 people across 128 countries found that 58% of respondents anticipated needing to learn new skills for the current job within the next six months.²⁴

Currently, C-suite professionals are learning more than anyone else, with 57% engaged in reskilling. That’s good news, because it indicates that a majority of business leaders recognize the need to address and close the skills development gap — an understanding that may lead to more learning opportunities across all professional levels.

And while many professionals may still feel that they are solely responsible for their career development, it doesn’t necessarily have to be so — in fact, more and more L&D managers are being tasked with setting up upskilling and reskilling programs.²⁵ In fact, L&D managers have never been so valued, nor under such pressure. Without them, and without an enterprise development team, businesses that want to help their employees upskill run several risks, such as:

• A disconnect between upskilling choices and the organization’s needs and goals
• Haphazardly designed programs with minimal impact, or impact limited only to certain teams
• Lengthy launches of skills development programs
• Low retention levels, due to a lack of real career-partnerships meant to help employees on their professional journey

How to close the skills gaps

To address these issues, leadership, talent, and L&D managers typically focus on three strategies: hire, reskill, and upskill.

Hire:

Talent and recruitment teams face a shortage of applicants, let alone highly skilled ones, which forces them to look at hiring differently.²⁶ Here are a few steps you may want to take if your organization faces similar challenges:

• Change recruitment mindsets to focus on the desired skills rather than personalities, and welcome a broader diversity of backgrounds.
• Review hiring procedures to ensure promising candidates are not rejected by traditional screening methods.
• Look beyond traditional labor pools to include older workers, those with disabilities, foreign talent, and veterans.

Hiring is also timely and expensive — in the U.S., it takes an average of 36 to 42 days, and costs $1,633, to fill a position.²⁷ Moreover, when unemployment stands near historic lows, as it currently does in the U.S., it also leaves very little available talent to pick from.²⁸ To top it, the “great resignation” spurred by the pandemic has seen record numbers of people leaving their jobs, creating significant issues for hiring teams. Case in point, of all hiring managers surveyed by Prudential Financial:²⁹

• 58% don’t receive enough applications to fill their vacancies.
• 71% say the applications they receive don’t match the skills required.
• 82% are willing to hire someone who requires initial training.

That last statistic is particularly telling: New-hire training may be a solution for many employers, and could be for your organization, too. For instance, Netflix recently employed this tactic to improve workforce diversity, by partnering with edX and establishing the Netflix Pathways Boot Camps to teach industry-relevant tech skills to under-represented populations. By doing so, Netflix, in partnership with edX, grew a more diversified, and qualified, talent pool.

Reskill:

You don’t always have to look to the external talent pool to bridge skills gaps — you could focus instead on reskilling your current staff. A World Economic Forum survey found that 50% of workers would need reskilling by 2025, and 40% of respondents expected that to take six months or less.³⁰

From a financial perspective, reskilling makes sense. A report by the Financial Services Skills Commission in the UK found that reskilling a financial services employee costs an average of £31,850, compared with a redundancy and rehire cost of £80,875 — a saving of £49,025.³¹ It’s therefore not surprising that 53% of business leaders prefer reskilling over engaging freelancers or contractors, or even hiring new talent.³²

Reskilling is also a key way to retain talent — it not only offers learning opportunities, which leads to an increase in job satisfaction, but it also promotes internal mobility. A recent Gallup survey found, for example, that 57% of workers in the U.S. want to update their skills, and so much so, that 48% would even consider moving jobs to improve skills. But, here’s the good news: According to the same Gallup survey, not only do 71% of workers in the U.S. report an increase in job satisfaction through training and development, 61% of workers consider learning opportunities a good reason to stay at their job.³³

In other words, the opportunity to retrain at work could be a big retention incentive for employees at your organization, especially those who may want to pivot careers.

Upskill:

Reskilling gives employees the chance to develop new skills. Upskilling, on the other hand, helps them augment their existing skills on a continual basis so that they can adapt more easily to the evolving requirements of their jobs and careers.

Upskilling can prevent skill gaps and develop better resilience against accelerating change.³⁴ Though not always, it’s also often done within hybrid roles — these are jobs that include both technical expertise (hard skills) and traditional (soft) skills such as leadership.³⁵ For example, an employee who learns to automate everyday tasks, and applies their learning to their work, can soon free up more time for strategic thinking and collaboration. 

What skills you need to prioritize

Many of the skills required to keep pace with modern businesses and industries are naturally aligned with digital capabilities. However, as digital capabilities become assumed for most professional jobs, the key differentiators among candidates are increasingly more human-centric: analytical and critical reasoning, interpersonal skills, and leadership abilities.³⁶

There are also many advantages to focusing on human-centric development. Skills specific to particular jobs — such as software proficiency, programming languages, coding, or digital marketing capabilities — will require more frequent upskilling. On the other hand, analytical skills, human-centric skills, and the fundamental capabilities required to leverage digital tools have much greater longevity.³⁷

What’s also clear is that digital transformation in organizations is majorly influencing what we should be learning, when, and how. Ultimately, you and your L&D team will need to balance both types of skills: the ones needed now, and those your organization will need later.

Your guide to digital transformation skills

GetSmarter’s Digital Transformation Skills Framework lists the key capabilities your employees should have to stay on top of current and future digital skills and technologies. It also provides a foundation on which to build your L&D programs.

This framework places interpersonal skills (such as critical thinking, emotional intelligence, creativity, and adaptability) at the center of four other categories of skills that organizations may want to develop now and for the future.³⁸ It also speaks to many of the skills gaps that organizations currently face, yet those skills are the most valuable capabilities to have if you’re aiming for a successful digital transformation.

The future of skills development

Skills development is no longer simply a business augmentation; it’s an essential component of survival, both for organizations and for individual professionals. Companies with a view to the future continue growing because they understand that to learn is to innovate.³⁹

There may be no one-size-fits-all approach to skills development — each organization, team, and professional being unique — yet two aspects of it are a must for all:

• In the age of disruption, skills development should be conducted on an ongoing basis as part of any organization’s strategy for closing continually evolving skills gaps.
• Skills development should take place across an organization, rather than in silos; if technical teams are getting upskilled, for example, then leadership should be learning how to better support the new needs and goals of those employees.

Owing to time, budgetary, and remote-working pressures, training programs will also likely have to be delivered through digital channels, which have the advantage of being easily scalable — but the digital aspect is no surprise: Learning, in the era of digital transformation, has already gone digital. What is more, remote learning has the potential to deliver essential skills quickly and prompt employees to exercise them immediately on the job, improving engagement and performance.⁴⁰

With this in mind, edX For Business can help you curate a holistic skills development strategy, across a range of disciplines and learning styles. From closing technical skills with boot camps, to leadership development with executive education courses or company wide upskilling with open courses —  edX For Business can help you future-proof your workforce.

Are you keeping pace with today’s fast-changing skills requirements? Learn how edX For Business can help future-proof your people and your business, by helping you close skill gaps.

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As companies emerge into a post-pandemic regime with all the new expectations, challenges and opportunities that it brings, they face a number of trends that are upending conventional management philosophies. The pace and volume of information is rising and bypassing existing hierarchies, leading to information overload. Increased automation is eroding traditional notions of predictability and control, and employees’ career expectations are changing.²⁵

Management practices are being challenged and leaders must rise to the occasion — and they know it. Sixty percent of executives worldwide see effective leadership as a critical skill needed to prepare for changes the future will no doubt bring.³⁵  At the same time, the understanding of what leadership means is changing: rather than a destination, it is a journey of continual learning, development, and reflection. ⁴¹

Leadership is like a muscle: it needs to be exercised all the time.⁴² And just as professional athletes don’t start training when they’re drafted for the national team, leaders can’t wait until a promotion comes to start exercising that muscle; they need to start much earlier, in whatever position they may occupy in an organization. This is important for more than just effective succession planning; it also lets employees feel their work has greater impact.⁴³ For this reason, companies must empower their staff to make decisions: it’s essential for developing the necessary organizational agility to cope with rapid and constant change.⁴⁴

Employees with leadership skills are in high demand, and training them to one day become leaders has a tangible and positive impact on staff retention. Case in point: during the Great Resignation when millions of professionals quit their jobs, more than half of US workers cited a lack of appreciation from their managers as the cause.⁴⁵ Had organizations invested in helping their talented employees to develop leadership and other skills, they may not have been impacted as greatly.

While much has been made of younger employees’ emphasis on learning skills at work, leadership development is a good way to keep employees engaged across the generations. Management and leadership skills are the number one learning priority not only for Millennials and Gen X, but also for the Baby Boomer generation still active.⁴⁶ Focused and personalized leadership development also presents an opportunity to improve diversity in management, and ensures that underrepresented groups advance at the same pace as their colleagues.⁴⁷

Learning and development (L&D) managers are best positioned within an organization to effectively plan the development of leadership skills in both entry-level and experienced employees. The following six strategies will guide you in implementing leadership development from the ground up:

1. Identify your company’s leadership skills gap

While it’s important to provide every employee with the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills, one cost-effective strategy could be to identify which leadership positions need to be filled immediately, so you can start providing training for those as soon as possible. There are a number of ways to approach this, such as:⁴⁸

• Using leadership assessment tools coupled with one-on-one interviews for context to find gaps and strengths.
• Identifying measurable business performance deficiencies, and speaking with the leaders associated with these to find out what they need.
• Looking out for regular complaints, and for departments with higher-than-average absenteeism or resignation rates.
• Reviewing your company’s strategy to see if you have the necessary leadership skills to execute it.
• Imagining losing your top executives — do you have people who could fill their shoes?

2. Identify leadership potential

Building a sustainable leadership pipeline requires a commitment to nurturing and developing high-potential employees throughout the organization. Take the time to understand their career goals and personalize their training, which will make them feel that they’re on a clear developmental path, and will in turn increase their engagement in the business.⁴⁹

The first step to doing so is to identify the employees with leadership potential. Look out for emergent leaders, meaning employees who, rather than being formally assigned a leadership position, naturally assume leadership roles in their teams through their interactions with others. These employees are typically influential, reliable, inspiring, and encourage collaboration.⁵⁰

And so, when you foster emergent leadership in your organization, you not only enable leaders to rise naturally, but also encourage autonomy, because emergent leadership flows from the capacity to think for yourself, rather than expecting others to tell you what to do. Be careful, however, not to mistake raw charisma for leadership. Not all emergent leaders are extroverts — some may be much less outspoken than others, and L&D managers should be mindful of acknowledging and supporting them too.⁵¹

Once you’ve identified high-potential leaders, unlock their talent through appropriate, focused training programs. Executive education courses are valuable for even non-executive employees, and impart valuable business and leadership skills quickly and with a focus on practical application to accelerate their growth within your business.

3. Invest in underrepresented leaders

Diversity in leadership development is a societal issue that requires initiatives targeting groups that have historically been underrepresented on the basis of race, disability, gender, and so forth. Such initiatives can help create a more representative management team, which will in turn attract a more diverse workforce. But developing diverse leaders will require more than HR initiatives or hiring allocations; it will require a reassessment of your organizational culture. Consider these steps:⁵²

4. Develop your managers into leaders

The impact that managers have on employees’, and thus the company’s, performance can’t be overstated. In fact, Gallup found that 70% of the variance in a team’s engagement is due to the quality of their manager.⁵³ However, not all managers have strong, inherent leadership skills, or have been given training to develop these. When you take into account the effect of managers on workforce performance, it makes sense to overinvest in their development — and even more so when you consider that managers offer a pool of potential executive talent by virtue of already being in a leadership position.

A study of hundreds of job roles and competencies established that high-performing managers usually have these leadership capabilities:⁵⁴

• The capacity to build relationships and trust in sharing ideas and getting things done
• The ability to develop others through clear expectations, encouragement, and coaching
• Aptness at driving change by setting goals and adapting work to align with those goals
• Talent at inspiring and motivating people through vision, confidence, positivity, and recognition
• Critical-thinking skills and the ability to solve problems
• Effective, efficient, and open communication skills
• The capability to hold others and themselves accountable for performance

Providing formal training to develop these skills in your managers is important, but so is mentorship by senior leaders, especially in the early stages of handling new management responsibilities. L&D should create opportunities for collaborative and feedback-based learning by asking managers to provide feedback on challenges and successes in an environment geared toward knowledge sharing and improvement. Such review sessions can be a great learning opportunity for both them and, ultimately, the company at large. It can also be an opportunity for managers to further develop empathy and listening skills, deepen their emotional intelligence, and explore different conflict resolution tactics.⁵⁵

5. Nurture current leadership with continuous development

In order to guide businesses through an evolving and uncertain business world, leaders need to understand and have the skills to engage with the technological trends driving change, including automation, big data, AI, and machine learning, alongside social ones like sustainability and diversity, equity, and inclusion. But if we expect leaders to adapt continuously to these trends, then it stands to reason that even those currently in leadership roles should engage in continuous personal and professional development.

Slowly but surely, the mindset is shifting away from employee learning as an event, to learning in the flow of work. Increasingly, learning is becoming digital and is happening at work, rather than outside of it.⁵⁶

One of the key challenges facing leadership development is that there isn’t enough time for leaders to learn and practice the necessary skills, because it takes them away from their responsibilities. Embedding learning in the flow of work is one step towards solving this, but certain competencies are still best taught through courses. Regardless, it’s crucial to give leaders sufficient opportunity for reflection and self-development. This means time for thinking about their behaviors and how these can be changed, and for practicing new skills, which should ideally occur in a sandbox or simulation environment, to build confidence and avoid any costly mistakes.⁵⁷

6. Lifelong leadership development

An ever-changing technology landscape necessitates constant reskilling and upskilling, which in turn requires a constant focus on learning. The same goes for leadership skills, which leaders – both incumbent and emergent – need to sharpen continuously to keep pace with shifting social trends and workforce expectations. 

Successful, long-serving leaders tend to be agile learners, which is why learning agility is a quality business should seek. Hiring managers can identify agile learners by asking questions about how they’ve dealt with challenges and learned from their mistakes, while L&D managers should foster a culture of curiosity and openness, providing on-the-job learning opportunities and stretch assignments that give employees the opportunity to rise to new challenges.⁵⁸

Developing skills at every level is a priority for all organizations. edX For Business offers a wealth of solutions to help businesses on their journey to growing the leaders that tomorrow’s world requires.

Ready to foster leadership and innovation in every sphere of your business? Learn how edX For Business’ innovative learning solutions can help you develop crucial leadership skills at all levels of your organization.

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