Digital Age: Knowledge Work: Workforce: Development

Development

• Overview:  Workforce skills and training are the subject of enormous debate, with varying definitions, diverse opinions, and persistent questions about investment and impact. Many business leaders and managers fail to comprehend fully and act adequately upon the simple fact that their own employees are the bedrock upon which their company's future rests. That understood, "lifelong learning" then becomes a critical means of sustaining the competitive edge.
  
  The competitive pressures that drive businesses to invest in the education and training of workers are neither new nor surprising. Through the many transitions from traditional work environments, the employee's role is being transformed and a new set of core work skills is emerging. These are the new "basic skills," and they fall into three domains: managing work, managing oneself, and working with others. Managing work includes the technical skills required for successful job performance --- competence in the areas of basic math and English, as well as knowledge of technical information, equipment operation, and work processes. 

Whereas traditional production environments often demanded this skill only from leadership positions, today's businesses operate with high levels of worker participation, group activities, and direct customer interface. Increasing cultural diversity in the workforce adds a further challenge to group cohesion and communication. Because job roles are no longer limited to the narrow functions they once were, we have found that the interdisciplinary approach used in adult education provides an effective way to develop the new workplace skills.

As organizations continue to expand the responsibilities of individual workers, the demands for self-management skills also rise. It has been said that "learning to learn" (becoming an effective learner) may be the ultimate skill in the new millennium. For both individual workers and their employing organizations, taking active responsibility for managing learning is an essential skill. The implications for training and education are many.

More...............................  Skills, Training, and Learning in the Workplace — Perspectives from the Field