36 Years back after my boards, my dad was helping me fill up my application for my college PU course (11thand 12thin today’s concept). He was very particular about my choice of subjects. And also prior to that when I was in school both my parents were very particular about my basic concepts of grammar in all the languages (English, Hindi & Assamese). As a kid/Youngster I used to wonder, what is the big deal? Why do I need to be so precise in clearing my basic concepts?

Ooh…. Now I understand, they were trying to ensure that there was no Skilling gap in my communication skills, both written and spoken, when I venture out to the professional world.

It is very important for us to understand whether Skilling Gap is a pre-employment requirement or post-employment requirement or both. If it is a pre–employment requirement and despite of our country being so rich on qualified pool of resources, why does this skilling gap even exist?

Now when I am thinking more deeply about the subject and trying to pen down my thoughts about the same, I feel this needs a consorted effort by the entire society (parents, teachers, mentors, corporates), perhaps this will be a more meaningful Corporate Social Responsibility…A thought to ponder upon.

It is generally noticed that when we talk about the Subject, we are only concerned about post- Employment of an individual, because it leads to not only loss of productivity but also adds to a higher rate of employee turnover and therefore additional recruitment costs and training costs, lower levels of morale and lower work quality. It also contributes to the inability to expand the business and leads to loss of Revenue. And perhaps we define “Skilling Gap” as the difference between an employee’s current abilities and the skillset best suited for their job. Several factors,  like lack of experience, inadequate training and wrong recruitment can lead to a Skill Gap.

Now once we know that there is an ongoing problem and the definition itself says “difference between an employee’s current abilities and the skillset best suited for their job” Now does this current ability and skill set means our work force who are getting ready for tomorrow and currently in schools, institutes, colleges are not getting adequate exposure towards what skills are exactly required to make a mark or set a foot print in the Corporate world and what we can do to fill in this gap. 

It has to be a properly thought through task, so here what we are essentially doing is RETHINKING THE SKILLING GAP.

Now the last step is what are we going to do to fill up these gaps:

1. Reskilling and Upskilling opportunities- Refresher programs are usually very effective in filling up the gap. We can upskill or groom the employees who lack the requisite Skills,through mentoring, shadowing, handholding ,by holding team building activities .

2. Microlearning: This is perhaps the most important skill to learn. Like loads of water droplets make an ocean. Exactly in the same way micro learning which can change the way of handling the work in a different manner can make a macro difference in the outcome of a specific project.

3. Identify Overlooked Talent Pools

4. Revised Hiring Procedures

5. Training of the Hiring Teams

6. Expansion of Training Programs

WAYS TO RETHINK THE SKILLS GAP FROM PRE-EMPLOYMENT & MINDSET STANDPOINT:

1. Corporates are generally invited to Management Schools for Guest lectures and sharing their views on better career prospects………But Schools do not do this generally. We need to NIP it in the BUD

2. Schools Organise picnics or a day out in Parks, Museums, Science exhibitions but seldom organise a trip to a corporate house.

3. Working or choosing a Career in Corporate, should also be an option that needs to be incorporated as an option in schools and colleges.

4. The importance of Communication Skills (Written and Spoken) needs to be given priority and should be taught as a Subject.

And Needless to Add …That in this age of technology.

LXPs and LMS are constantly evolving, which creates space for learners around the world to grow and develop skills together.

How can they help fill the GAP:

1. User-friendly and intuitive interfaces.

2. Self-directed experiences keep learners MOTIVATED to learn more by themselves.

3. Skill development insights and frameworks can show gaps and guide personalized development plans.

4. Curated learning paths to help learners stay in alignment with business goals.

In short, the LXP/LMS is driving L&D programs into the new era which is data- driven, skills-based and provides personalized learning support.

And believe me we have a long way to go with these platforms!

Now having said so much about this topic, let’s start some work and put our efforts towards the younger generation of today, wherever we can.

Hope we have a better skilled workforce for tomorrow.