Until yesterday (May 26, 2022), the 22nd World Economic Forum Annual Meeting was held in Davos. A lot of criticism can be leveled at it, but every now and then one encounters interesting rounds of conversation that are worth picking up on.
This 45-minute talk on the Global Skills Framework, which the WEF has been trying to establish since the beginning of 2021, is no exception.
The description of the talk
When it comes to recruiting, a skills-based approach is five times more effective for the professional success of young professionals than a focus on qualifications.
What are the key requirements for a common framework that puts skills at the heart of talent management and enables individuals to thrive and organizations to succeed?
The speakers
- Zanny Minton Beddoes (Editor-in-Chief, The Economist) as moderator
- Josephine Teo (Minister for Communications and Information, Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) of Singapore)
- Manny Maceda (Chief Executive Officer, Bain & Company Inc.)
- Shobana Kamineni (Executive Vice-Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, India)
- Allen Blue (Co-Founder and Vice-President, Products, LinkedIn Corporation)
Background
According to WEF calculations, around 50% of all employees will have to retrain by 2025. And around 40% of the centrally required skills are expected to change in the next 5 years. That means in figures:
- Around 1 billion people will have to undergo further training in the near future.
- Around 120 million have already made the journey.
In this respect, the “reskilling revolution” is as important to the WEF as the fight against global illiteracy. But this revolution cannot be countered (exclusively) by adapting curricular qualifications; new procedures are needed to bring skills to the fore more quickly. “Skills first” approach is what they talked about in this round.
Some results at a glance
- The so-called shortage of skilled workers is a problem everywhere and is making companies increasingly creative in their recruiting.
- It is about upskilling close to competence. In other words, what you can already do or what skills you already have should be easily developed and further qualified for new work contexts.
- Soft skills are at least as important as hard skills.
- Hard skills can perhaps still be taught, soft skills develop in practice, for example in the workplace or similar.
- The first students are already deciding against traditional qualification careers and are taking paths of their own choosing. Because they can.
- Educational institutions should also support people in finding their strengths so that they can further qualify them. Not just relying on knowledge transfer and testing.
- People need quality support from other interested people to help them make the right decisions for themselves based on data.
- Fairer remuneration is needed to pay people according to their skills (wherever acquired) instead of rewarding qualifications that are of little significance as to whether this person can really help shape the future of society or the company in the long term.
The bottom line
The education system itself is on the brink of a major revolution, of which there seems to be little awareness in Germany. They are fighting too hard for their old sinecures.
But there is no way around it: the necessary skills have to be acquired (however). And there are many ways to do this online. This means you currently have good job opportunities with an exquisite salary. Well done to the person who knows how to gain further qualifications in an adequately self-managed way. Good luck!
Article published on piqd on May 27, 2022 as a reference to the WEF article Creating a Global Skills Framework