Our world is changing. Owing to new and advanced technologies, things like how we communicate, how we shop, how we pay bills, how we entertain ourselves, how we stay safe as well as how we do business. In corporate organizations, emergence of new technologies has changed business processes drastically, which threatens employees that have gotten used to doing things a certain way. This radical change in how business is done has older or less-skilled employees in shock, and they find it increasingly difficult to survive in these times. Because the ways of business are changing, job roles in organizations are changing as well, and skills that were all the rage a decade back are now worth nothing. This is only going to get even more frequent in the future, as business experts tell us that beyond 2020, the list of skills required in employees is going to change completely. Corporate organizations need to find a way to educate their employees to close their skills gaps, fast. Fortunately, digital learning can help organizations upskill all types of employees, from seasoned veterans to green newbies, bridging their skill gaps and helping said organizations stay ahead of competition. In this article, we’ll discuss how. But first, let us learn what skill gap means.

What Does Skill Gap Mean?

Skill gap can be defined as the difference in the skills required on the job and the actual skills possessed by the employees. As mentioned above, skill gaps occur in the modern workforce because they are either too young, or too old to comprehend certain particular set of skills, or the learning methodologies used to teach them don’t suit them.

How To Use Digital Learning To Close Skill Gaps?

1. Blended Learning

The problem with training older employees using eLearning is that they’re not tech-savvy enough to utilize eLearning to upskill themselves, and without upskilling themselves they cannot learn to be tech-savvy. This is a paradox that can only be solved using blended learning. Blended learning is an amalgam of both traditional classroom training as well as eLearning, which is suited to teach modern skills to older employees, including teaching them skills to be at par with modern technology. Since they cannot use computers to learn about computers, they’ll be given lectures by trainers and taught how to use contemporary technology, after which they’ll be assessed by helping them apply what they’ve learned. Slowly, but surely, this combination of traditional classroom training as well as its consecutive application in eLearning will result in even the seasoned employees who are set in their ways to be able to develop skills relevant for the future.

2. Microlearning

Now that the older employees have been addressed, what about the future of the workforce? The newbies, most of whom are millennials and even post-millennials (Generation Z) are accustomed to high-definition graphics, high-quality audio as well as video, as well as short, to the point content due to the fact that they were born in an era when technology had already advanced substantially. During their formative years and even now into their adulthood, they lived with technology and watched it advance from point A to point B. They cannot stand long walls of text, or even eLearning courses that are hours long, let alone classroom training. The only way to train them and close their skill gaps is to give them short, concise content, that is visually appealing, engaging, and available to them anywhere, anytime on their smartphones. Microlearning fulfills all these conditions, as it is not more than 5 minutes long, has highly-visual graphics, is mostly video-based, and contains interactivities as well as gamification elements to keep them engaged.

Thus, digital learning can help corporate organizations close skill gaps by targeting both extremes of the generations constituting the modern workplace. Digital learning also has the affordability organizations want from an employee development methodology, particularly now, due to advancements in cloud-based technologies. In addition, it is efficient, convenient, flexible and motivational. Organizations that are looking for ways to stay relevant in the future just need to embrace digital transformation, and the first thing they need to focus on is the digital transformation of their learning and development programs.

CBLPro is an eLearning solutions provider that specializes in creating tailor-made eLearning for corporate organizations using avant-garde eLearning technology, strategies and expertise.