The UK’s training deficit: how HR and L&D can close the gap

A failure to invest in training and skills has left the UK vulnerable at a time of huge technological change. But the situation isn’t reversible and HR has a major role to play, writes learning expert Gary Tomlinson.

The UK economy is trapped in a self-inflicted cycle of human capital decline. Low productivity and low growth are underpinned by the lack of investment in employee development. The best employers invest in their people. But falling employer investment in training is holding back the British economy.

Sadly, the evidence for this is compelling.

Research from the Learning & Work Institute shows L&D investment per employee has fallen 28% since 2005, to less than half the EU average. The influential thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) calculates this underinvestment to be more than half a trillion pounds leaving the economy in a growth “doom-loop”.

This is while the OECD ranked UK business investment 27th out of 30 countries, ahead only of Poland, Luxembourg, and Greece.

The training investment provided is in many cases limited to statutory requirements like health and safety and onboarding initiatives.

The consequence of this is a weakening competitive position of the UK workforce (requiring more skilled foreign workers) and placing a barrier to the government’s commitment to the “levelling up” of society. Developing the UK’s workforce skills is key to progressing on social mobility and building a fairer society based on meritocracy.

The UK’s underinvestment in skills training has become a millstone to the learning agility required in these rapidly changing times. Failure to prepare for the future means we should prepare for failure in the future.

All this coming at a time of unprecedented technological change.

In Scary Smart the thought-provoking book on the future of AI, author Mo Gawdat states: “AI will not replace humans, but the humans who use AI intelligently will replace those who don’t.” AI serves up a blistering pace of exponential change that is the challenge for the new generation and it is here now.

The reasons for the rate of change we learn in Scary Smart are three-fold: The new technology is itself building newer and better technology, the internet is democratising knowledge making it accessible to all, the globally connected world of e-commerce provides instant access to global markets and investment.

So how big will the disruption be?

The World Economic Forum in its report The Future of Work predicts AI will replace 85 million jobs by 2025, but more promisingly will create 97 million new jobs. Whatever the actual number, it’s clear that change is here and will disrupt the world of work on perhaps an unprecedented level.

The Future of Work report states: “In the future, we will see the most competitive businesses are the ones that have invested heavily in their human capital – the skills and competencies of their employees.”

Yet this need for continuous development isn’t just for the new exotic roles in AI. Even workers not seeking a change in role, will see change in their role. The report predicts that nearly 50% will need reskilling of their core skills over the next three years.

The challenge for HR and L&D professionals will be to embrace the change and not allow it to overwhelm them.

The authors of Deliberate Calm: How to Learn and Lead in a Volatile World, from McKinsey, refer to the “adaptability paradox” when we most need to learn and change, we stick with what we know. We apply what works in the past to the now; like the general fighting the new war with outdated past practices … always painful.

So how do we rise to the challenge of change?

The authors advocate that we raise our consciousness. We need learning agility, heightened curiosity, and greater awareness.

HR needs to embrace a more ambitious vision for their people, its function, and its organisation. Everyone can play their part for developing all the people will herald the way to a brighter future.

So how can HR and L&D professionals help their employees thrive in this brave new world?

Raising the bar

Often business objectives and development goals of employees are an unconnected or poorly coupled association. HR needs to look at creative approaches to combine the two in tangible meaningful ways.

What business projects are coming up that provide the opportunity to develop high performers? What follow up is taken to ensure training participants apply what they have learnt? Can we truly show the learning is changing behaviour and performance?

The speed of change in AI is phenomenal and organisations need to embrace this change or be (competitively speaking) eliminated by this change.

HR and L&D professionals need to raise their awareness to market developments in AI capabilities. Whether attending conferences, reading thought leadership books and articles or simply scanning the internet, they need to be cognizant of the changes.

Review the competency model

The best companies take a focused and systematic approach to building capability using their competency model. But there should be a regular monitoring of the model to ensure it’s aligned to the strategic direction of the organisation and the rapidly changing face of technology.

This should not be HR naval gazing, but rather a strategically-focused broad discussion with the leadership team to ensure the model is fit for purpose.

Invest in learning journeys

The traditional classroom learning with no follow-up seldom produces sustainable change. Learning professionals know that participants applying their new knowledge and skills significantly increase recall after training.

So development should be focused on learning journeys with continuous investment to embed the training. These ‘investments’ can be in management time and focus to ensure true learning takes place. The options are numerous from pre and post digital learning, action learning sets, to coaching and bite size sessions.

By investing in upskilling and reskilling we can empower employees to develop new skills for the future.

Human Capital will be the one sustainable competitive advantage – learning to learn: quickly, effectively and elegantly – will be the key for individuals and organisations and nations.

Are you ready to lead the challenge?

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