Everyone is worried about skills

Posted by mattpoy on March 20, 2015 Posted in Learning, Next Gen, People, People Skills Talent, Skills, Talent, Technology Tagged Education, Investment in people, Learning, People, Skills

I have traversed three continents these last few weeks, from Europe to the west coast of America, then back and across to the Middle East.

The trips all centred around assessment and skills events – culminating in apprentices week in the UK. “Everyone is worried about skills” said the BBC’s Steph McGovern at the CITB Building Futures conference. The challenges are different but the concerns are the same – whether you sit in the US or UK with their growing economies or the Middle East with their large numbers of young people, a shortage of the right skills to meet the needs of employers and their evolving industries will impact progress.

I believe technology doesn’t always help – young people make choices based on cultural changes and technological influences, and yet industries, jobs and the needs of employers are not the same. They must be aligned.

We do have a solution – young people learn from other young people, so let’s showcase our stars and use technology to promote them as case studies of success. In other words, a career in IT can mean working at Sky TV or motor racing, a career in construction might give somebody the opportunity to be in the team that builds the next Shard or Premier League football stadium. Let’s create success stories of young people who love their work and promote them as role models – then use technology to spread the word.

I close with real hope – I was very impressed by the enthusiasm and desire to succeed shown by the apprentices at the JustIT learner awards night where I shared my thoughts on the fusion of technology and education – I will continue to shout from the rooftops, that if you wake up with the attitude, desire and motivation to do a great job, invariably you will do well.

March of the Machines

Posted by mattpoy on March 5, 2015 Posted in Future of Technology, People, Skills Tagged Future of work, Future Technology, Investment in people, People, Robots, Skills

There is a Future of Work event taking place this week, so I will add my remarks to this field of discussion. It is important to keep perspective and recognise that in this race between computers and people – people need to win. It is key that we find the things that humans are really good at, to make our pitch for the long term.

The work environment is changing. More than 1 billion people will work virtually this year; mobile will extend its dominant position; artificial intelligence and robots could automate 40% of jobs within 20 years. Those most at risk include security guards and financial advisers, but just about every clerical and administrative role is at risk.

Technology is pervading every work environment and so people have to take charge of their careers and re-skill and up-skill themselves for the next role or project in hand. Everyone has to be responsible for their own development.

For the lower skilled or those starting out, I am concerned. There will be fewer job opportunities and weakened job security for them, plus how do they take their first step on the work-progress-skills cycle?

With the need for lower-skilled roles drying up, the most worrying paradox is that we are struggling to fill jobs at a time when we have a record number of people available to fill them. The mismatch shows no signs of abating and parts of Europe have very high unemployment rates for young people. We need to do something about it and give everybody a chance.

FORO and other matters

Posted by mattpoy on January 5, 2015 Posted in Communication, Future of Technology, People Skills Talent, Skills Tagged Future Technology, Futurology, Gadgets, People, Skills, Talent

The Christmas holidays are just about at an end and people are turning their attentions to the new year and their work. Gifts have been exchanged, clementines and chocolate devoured and the gyms have started their annual marketing campaigns to entice more of us to exercise, if only for two weeks in January.

As the new year rolls in we have other matters to deal with – new terms and skills, even new anxieties. The future of work may well mean no CVs, no performance reviews, no permanence. Business Intelligence might easily be shared in real time via wearable devices, mobile certainly could dominate everything and many business services crowdsourced.

Topping the LinkedIn hottest skills list last year was ‘Statistical Analysis and Data Mining’ and the most popular coding language was ‘Python.’ All of this was new to the average person and business.

The standout thing for me was the sudden loss of time yet it became even more important to assign time to networking, speaking to and meeting important customers and key influencers in our lives. The image above right made me chuckle – I enjoyed my Business Administration classes back in the 80s the most, and no class was complete without Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but last year we added 3 new rows to life’s necessities.

The biggest change of all this year will be ‘FORO’ – the fear of running out, and so our briefcases and satchels will need to include even more cables and devices.

A Happy New Year to everyone.

A story for this time of year

Posted by mattpoy on December 1, 2014 Posted in Future of Technology, Ideas, Next Gen, People, People Skills Talent, Talent, Technology Tagged Future Technology, Next Gen, People, Skills, Talent

Last week I presented at the CCA Annual Conference at the Edinburgh Assembly Rooms. An excellent event. Despite all the noise around technology – big data, wearables, the internet of things – our audience created more conversation around my stories and emphasis on talent. I liked that. This was a crowd of deep thinkers.

The greatest mix is that of old and new. Whilst I implore companies to give young talent a chance and to watch how the net generation will flourish if we attract and engage them on their terms (normally with technology in mind), I equally underlined the value of the older worker. The more experienced employee has a lot to offer, they are committed, they know the ropes and their experience is telling; and they are staying in post for longer, so the younger generations need to be better skilled to displace them.

Here is a summary of a story I told last week where two generations didn’t quite gel, or understand each other: a young lady beat off other applicants to make it to the final stage of interview and meet the CEO of the hiring company. She arrived on time and was immaculately presented. All good so far.

She was invited into the office of the CEO, a gentleman with years of success on his sleeve and decades her senior. The interview was progressing well, as planned, and then her phone start buzzing in her bag. The young lady pulled out the device mid-interview and started texting in reply, oblivious to the sudden stop in proceedings. This is what she was used to doing. The CEO waiting patiently for her to stop and then ended the interview, thanked her for her time, and saw her to the door. The interview process was about to start again, for this lady did not get the job.

I can see that the net generation does things in its own way and communicates differently, but there are certain rules of etiquette, respect and simple good manners that stand the test of time. I hope those things will never change.

Don’t be fooled by technology

Posted by mattpoy on October 11, 2014 Posted in Future of Technology, Next Gen, Technology Tagged Future Technology, Next Gen, People

Standard thinking is that technology has made our lives easier, that it takes care of communication for us, that we can broadcast our messages on multiple platforms from one place. That is not altogether accurate.

Technology is a gateway to communication, it is the oxygen of our net generation, that much is true, and allows us to reach people plus gather and share ideas like never before. In fact crowdsourcing is still hugely under-utilised in my book. But technology has lowered the barriers to entry, it allows more companies to compete regardless of size, and more people apply for the same jobs. Add to the mix the recovery in the markets and we now have to work even harder to stand out from the crowd.

When you look at LinkedIn, you are one in 300 million potential job seekers. One executive search agency said recently they receive up to 200 emails from job seekers each day. The agency continued to say if an email comes in with a straightforward CV attached, they are unlikely to even look at it. So what impresses?

Handwritten notes, an individual who clearly has undertaken vast amounts of research and a unique characteristic, personal interest or achievement is what it takes.

Technology has made life easier in many ways, but it is harder to differentiate. What are you doing to stand out?

Robots, Jobs, People

Posted by mattpoy on September 16, 2014 Posted in Future of Technology, Next Gen, People, Skills, Technology Tagged Future Technology, People, Skills, Small Business

I had a great time presenting at the Learning Live Conference in London last week and engaged in some great discussion afterwards. I wanted to share one of my points here, and how we can use change to our advantage.

Our work environment is evolving and more than 1 billion people will work virtually by 2015. Are we thinking about this – can it help us attract new talent, from further afield, and save operational costs?

At the same time, artificial intelligence and robots could automate a high percentage of jobs (40% of jobs within 20 years across the board), as technology pervades every work environment – this means it is down to us as individuals to continue to up-skill and stay in touch, particularly as more and more low-skilled positions are taken over by technology. This will result in fewer job opportunities and weakened job security for the low-skilled. Coupled with that is those who do work hard and seek the next step may well be trapped in low-level entry positions as older workers stay in post longer. Just because the older generation have the cash to spend doesn’t mean they want to retire. In fact, older workers are better engaged and can add more value in the workplace than ever before. In many cases their experience is priceless.

But with change, automation and new technology comes opportunity – we have to believe that – and as Ashok Vaswani, Barclays CEO for Retail Banking said recently, “People are not designed to do the same thing again and again and again. Utilise people where it requires the mind and the application of judgement.”

Let’s think about that.

Minds Wide Open

Posted by mattpoy on July 8, 2014 Posted in Learning, MOOC Tagged Learning, MOOC, People

I am just back from a whirlwind trip to Barcelona for EduLearn 2014. Good conference and very engaged audience. It was too short, as always, but I picked up some great new contacts and nuggets of learning.

My topic was “Making MOOCs (In)Credible,” using examples from Harvard and others on how to give customers your ear and anticipate tomorrow’s needs. I think MOOCs will transform education in time and everybody will be learning in smaller bite-sized chunks from handheld devices, on the go and anytime – and the MOOCs fit that need.

With technology impacting learning so much I feel we have a duty to keep our institutions ahead of the curve and explore new ideas. We know how important it is to give customers our ear. We recognise that social is the new marketing and yet I sense not everyone is listening. 93% of small and medium sized-businesses are still not mobile compatible.

My biggest takeaway these past 2 days actually relates back to a poster I saw in one of our Pearson offices – “Minds Wide Open”. Embrace the opportunity new technology can bring and don’t be afraid to try things – you can easily change course along the way.

It’s about people – it always is

Posted by mattpoy on April 22, 2014 Posted in People, People Skills Talent, Talent Tagged People, Skills, Talent

As far back as 2001, when Jim Collins wrote Good to Great, he said “technology by itself is never a primary root cause of either greatness or decline.” That rings true even today, despite the massive disruption taking place as new generations of workers launch their brilliant ideas – think of Halo, Snapchat and Vine. All of these came about as a result of an individual or a group thinking differently.

When Collins and his team of researchers set out to establish what made companies ‘great,’ they expected that leaders would set out the strategy and the vision, and make it compelling enough that their employees would follow. Instead they discovered something different, that they first got the right people on the bus and in the right seats – and then they figured out where to drive it.

One of the early birds in the revolution was Circuit City, the company that pioneered the electronics superstore in the US (sadly not around today), and the one of the protagonists in their success was asked to name the top 5 factors that led to their transition to a great organisation.

He replied, “One would be people.”

“Two would be people.”

“Three would be people.”

“Four would be people.”

“And five would be people.”

It seems we need to correct the old adage “People are your most important asset.” People are not your most important asset. The right people are.

Borrowing ideas from Apollo 13

Posted by mattpoy on January 20, 2014 Posted in Future of Technology, People, People Skills Talent, Talent Tagged Future Technology, People, Talent

As someone with an interest in space, I was transfixed as the team in Houston pulled together to generate ideas when Apollo 13 ran into trouble, particularly how they brainstormed to fix the carbon dioxide removal system.

Part of Mission Control’s method to find a solution was to discover what the spare parts were and not just recycle the same old ingredients. They chose not to sit around in isolation but get more parts on the table to give them options. Eventually they found the answer and saved the crew.

Their approach lends itself nicely to the tech world we are immersed in today. How do we get lots of parts – ideas, even people – to the table? Proctor & Gamble figure that for every senior scientist it employs, there are two hundred others working somewhere else in the world, just as good. Using technology platforms such as Innocentive and Kaggle, it can reach those minds and get access to some brilliant ideas to keep it at the leading edge of its industry.

However we connect, network, generate ideas or discover new products, we must do the same.