Dive Brief:
- According to MIT research, many employee tasks have shifted to "non-routine analytical and interpersonal tasks," says Dennis Callahan, founder of Learnstreaming.com and an award-winning learning professional. This means individuals must be able to assess their own ability to learn these tasks, much of which happens on their own.
- Examples of non-routine tasks can include problem-solving, persuading others, being creative, and using personal intuition to make decisions. These are traits often associated with leaders in the STEM and marketing career paths.
- An SAP and Oxford Economics study shows that employees are growing in concern about being left behind due to job changes. The study revealed that 50% of employees advise that the skills they have now may be obsolete in the next 3 years.
Dive Insight:
The number one take-away from this article is that the ability to learn new skills is becoming an asset in itself in the workplace. This means that employees need to embrace corporate learning and development and participate if they don't want to be replaced by others who have a love for learning new things.
Callahan points out the growing number of companies that are seeking candidates who place learning above other priorities — companies like Google, Accenture, and AT&T. Every candidate should be thinking of ways to demonstrate learning as a core value in order to remain relevant and competent.
