The 7 skills L&D teams need right now

Today’s Thoughts ☠️

Hey there 👋,

It’s been an odd week.

Filled with impostor LinkedIn profiles, ChatGPT crashes and days locked away crafting my latest piece of L&D research. Thankfully, I didn’t run out of tea.

That L&D research I mentioned. It’s all about the skills a modern L&D pro needs to thrive today and for the future.

It’s yours to read now.

Get your tea 🍵 or beverage of choice ready. We've got lots to discuss!

In today’s chat 👇

• The 7 skills L&D teams need for today’s world

• 3 insights from the Future of Jobs report by The World Economic Forum

• ChatGPT for business is here - what this means for L&D

The Big Thought

7 Skills L&D Teams Need For Today’s World

This post is so big, I can’t fit it into today’s conversation.

Instead, I invite you to read it here. Bookmark it too. You’ll thank me later.

I’m super lucky to work with organisations on their skills strategies. I’m even more fortunate that people ask me to talk at events about the future of skills.

This means I’m often drowning in useful skills research.

Instead of hoarding it, I like to put it to good use. I’ve spent the past week updating this article on skills L&D teams need to navigate today’s world. I love the L&D world and want to see you succeed too. I hope this piece will help with that.

I’ve pulled research and skills frameworks from:

• The Josh Bersin Company

• The Learning and Performance Institute

• The Association For Talent Development

• Redthread Research

• My own 15 + years of surviving the L&D rollercoaster

All into a synthesised package to give you the best insights on what skills our industry needs and you as a modern L&D Pro.

I’m excited to hear what you think about it.

👉 Get the full breakdown here

Deep Thought

The Future of Jobs Report 2023: 3️⃣ Key Takeaways

Here’s a breakdown of the World Economic Forum's The Future of Jobs Report. You can download your copy here. These are my personal takeaways.

1️⃣ Analytical thinking skills take the crown

In the year of AI, is it any surprise companies rank analytical thinking as the #1 core skill for work?

Human thinking on any level is something generative AI can’t do.

In an evolving workplace where we’ll likely partner with AI tools, the ability to think like a human will be a prized asset. That’s why it’s no surprise, critical thinking came in at #2 on this list.

The takeaway: double down on your most human skills.

See pages: 37 - 38

2️⃣ The social skills pandemic

Digital technology is beautiful.

I’m a huge fan of what it’s contributed to and enabled in society. Yet, I’m also aware of what we’ve lost.

I feel like we struggle to talk with and engage with each other more as the years pass by. I heard from organisations recently how their next generation of talent struggles to do simple things outside of a screen.

More data on this is now coming to light.

That’s why it’s no surprise this report’s top 10 core skills are stuffed with social skills like:

• Leading: As workplaces become more collaborative and less hierarchical, the ability to lead and influence others is no longer restricted to the C-suite.
  

• Empathy and Active Listening: With remote work and digital communication becoming the norm, the need for empathy and active listening skyrockets. These skills are vital for effective communication and teamwork, particularly when face-to-face interactions are limited.
  

• Emotional Intelligence: High EQ, represented by these social skills, is increasingly seen as a predictor of success, sometimes even over IQ. It's not just about being smart. It's about being smart with people.

Again, tasks AI can’t do.

See pages: 39 - 40

3️⃣ The next 5-year skills outlook

Survival is the game of the human race.

At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to figure out how to survive. Skills are the currency of that game. They’re how we position ourselves in the marketplace of employability.

That was a rather philosophical line.

Anyway, like many other reports, WSE drops their 10 skills for the reskilling and upskilling scene:

1. Analytical thinking

2. Creative thinking

3. AI and big data

4. Leadership and social influence

5. Resilience, flexibility and agility

6. Curiosity and lifelong learning

7. Technological literacy

8. Design and user experience

9. Motivation and self-awareness

10. Empathy and active listening

The takeaway: Skills are always being disrupted. It is the nature of life. What we can see from this data (and others shared before it) is that the future is increasingly looking more human than ever.

Human + AI skills are the winning combo it seems.

If you want to work smarter with generative AI tools Like ChatGPT, it would be a miss for me not to tell you about my crash course.

I’m teaching L&D and HR pros like you how to make AI your partner, not the problem at work. Interested? Join us 👈

See page: 42 - 43

LinkedIn

I post so much on LI, even I lose track of all the stuff. Here’s a quick roundup of drops to keep you and me in the loop:

1️⃣ This is the number #1 reason why no one is using your learning tool

2️⃣ These are the 5 EdTech platforms redefining workplace learning

3️⃣ The AI task and skills assessment framework

4️⃣ There is a workplace tech crisis

5️⃣ The 4 biggest mistakes people make when building their careers

Work smarter with ChatGPT in L&D

Let’s face it. The HR and L&D industry is slow to adapt and adopt the latest tech.

We struggle to connect with our audience because we fail to stay ahead. We’re always last to the party, and that sucks. Sometimes we’re not even invited to the party!

You might feel like this right now with generative AI.

I want to help you change that. Join over 100 fellow L&D pros slaying those AI demons to supercharge their work.

🚀 Level up your ChatGPT skills with my crash course

Smart Thoughts

Content that has caught my attention and might interest you too.

🤔  ChatGPT for business is here!

The biggest complaint about ChatGPT has been privacy and security.

Rightly so, considering the free version is not encrypted and accessible to Open AI employees. But that’s about to change.

This week, Open AI opened the doors for companies to purchase enterprise licenses for the GPT4 model exclusively for business use. That means it’s locked down to your business only and trained on the data models you want.

Will ChatGPT be the biggest business tool of the next year? Stay tuned.

💡 Will this new Google feature kill search and websites?

Google just did a thing.

One that’s probably going to piss a few people off. It’s rolled out a new generation search experience that summarises articles from different websites in a bulleted list.

This keeps you on Google, but it stops you from visiting the sites the content was sourced from. What does this mean for the search experience as we know it?

Does this mean the public won’t get my tea-fueled sarcastic thoughts on my blog? So many questions.

🔥  Why your learning strategies are not an overnight success

Too many companies love the ‘move fast, break stuff’ mantra.

The problem is they all want the instant gratification of results in days, not years. In this video, I share how a digital learning transformation to 2 years to come full circle and produce stellar results.

This is a common timeframe for success.

If you’re CPO is telling you to do this in months. Watch this video.

How I can help you👇

1/ My L&D toolkit stack with 20 zero-cost tools.

2/ Work smarter with AI in HR and L&D in my ChatGPT Crash Course.

3/ Work with me on your projects and L&D challenges.

Please share your thoughts with me on these pieces or anything I share on LinkedIn or hit 'reply'. Chat to you soon.