Pragmatic Digital Skill Building

The ideal for attaining digital transformation is to build digital competencies and skills. While some can write big checks to the large consultancy firms, most organizations want a more affordable and incremental approach to build digital skills that eventually lead to excellent competencies. Let's explore a couple of approaches for developing digital skills incrementally. Before implementing any approach, it is essential to pick digital on ramps or mini digital journeys to target to focus areas of priority for your organization. See research that identifies 32 digital on ramps   Once a focus is selected, there are three helpful approaches.

Focused Outside Hires:

If you are lucky enough to find a digital resource in your area of focus that you can afford, jump at the opportunity. Unfortunately there is a shortage of digital skills and there is dearth of real implementation experience, so this approach as a primary strategy is a luxury at this point in time. Gaining an advantage by hiring young and hungry talent from digitally focused schools will play out in the long haul, however something needs to be done now.

Rent Spot Digital Skills:

While your organization might not want the big bang large consultancy approach, there is no reason not to rent digital skills from consultancies that focus on knowledge transfer; not knowledge hoarding. Finding a consultant that can grow digital skills in your employees while delivering results is ideal. However focusing on results and viral skill building simultaneously might be a bit much.

Building Skills Through Training:

If you can find training, organizations can bring send selected employees out to training or bring trainers in for mass training.  However this approach can be expensive in terms of cash flow and time off the job. Scheduling these skill interventions can be difficult, so self paced learning opportunities are best, if you can find sources. Online learning organizations have digital offerings worthy of investigation.

Net; Net:

Your organizations digital efforts will likely use a combination of all of the three approaches, so the challenge is find the right mix for your choice of digital on ramps or mini-journeys.


Additional Resources:

Digital On Ramps
Skillsoft’s Digital Transformation Learning Solution
Digital Competencies
Digital Skills