Leveraging Edtech for Employees' Upskilling and Reskilling

VUCA world
The business environment has transformed considerably over the years, wherein, we
currently live in society where things change continuously and in an unpredictable manner.
This environment is labelled as VUCA - Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.
Such an environment demands individuals to adapt to these changes to stay relevant and it is
especially more applicable to the field of business. The firms need to constantly revisit their
strategies to ensure that they stay ahead of the curve and manoeuvre through the
unpredictable micro and macro environment. This also asks the employees to stay relevant
and updated with the current industry needs which demands continuous upskilling and
reskilling.

Let us look at some key statistics:

 According to World Economic Forum, In the next two years – by 2022 – 42% of core
skills required to perform existing jobs are expected to change.
 According to OECD, more than 1 billion jobs, almost 1/3 rd of all jobs worldwide, are
likely to be transformed by technology in the next decade.
 According to World Economic Forum, by just 2022, 133 million new jobs in major
economies will be created to meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

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 Figure 1: World Economic Forum
This highlights the imperative need for the firms to execute various upskilling and reskilling
initiatives for their current employees and new hires.

Digitisation – The new normal

Rapid technological advancements has led to an environment wherein IOT, smart gadgets,
social media have become an integral part of the society. Digital is the new normal. This
demands integration of digital technologies to the business environment which could be
witnessed though implementation of Industry 4.0.
The rise in digitisation demands firms to move away from the traditional training practices
and to adopt digital technologies to constantly reskill and upskill employees and get them
accustomed to the new normal.

Figure 2: ITU

Ed Tech technologies
Ed Tech offers the following advantages compared to the conventional training methods:

1. Accessibility
Ed Tech allows the diverse set of individuals to gain access to the same contents and gain
similar insights. These include:
 Electronic worksheets and audio-visual based contents for people with disabilities
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  Text translation and text to speech capabilities to cater to language preference of
the individuals
 Ability to utilize the content at their convenient time and at a convenient place and
thus providing flexibility to employees to train at their own pace

2. Individual learning
Ed Tech allows the employees to take control of their own learning compared to traditional
practices. It allows the employees to learn based on their individual needs and learning style,
making it possible to schedule their training as per convenience. This ensures that employees
make the most of the trainings provided and are ready to face the upcoming business
challenges. It also reduces the efforts needed by the HR department to comabte various
challenges associated with scheduling and executing a physical training session.

Figure 3: Economist

3. Artificial intelligence and Machine learning

Machine learning algorithms have revolutionised the field of online learning through
following measures:
 It helps track the employee’s performance against various parameters and this data
will then help design the future courses so as to tackle the specific weakness
identified by ML algorithms not only for the individuals but also for categories of
individuals.

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  The ML algorithm through chat bots and virtual assistants also helps in
recommending the related training modules to the employee and hence provides
personalized, dynamic and effective solutions excelling employee in their training
journey while also lessening the overall time of the training.

4. Immersive learning
Ed Tech platform provides opportunities to revolutionise the way employees learn by
utilising the latest technologies like Virtual reality, Augmented reality and mixed reality to
ensure that employees – especially in the manufacturing and retail segment have first-hand
experience of the work environment and thus have a lasting experience. Gamification of the
courses also surges the employees’ rate of attraction, engagement and retention and this
results in a more effective learning experience.

Ed Tech use case

Companies like Wipro, Accenture, IBM, etc. have collaborated with companies like upgrade,
Udacity, Simplilearn to train new recruits and have them ready for the projects. The Ed tech
firms provide firms provide campus recruits with content, assignment, project works etc. in
their last semester to ensure that the new recruits are equipped with relevant skills needed
while joining the firm.

Conclusion
The VUCA environment and the rise of the digitisation have ushered in an era of rapid
upskilling and reskilling of the workforce to make them ready for the newer challenges. Ed
Tech can help in revolutionising the way organizations undertake employees’ training while
offering the cost benefits. Various firms have already gauged the potential of the Ed tech and
have started implementing the same for employee upskilling and reskilling.

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