The Enterprise Guide to Closing the Skills Gap

Strategies for Building and Maintaining a Skilled Workforce

IBM, 2019

5 min read

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Maintaining a skilled workforce takes more than traditional hiring and training.

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As digital capabilities evolve, organizations and their workforces must keep pace. Yet, for most organizations, the way forward is far from clear. In an eye-opening white paper, a team of experts at IBM offer research-based insights and valuable guidance on how to navigate the rapidly changing world of talent management.

Summary

Organizations are facing an increasing shortage of crucial talent.

Companies around the world are finding it increasingly difficult to source the talent they need to compete, innovate and grow. In a 2018 survey, 45% of leaders said they lacked the talent they require; among large employers, the number jumped to 67%. This shortage hampers companies’ ability to reach objectives.

The tightening of global labor markets and rapidly changing skills requirements are exacerbating the problem. New skills are constantly emerging as critical, and even these new skills are frequently becoming obsolete in a matter of years, not decades. In the near future, intelligent automation (IA) – the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to automate the management of business processes – could require the reskilling of some 120 million workers in the world’s 12 largest economies.

Soft skills, in particular, have become indispensable – and scarce.

Soft or behavioral...

About the Authors

Annette LaPrade is the global deployment lead for the IBM Institute for Business Value Performance Data and Benchmarking program. Janet Mertens is the global HR research leader in the IBM Institute for Business Value. Tanya Moore is a partner in the IBM Talent and Transformation business, and Amy Wright is the managing partner there.

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