“It’s the individuals who innovate and activate every piece of technology [inside an organization],” EY consultant Mike Bertolino said in his Upskilling the Adaptive Workforce keynote address at a recent conference. “Until computers become synthesized and work on their own, they will always need humans to use them.”
Upskilling programs can help employers bolster their recruitment and retention efforts at a time when it’s especially challenging for many firms to be properly staffed. But companies need to also go beyond and make sure they create opportunities within for ambitious employees who want more or risk losing them, Bertolino said.
“We live in an age of hyper-disruption and every company must transform or they will die on the vine,” he said. “Instead of asking, ‘How do I train my people?’ we [need to] ask instead, ‘How can I create an adaptive workforce?’”