Biodegradable skills

The world of work is evolving at the speed of light. Faced with the fragility of assets, companies must adjust strategically to survive. To prevent them from becoming obsolete or biodegradable assets, skills and knowledge must be updated quickly and constantly.

Are you at risk?

Crocodile syndrome is an interesting theory at this level. The author of this theory, Dominique Bouteiller, defines it as the gap between the level of skills required by a job and the level of skills capital available within the company[1]. In other words, do we have the skills needed to serve customers? The larger the gap, the more the crocodile’s mouth opens. The company risks suffering consequences that could endanger its sustainability if the skills needed today are not within its reach.

Your proactive solution

First, clearly identify short, medium and long-term skills gaps. What skills will be prioritized in 1, 5 or 10 years? Then incorporate training and development activities for your resources. Here are the steps to follow:

• Analyze your needs in relation to your customers and your strategic direction;
• Establish an action plan;
• Budget a training plan;
• Carry out knowledge transfer with appropriate learning strategies;
• Evaluate the impact of the plan training ;
• Correct, and start again.

Finally, don’t forget that since 2015 the threshold for subjugation to the Skills Act has been revised upwards. Any company with a payroll greater than $2M is required to invest the equivalent of 1% of this amount to promote the development of its resources.

So, are you ready for the world of tomorrow?

SOURCE:
[1 ] BOUTEILLER, Dominique (1997) “The crocodile syndrome and the challenge of continuous learning” International Review of Management, Special Issue “Workforce Training”, Vol. 22, No 3, autumn, p. 14-25.