As organisations across Singapore brace themselves for a disruptive business landscape, how can they invest in agile skill-building and transform at the speed of change?

The keyword for the current business climate is ‘disruption.’

It is evident not only in the shifting socio-economic landscape but equally, impacts where, when and how people work to keep their businesses thriving. From flexibility to continuous innovations in technology, organisations have also had to embrace a skills-based economy with a dwindling lifespan of current capabilities.

While it opens up doors for agility, creativity and lifelong learning among working professionals, the flipside stems from the accelerated pace of change.

In Singapore, skill sets for the same job have changed by 36% since 2015 and are expected to change by more than 50% in 2025. This is alarming yet exciting for innovators in the space of people and work.

The vision is to no longer just meet the skilling needs of today but to craft strategies that can ensure your organisation stays ahead of the curve and remains competitive during these challenging times.

Build v/s Buy strategy: Which one will be more impactful for businesses?

When it comes to debating between a build v/s buy strategy for strengthening a sustainable workforce, the former inevitably take the lead, given that building agility and resilience from within yields far greater returns in the long run.

As many as 93% of L&D professionals believe that proactively building employee skills will help navigate the evolving future of work.

One integral element to the success of this ‘building skills from within’ strategy also involves keeping a pulse on the in-demand skills in the current market. This calls for in-depth skill analysis as well as continuous networking and learning from other organisations and leaders operating in the same industry as well as facing similar challenges.

Internal mobility for the win to champion sustainable and agile skill-building

To achieve the desired outcomes from upskilling programs, learner engagement is fundamental, but the good news is that employees’ number one motivation to learn is to progress towards their goals. When organisations strategically align employee aspirations to business outcomes, accelerating future readiness by prioritising business and skills, transformation becomes easier.

Additionally, it supports in retention of your critical talent, given that employees stay at companies almost 2x longer if the employer is highly committed to internal hiring. Research also supports this, with 91% of employees in Singapore calling out for more L&D opportunities.

While leaders today are well aware of the arguments that support building a robust internal talent pipeline by offering continuous learning and career advancement opportunities, working your way through the waves of rapid yet uncertain change calls for more strategic efforts. The current climate is indeed disruptive, and organisations must empower a disruption-proof workforce by reimagining their learning strategies, infrastructure and delivery to become even more agile and achieve the desired impact.

The talent marketplace is no longer always outside the organisation but can also be strengthened from within, keeping in mind a future-first, future-forward lens to skill-building.

But how can organisations proceed in this direction? What is a foolproof way to stay ahead of the curve in an evolving skills economy? How can employee aspirations be balanced with business needs? How can organisations achieve the desired breakthroughs with their talent and L&D strategies?

To answer these questions and more, Alvin Goh, Executive Director of SHRI, is all set to share his expert insights in an exciting panel discussion at People Matters L&D Singapore 2023 on Thursday, 13 April 2023 at Fairmont on “The Sustainable Workforce: Built For Disruption, Success, & Growth.”

Register now and be a part of this exclusive conversation with industry leaders and learn more about the latest in-demand power and functional skills and unlock strategies for building a sustainable skills and talent marketplace at your own organisation!

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