Employers and workers adapting to a rapidly changing environment
PAUL HEALY, CEO OF SKILLNET IRELAND
WITH a smile, the CEO of Skillnet Ireland, Paul Healy, said a huge aspect of his job is to “predict the future”, which he readily acknowledges is a big challenge.
As guest speaker at the IRD Duhallow Business Awards, he gave the nod of approval to the work of IRD Duhallow who he said are shaping the region into what it is.
“Ireland has now expanded into a global mega trend and that can be seen from the persuasive nature of technology to the changes of urbanisation,” he said.
He outlined how our economy is being rapidly reshaped by technology, automation, globalisation, geo-political shifts, including Brexit, and several other forces.
“The manifestation of changes being discussed in the debate on the ‘future of work’ are already with us today and are influencing the way companies operate and how work is organised. This affects job content, skill needs and quality requirements. This transformation is creating opportunity but it’s also creating disruption — and, with it, insecurity for many businesses and workers,” he said.
He pointed out that some of this insecurity can be attributed to two gaps that are preventing the country from leveraging its talent and “our people from realising their full potential”.
The first is a skills gap, as too many people lack the skills they need to compete for 21st Century jobs. The second is a people gap as, again, too many businesses can’t find the workers, and often workers with the right skills they need, when and where they need them.
“Closing both gaps is imperative to our competitiveness,” said Mr Healy.
There is equally no escaping demographics as people are now living longer but, in a contrasting sphere, people are equally having much longer careers and, in between, much more varied careers.
“There is the need to up-skill and this has to occur numerous times over our careers. To put it in stark perspective, the jobs our children will do in the future haven’t even been invented yet,” said Mr Healy.
As well documented, Ireland has long been regarded as “higher education junkies” but we just may have reached a peak. “But is it to the detriment of apprenticeships?,” he asked.
The country is now at the stage that it hasn’t been at for many years as the country is tipping the point of full employment but, yet, there are still some people who are not engaged in work.
“The economy is like a powerhouse and it would be a shame to be held back by the lack of people. Human capital is the greatest asset any company can have,” he said.
As there were so many businesses in the room, he posed the question: do employers fully tap into the full potential of their workforce?
Employees want a sense of purpose and autonomy in their roles but it’s a ‘no-no’ when it comes to being micromanaged.
During his very informative presentation, he also dipped into the famed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.