Keep the pace and invest in the skills of the future
Objective: Define the upskilling strategy and, with it, the relevant execution plans and resources.
Approach: The design thinking methodology allows stakeholders to conceptualise, co-create and prototype new products, services, strategies and business models and to prepare best the upskilling initiative.
Outcome: A precise scope, a defined budget, a defined implementation and execution strategy and a stakeholder engagement plan.
Objective: Analyse the organisation’s future workforce needs and align them with its digital strategy and its vision of the business development in the upcoming years.
Approach: By using our toolbox (workforce planning) and analysing the organization’s employee data, we will be able to share insights on the risk of automation of your most impacted roles and departments. We will also be able to identify the future suitable or transformed positions for these most impacted roles.
Outcome:
Assess current competencies of impacted employees. Accompaniment by a personal advisor, evaluation with AI-tools.
Objective: Understand the full potential of each employee and prepare a successful job matching and identification of a potential skills gap.
Approach: Each participating employee will be accompanied by a certified personal advisor or coach throughout the upskilling process. Together with this personal advisor as well as our upskilling toolbox, the current skills of each employee will be assessed and documented. The personal advisor receives the transversal, professional and digital skills assessment results, which will be debriefed in a face-to-face meeting with the participating employee.
Outcome: Strengths of the employee will be emphasised and be a good base for career or job transformation plan identified with coach. The organisation will receive regular reports. Due to confidentiality, the organisation will not receive access to the questionnaire reports.
Find the best possible job and training match for the impacted employees, either internally or externally. Accompanied Job & training matching and job-suggestion tools taking into account vacancies and the skills gap towards new job
Objective: Find the right future job for the participating employees - this job can be an internal job or an external job according to the scenario. The employee will build a job transition scenario with his personal advisor confidentially.
Approach: Our toolbox provides job matching opportunities for real-time vacant positions (either internal or external). The tool is fed with vacancies either from job boards, career websites or data from the unemployment agency. The CV and skills assessment of the employee is uploaded in the tool. The job matching shows the employee’s profile and improvement potential, the potential real-time job opportunities and the skills gap. Moreover, the tool can show up the best fitting trainings to cover the skills gap.
Outcome: Personalised job matching and individual skills development plan for each participating employee.
Train the new competencies to be best prepared for the new challenge: Definition of technical, transversal and digital training needs and elaboration of a training plan for each employee
Objective: Organise and follow-up on the trainings of the employees; provide e-learnings and training content via the platform.
Approach: Our toolbox can provide the organisation with a learning management system, which allows to follow the progress of each employee and see future and past upskilling trainings. The toolbox can also integrate existing training platforms - internal or external to the organisation.
Outcome: The employee will have an overview of his/her progress and trainings, he/she can evaluate the trainings and take e-learning classes. The personal advisor can also see the progress of each employee to catch up and motivate when progress drops down.
Objective: The Skills Expander foresees a strong and regular collaboration between the board, the HR department, the operator and other stakeholders. We also recommend regular monitoring, evaluation and detection of transversal improvement areas.
Approach: Communication is key in a transformation project, which impacts and changes the workforce. We therefore provide the organisation with
Outcome: By integrating the end-to-end solution and continuously monitoring it, a streamlined programme administration will be installed. Moreover, market alignment and a clear ROI will result.
A comprehensive solution supported by an integrated platform
We have developed an integrated platform with a set of flexible modules that can be easily tailored to your specific needs. The modules support the implementation of the Skills Expander process and support each step defined above (e.g. workforce planning, skills assessment, job and training matching, integrated data protection & communication). Each participant can enter the platform through a single point of entry. Depending on their individual Skills Expander journey, they can access the modules relevant to their personal development.
Upskilling has become, more than ever, the indispensable response to the ongoing technological and economic transformation. It is an essential element of a new ‘social contract’ which the new technological changes require if we want them to represent an opportunity for all.
Laurent Probst is a Partner at PwC Luxembourg and leads the Government Digital Transformation and Innovation activities. He is the founder and partner of PwC’s Accelerator Network, building the export capacities of thousands of innovative EU companies. Laurent works with governments and international institutions, leading strategic projects focused on the adoption of digital transformation for sustained economic development. His focus is to remedy the increasing skills gap that limits economic growth potential through two major projects: EU 2030 High-tech Skills Vision and Strategy Development for the EU manufacturing industry, and the development and implementation of a national upskilling solution (www.skillsbridge.lu) for the Luxembourg government. Laurent created two coding schools to upskill and enable employment of workers in tech-related, sustainable jobs. Additionally, he was appointed as an advisor to the UNDP for the development of the Global Knowledge Index and has recently produced the Future of Knowledge Report for UNDP and MBRF (www.knowledge4all.org).
Christian Scharff is a Partner at PwC Luxembourg, leading the People & Organisation practice. He coordinates EMEA HR Technology activities and advises companies in Europe on technology and its consequence to human resource management. He is a recognised expert in the deployment of major HR ERP systems like Workday and SuccessFactors, and has worked on projects related to Rifkin’s 3rd Industrial Revolution (Luxembourg government (www.tirlux.lu), revamping university business plans (Advisory Board Member, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI [Moscow Engineering Physics Institute]), and supporting organisational CSR journeys (Inspiring More Sustainability Luxembourg (www.imslux.lu) & Luxembourg Diversity Charter (www.chartediversite.lu/en). With his colleague Laurent, he created the Luxembourg upskilling programme and co-leads its international deployment. Christian holds a degree in HR Management from HEC Saint Louis (Brussels) and a postgraduate degree in management from the Solvay (Brussels) Business School. He attended the Advanced Management Programme (INSEAD, Fontainebleau).
Christian and Laurent are supported by a team of +20 experts from the technology, People & Organisation and Public Sector departments in PwC.
For governments struggling with the unemployable, businesses suffering from a dearth of skilled workers and markets trapped by languishing revenue, this book provides a roadmap to an exciting and bright future. Intellectual Capital is very dependent upon our deeper understanding of how to effectively design and implement upskilling initiatives.
Laurent Probst & Christian Scharff have cracked the code. Instrumental in the development and implementation of SkillsBridge (www.skillsbridge.lu) for the Luxembourg government, they now implement this sustainable solution throughout the world.
This book looks at the impact of technological growth and purposeful action. It provides a solution to one of the most critical but soft infrastructure issues faced by society today; the life cycle of practical skills and the sustainable span of professional knowledge. Upskill 6 Steps to Unlock Economic Opportunity for All, outlines strategies, actions and policies that enable government, business and society to work together, in lockstep, to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future.
