Research reveals widening employee/employer skills confidence gap for ANZ and globally

Less than half of ANZ employees (46 per cent) were confident in their employer's prioritisation of developing new opportunities for them, according to the results of global research commissioned by Cornerstone OnDemand.

We found that the ANZ figures show significantly less confidence than the worldwide average where more than half (55 per cent) of employees are confident in their organisation's future prioritisation of new skilling opportunities.

Our 2022 Global Skills Report focused on organisational trends in the evolving skills-development landscape and highlighted key issues for companies across the world. Surveying 1,800 employees and more than 800 business leaders across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, the study compared how each cohort felt their company was investing in skills development and how that influenced both talent and business outcomes.

The research also compared the prioritisation of high-performing organisations, or HPOs, (those that outpace their peer group) with low-performing organisations across the world. High-performing organisations prioritise skill development and invest in it at a higher level, and the opinions of both employers and employees tend to be more aligned worldwide.

The gap is narrower for high performers

In ANZ high-performing organisations, there was only a 7 per cent difference between employers' (100 per cent) and employees' (93 per cent) confidence levels, compared to a 44 per cent gap in low-performing or laggard organisations, with only 12 per cent of employees feeling confident their employer prioritises skills development, compared to 56 per cent of employers.

ANZ HPOs compared favourably to global HPOs, which revealed an 11 per cent gap. But our laggard results were 2 per cent behind their global counterparts (42 per cent).

Overall, just 55 per cent of employees globally felt their organisation's skills development was a priority, compared to 86 per cent of employers (31 percentage point gap).

The research found that in many countries, the pandemic exacerbated or accelerated issues that already limited organisational ability to adapt and change. Long-term talent shortages and new challenges, like the rapid pace of digital transformation, are asserting themselves and threatening many businesses' ability to execute, grow and innovate.

Globally, the survey uncovered a 30 percentage point gap between organisational leaders' and employees' confidence in their employer's ability to provide skills development and that gap widened between 2020 and 2022.

In APAC, 37 per cent of employers have already begun prioritising developing skills compared to other regions, which sit at around 24 per cent.

The research also revealed that employees rely on mentors more than organisations may realise, with a third globally (33 per cent) seeking guidance from internal mentors. In APAC, the figure was higher at 37 per cent. APAC employees (42 per cent) also relied more on independent internet research for career development than the global average (39 per cent). APAC employees (40 per cent) were similarly more willing to look at their company's skills and development platform for learning than the rest of the world (34 per cent). By contrast, they were less likely to consult their immediate manager (30 per cent) than the global average (34 per cent).

Increasing skills development increases demand for more learning

The research found that employees at HPOs relied heavily on their company's skills and development platform, internal company mentors and immediate managers. Almost all HPOs worldwide (97 per cent) are prioritising learning and development via a mix of technology, learning content, formal or university learning, mentoring and on-the-job learning. It tells us these organisations are the trailblazers, and their increased focus on L&D should provide a good benchmark for other businesses.

Employees almost universally thirst for more knowledge, with nearly 80 per cent worldwide rating skills development content above all other skills-related resources. The research also found that providing more learning programs within HPOs doesn't lessen the demand but increases the employee drive to learn more. In other words, high-performing employees want more from their employers, not less.

HPOs are highly invested in skills development that works for most stakeholders. They look for outcomes that improve employee growth (97 per cent), help meet business goals (97 per cent), provide employees with a guided and personalised career trajectory (95 per cent), and give employees the ability to acquire skills that interest them (96 per cent).

Globally, both employees (31 per cent) and employers (37 per cent) put training and development near the top of overall business priorities, with customer service and increasing revenue the only two priorities placed higher in ranking. That figure was higher in HPOS at 42 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively, compared to just 26 and 34 per cent in laggard organisations.

Practical Steps to better business outcomes

The research results demonstrated that employers increasingly need to adopt a skills-forward approach to learning and talent to prepare their workforce and workplace for the future. Like the rest of the world, Australian and New Zealand companies need to take some practical steps to build high-impact future skills and narrow the gap between employer and employee perception about skills development to outpace the competition.

Our tips are:

• Predict future skills your organisation will need and identify potential skills gaps among your people.
• Integrate intelligent skills technology into other career development tools that your organisation is already using or should be using.
• Foster a learning culture that prioritises skill-building and empowers people to grow.
• Strategise and deliver more relevant, modern and personalised learning content to your people.
• Adopt an internal-first hiring mindset to encourage skills development and career growth.

Paul Broughton is the head of APJ Cornerstone OnDemand