Ajay has 20+ years' experience in leading businesses and at Degreed, he has supported in the development of sustainable market in the APAC region.

The world, as we knew it, fundamentally shifted overnight. People began working from home in huge numbers, our social lives moved online, industries were disrupted and economies were shocked. By some estimates, the response to the Coronavirus pandemic has fast-forwarded digital adoption by five years.

These changes have put pressure on businesses (and their workforces) to respond quickly. The rapid acceleration of digital transformation, in particular, is making digital skills even more in-demand. And this will continue for years, because the advances we make this year in remote working, agile set-ups, virtual learning, and more, will carry through 2021 and beyond.

Massive Skill Shifts
A clear result of the widespread global digitalisation is massive skill shifts. This was already a challenge before the pandemic. The World Economic Forum estimated that at least 54% of all employees need to be reskilled and upskilled by 2022. 75 million jobs are expected to be displaced, with 133 million new roles created by technological advances by 2022. The Coronavirus crisis has advanced this - entire industries have been disrupted. Take, for example, the events industry that had to pivot to online events, the rise of tele-health, and the travel and hospitality sector that stalled for several months. Now, more than 58% of workforces report skills transformations since the pandemic's onset.

Future recovery also hinges on technology. Using technology, workforces can become more agile and business leaders can proactively respond to, and predict future events. As AnantMaheshwari, president of Microsoft India explains, "Looking ahead, technology will have a critical role to play in building economic resilience. The pace of digital acceleration and innovation will be key to recovery."

A clear urgent need to upskill people for their new reality. But how can business leaders achieve this now? In a relatively short time frame (given the urgency) and in a resource-effective way?

Across all Sectors
Whereas before, there were digital transformations stuck in pilot phases. The crisis made them mainstream within just a few months. Edge computing and cloud technology is enabling widespread remote work, virtual classrooms, contactless commerce, smart (safe) cities and more. We're reimaging online business models and digital revenue lines, remote leaderships, and having to step-up cybersecurity. And this needs people with the right skills, in the right roles, at the right time.

An Urgent Need to Upskill
There is, therefore, a clear urgent need to upskill people for their new reality. But how can business leaders achieve this now? In a relatively short time frame (given the urgency) and in a resource-effective way?

How to Upskill
An advanced, people-focused upskilling strategy can be broken down into seven steps:

Step 1: Identify Future Skills
Look at the critical capabilities that your workers will need within the next one to three years. Focus on each business area, and only a handful of skills so that your employees don't get overwhelmed. Put in place regular reviews to reassess your skill needs as the business evolves and the market changes. This is particularly critical now, given the current economic volatility.

Step 2: Assess Your Current Skills
For an accurate starting point, assess your employees' current skills. That way, both you and your employee understand where they've started from and can measure their progress.

Step 3: Set Organisational Goals
Your initial focus should be on filling existing and predicted skill gaps, specifically ones that are business-critical and will hinder your business strategy if they are lacking. If, for instance, your retail organisation is pivoting to e-commerce, you'll want to prioritise your employee's digital marketing, online sales, data analysis and specialist e-commerce platform skills.

Step 4: Tailor Your Learning to Skills and Preferences
Your upskilling efforts will fail if your people aren't on-board with your plans. Look at their individual preferences, the skills they are interested in building, their career goals, and also how they like to learn. This will help you determine the best learning methods for your organization, whether they're online, team-based, peer-to-peer or on-the-job training - or a combination of these methods.

Step 5: Match Skills to Opportunities
The next step in engaging your workforce with your upskilling strategy is to give them the `why' behind their learning efforts. Connect your employees with new projects, stretch assignments or jobs through a dynamic career marketplace. This gives them a clear reason to learn: to take the next step in their career journey.

Step 6: Make Skills Data Actionable
Your skills data is valuable. Make sure it's clearly displayed through dashboards and visuals that enable your executive team, hiring managers, HR, learning teams and other stakeholders to make more data-driven workforce and upskilling decisions.

Step 7: Communicate Your Successes
Regularly communicating your successes and results will help you to gain buy-in for your future upskilling plans. Focus on the results that are important to senior leaders and particularly relevant to supporting your business goals.

Preparing for the Future
We're facing opportunities and challenges like never before. You must equip your people with the skills that your business needs to achieve its goals, navigate the changing times, and embrace new technologies. Helping to prepare them for the future and drive your business to long-term success.