Education is the key to #DigitalTransformation and addressing digital skills shortage

Educational institutions and organisations must work together to enhance the digital skills of the UK’s current and future workforce after a new report ‘Businesses are not ready to transform (but they don’t know that)…” a Censuswide survey for MHR, revealed that business leaders are failing in their efforts to undertake successful transformation projects because their employees lack the skills and knowledge.

 

The poll of 250 business leaders at public and private sector organisations with more than 1000 employees commissioned by leading HR and payroll provider MHR found that nearly half of leaders (47 percent) feel a general lack of knowledge and training in their workforces in this area is the main barrier to carrying out successful digital transformation.

 

Just under two-fifths (38 percent) of business leaders blamed their company culture for their slowness to adapt to change, while 38 percent said poor collaboration between departments hindered the success of their digital transformation projects.

 

With only six percent of leaders believing there are no barriers to digital transformation there is clearly much frustration amongst business leaders especially as 96 percent said they were actively looking to incorporate new technologies and change their internal processes, while nearly three-quarters (73 percent) said they would like to invest more than ten percent of their annual turnover into digital transformation.

 

“Despite business leaders having a strong appetite for digital transformation, the reality is that many organisations simply aren’t ready to initiate change because their people don’t possess the right skills and knowledge needed.

 

“At a time when digital technology is transforming the way we live and work, organisations can ill-afford to be left behind and must prioritise investing in the skills and digital capabilities of their people if they are to keep pace with new technologies and remain competitive in the digital age.

 

“Our research shows that business leaders are ready to make huge investments into digital transformation projects, but these are almost certain to fail due to the lack of skills and abilities of its people.

 

“Educational institutions have an essential role to address the skills gap by offering the courses and programmes required to educate today’s workforce and the next generation so they have the skills and are confident and proficient in utilising new technologies which will continue to drive the economy and help organisations to continually evolve.”