“Exploring why everybody is talking about all things ‘skills’ and how this is relevant for training providers.”

Jos BerdenApril 15, 2022The skills obsession

What training providers should know about the current ‘skills obsession’

Reskilling, upskilling, the skills gap, the skills odyssey, skills-forward approach, skills obsession… The talk of the town in the learniverse these days is all about skills, skills, skills. Why is this and what’s exactly going on? More importantly, is it relevant for training providers or are the opportunities only for corporate L&D departments?

We are exploring these questions together with the very knowledgeable people from Mind Tools in this recording. Yeah, you could call it a podcast.

Read the quick summary for instant learnings or listen to the recording (48 minutes) for the full insights.

Listen to the podcast

aNewSpring · Everything ‘skills’ for training providers

A quick summary

“You had one job!” Helping to develop the skills of professionals has always been the core job of learning professionals. So why is reskilling and upskilling popping up all of a sudden in almost every report or analysis as if it is something new?

Certain economical and societal developments in recent years played a role, the pandemic did as well. The scarcity of hiring new, skilled employees has put an increased demand on learning and training.

Quite often, skills development is handled by managers, but learning happens from doing the work. Motivation to learn comes into play, too. Sometimes that’s internal, sometimes the motivation comes from the organisation. And recently, government funding has become a factor, mostly not a positive one, in motivation for training as well.

There seems to be plenty of money sloshing around in learning and development, meaning plenty of opportunity for training providers. There is room for training broad, generalised skills on a great scale and creating specific training for niche demands as well. Take your pick.

Probably most importantly, this is the time to have conversations with your clients and work together on creating learning solutions that help all parties involved.

Find out more insights and a deeper dive into the topic by listening to the full recording.

“The question is: how do you develop skills at scale? That’s where the learning professionals are brought in. There is a real increase in the demand for them, because of the higher volume of needs around skills.”

Owen FergusonChief Product Officer at Mind Tools

“Ask your clients why they want this thing, when they ask you to make something. You want a long term relationship and you want to be known for genuinely helping people learn new skills.”

Ross GarnerHead of Learning Experience at Mind Tools

Mind Tools

Owen Ferguson is Chief Product Officer at Mind Tools, responsible for the development of our consumer and enterprise learning platforms, as well as our free benchmarking tool: the Learning Performance Benchmark.

Ross Garner is an award-winning learning designer and Head of Learning Experience at Mind Tools, where his team collaborates with clients to solve their specific challenges.

Together, they host the industry-leading Mind Tools L&D Podcast, which has almost 300 episodes. Ger Driesen was also present for three of them: about starting with online learning, blockchain for learning and Jobs To Be Done.

Find out more at mindtoolsbusiness.com and check out their podcast here or on any of the podcast channels.

Share your thoughts on
the ‘skills obsession’

We are very much interested in hearing what you think or have to say about all this talk about ‘skills’. Get in touch with us if you have anything to share.

Lunch & Learn

Another way to learn more about this topic is to join the Lunch & Learn for senior managers of training providers, organised regularly for the Dutch and Flemish markets. Read more about them here.

About the author

Jos Berden

A thinker, questioner and listener. The perfect combination of a pragmatic and idealist.

On the wish-list to learn: soccer tactics, flying a helicopter, reading other people’s minds.

How can training providers capitalise on ‘skills obsession’ opportunities?

Start exploring the obsession for re- and upskilling and the global skills gap today

Employers and professionals have an obsession with skills. As a training provider, you can benefit from this. In this guide you will learn how with different perspectives, hard figures and visions of ‘Learning Rockstars’.

Get the guide

“ If there is one group of organisations or types of companies that should be on top of this obsession around skills, it’s training providers. ”
– Ger Driesen

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“Exploring why everybody is talking about all things ‘skills’ and how this is relevant for training providers.”

What training providers should know about the current ‘skills obsession’

Listen to the podcast

A quick summary

Mind Tools

More about this topic

Share your thoughts on
the ‘skills obsession’

Lunch & Learn

Jos Berden

How can training providers capitalise on ‘skills obsession’ opportunities?

Check out more content like this

Ger’s Learning Notes #50: Celebrating episode 50

How training providers can improve their impact: Concluding our search for answers

Ger’s Learning Notes #49: Research

About us

The learning platform

Learning methods

“Exploring why everybody is talking about all things ‘skills’ and how this is relevant for training providers.”

What training providers should know about the current ‘skills obsession’

Listen to the podcast

A quick summary

Mind Tools

More about this topic

Share your thoughts on the ‘skills obsession’

Lunch & Learn

How can training providers capitalise on ‘skills obsession’ opportunities?

Check out more content like this

You know the drill…

Take a moment...

Share your thoughts on
the ‘skills obsession’