Author page: Duncan Barrett

The importance of curation The word curation has been said to have its roots in the Roman age – curatores were civil servants in charge of bringing aqueducts, bathhouses and sewers to the Empire. In the time between, its English etymology has evolved, but the idea of selecting and organising stuff, for the benefit of others, has relevance throughout our personal lives –whether that is someone selecting artefacts for an exhibition in a museum or a DJ finalising their set list.

Over the past few months 5app has been looking at the impact of hybrid on working and learning. Reskilling and upskilling remain high on the list for learning professionals. But what happens when reskilling and upskilling and the hybrid model collide?

The skills challenge is something facing all employers. According to research carried out by McKinsey 94% of the workforce “lack the full suite of skills they will require in 2030 to perform their jobs well.”

For many organisations there has been a big shift in the number of people working remotely. This mix of people in different locations - offices or remotely - and at different times is reflected in the term hybrid working.  One question many organisations are wrestling with is how best to support learning and development needs in this context - in other words, how do we support a hybrid learning experience?

Research by Josh Bersin found that it costs roughly $30,000 or more to recruit a mid-career software engineer earning £150,000-200,000 a year (recruitment fees, recruiting technology, advertising, onboarding and increased risk of rapid turnover), compared to $20,000 or less to reskill an employee.

Over half the global workforce will require reskilling by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). In it’s The Future of Jobs Report 2020, the WEF predicts that 85 million jobs will be redundant by then due to tech innovation and automation, while 97 million new roles will be created.

Knowledge sharing is key to organisational success. When knowledge flows freely in the workplace, it improves performance, productivity and innovation. It also improves the employee experience and employee engagement.

  Business software is like hair products - you're not entirely sure of the consequences of not having them.

  Most organisations have them: those individuals who have been given managerial responsibilities with little training. These are the accidental managers, and they need your support.

Where do you start if you are looking to make your first purchase of a learning platform? The learning technology market is awash with vendors that – taken at face value – do similar things.

More than a third (36%) of the UK workforce worked exclusively from home between 24 April and 3 May last year, according to ONS statistics. 

Last year saw the acceleration of digital learning in most organisations.