Published: 22nd May 2024
What’s the secret to narrowing the digital skills gap in your organisation? While there isn’t a quick fix or instant solution, there is a tried and tested approach to building digital fluency for long term success. It boils down to five key steps.
Step 1
Map your digital skills gap
To tackle any skills gap, you have to map it. Just like filling a pothole, the first step to filling a skills gap is to know how big it is and what impact it’s having on your surrounding infrastructure.
You need to understand where your strengths are, where there’s work to be done, and what’s missing across your organisation.
You’d be surprised how often leaders skip this step, but it’s a no-brainer if you want to see results.
A training needs analysis is an excellent way to benchmark digital skills across your organisation.
With the data at your fingertips, you can and identify the low-hanging fruit for quick wins, and pinpoint priority areas for more intensive development.
By gathering this data across your organisation, you can understand what your people require, create a plan to deliver on their needs, and help your organisation reach a new level of digital maturity.
Step 2
Build your digital skills strategy
Once you know what’s missing, you can put together a training strategy. Think about priority areas, timescales, and how you’re going to reach everyone in your organisation. Remember, digital skills training isn’t a one-and-done event, it’s a process. In your training plan, consider a range of training styles and formats.
For example, you might want to offer slower paced sessions for beginners, or on-demand resources for a quick refresher that’s easily accessible in a pinch.
Step 3
Engage your people
“If you build it, they will come…” Stop right there. Nobody has ever closed a skills gap through a set-and-forget training programme.
Your employee engagement and communications plan is just as important as your training materials and overarching skills strategy. Your engagement plan is what gets people to understand what training is available, how to access it, and what’s in it for them.
Through creative communications, you can deliver relevant, engaging messaging to your people throughout your digital skills campaign.
Step 4
Deliver targeted digital training
We’ve all been there. Staring at the clock in a death-by-powerpoint training session that has nothing to do with your role.
Instead, make it targeted, make it relevant, and make it interactive.
If you’re using popular office software like Microsoft 365 or Copilot, make sure your training includes some use cases tailored to your team so your people can see exactly how digital tools can make their lives easier.
Train people with similar roles together, and help people put their skills into practice right away.
Step 5
Share your digital skills success stories
Digital transformation, new ways of working, process automation – it’s easy for these terms to come across as nothing more than abstract buzzwords. What your people need to see are real-world results directly from their peers.
A digital champions programme brings digital upskilling into everyday interaction, creates awareness of new tools and possibilities, and maximises technology adoption across your organisation to close your digital skills gap.
A champions network is a great way to share success stories, inspire others, and create advocates across every department.
Start bridging your digital skills gap today
At The Inform Team, we’re experts in people and technology adoption. We can help you every step of the way, from an initial training needs analysis, right through to digital skills strategy, training plans, employee engagement campaigns and training delivery.
Get in touch with our team and book in your free digital skills consultation.
