Career development - Staying relevant in a rapidly changing world
A decade ago, there were big names that were untouchable in the field of fashion, entertainment, business etc who ruled in this country.
10 years later, some of them have kept reinventing themselves and are still at the forefront of all that is big and glamorous, while others have faded away completely.
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In the updated version of the future of jobs report by the World Economic Forum in 2018, two key indicators stood out which were the fact that 75 million current jobs might be displaced, while 133 million new jobs will emerge at the same time.
It is against this background that Springboard, Your Virtual University, a radio programme on Joy FM, used this week’s edition to discuss career development and what it takes for one to stay relevant, and reinvent in a rapidly changing world.
Helping to unpack the issues were HR practitioner, author and lecturer, Dr Hazel P. Berrard Amuah, and GM, Group Human Resource, Enterprise Group Limited, Mrs Amma Korantema Ansah.
Interesting statistics
Commenting on the World Economic Forum Report, Dr Hazel P. Berrard Amuah, said it was an interesting statistic because if “you look at it from the point of view of employability, you are now creating machines to replace humans in a part of a business”.
“These machines, however, have to be built by another group of people, serviced by another group of people and sold by another group of people so we are creating machines to support one side of business which is sort of reorganising to get a lower number of people to work in that company but in another leg of business, you have another group of people who have to build this machine, service them and sell them.”
“So it’s actually repositioning people in different ways. It’s not about people losing jobs but about people being deployed differently,” she explained.
365 days of training
Dr Amuah also indicated that individuals needed 365 days of training every year in order to stay relevant.
“The mind must be constantly engaged and filled with information to keep employees up to speed,” she stated.
She recommended the 70-20-10 approach to learning and skills development.
“Seventy per cent is fully on the job, 20 per cent is relational that is where you have mentoring and coaching, and you have 10 per cent which involves some classroom learning, a lot of e-learning, and watching videos on Youtube to fill your mind with new information,” she explained.
“In the life of every individual, there has to be a constant approach to learning, a constant approach to self development. We have moved from a company owning the development phase to employees becoming owners of their own development.”
“You have to be willing to position your skills, value system, your support system and other interventions to be on the page when it comes to learning,” she stated.
Remaining relevant
For her part, Mrs Amma Korantema Ansah, said to remain relevant in the job market, one needs to be adaptable and flexible, a critical thinker, data driven, and multi-skilled.
“When you look at the report, there is one key thing which is labour remains constant so the people agenda will still continue to hold so definitely there would be some jobs which will be displaced but then there is still room for people.”
“There are a couple of skills that I will look out for and any employer will sieve out some people who will be ready to do the job and your readiness is very important.
We will be looking at people who are adaptable, people who are flexible enough to be able to switch from one gear to another,” she stated.
“We will be looking at people with critical thinking skills and able to think wide beyond their area. We will be looking at people who are data driven and multi skilled.”
