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By Georgina Barrick
The term "skills gap" has become so prevalent in South Africa that it's almost wallpaper now. While much is needed in the fields of education and ongoing training of employees, there's a part of our journey into the future that each of us has to take responsibility for: Personal re-invention.
In 1965, Gordon E. Moore was working as the director of research and development at Fairchild Semiconductor and was asked by Electronics Magazine to predict what was going to happen in the semiconductor components industry over the next ten years. Moore observed that the number of components in a dense integrated circuit had doubled approximately every year, and speculated that it would continue to do so for at least the next ten years. In 1975, he revised the forecast rate to approximately every two years.
While his discussion at the time involved the advancement of computers, Moore's Law is often used now to describe the driving force of technological and social change, productivity, and economic growth.
So, with the workplace – and life in general – changing at a pace that traditional educational systems are currently not keeping up with, the solution is to find the innovative spark within and re-invent ourselves and our skills base on an ongoing basis, to ensure we stay apace of global opportunities.
Many jobs that didn't exist five years ago have changed our world forever. Perfect examples of these are Uber – the taxi company that grew into a global giant without, at the time, owning a single vehicle. Then came Airbnb – the company that enables travellers to find accommodation in over 91 countries and 34 000 cities, with prices that suit every pocket. In fact, the financial services company Cowen & Co predict that Airbnb hosts will be taking 500 million bookings a night, rising to a staggering one billion by 2025.
Founded in 2008, Airbnb has, for a fee, has enabled people with even just one room for a traveller to stay in for a short period to become "inn keepers". Who saw that coming? Years ago, a B&B would require massive funding to set up and run, and the owners' marketing reach was limited and expensive. The re-invention of accommodation bookings has arrived and can never be the same again.
In another brand new industry, March this year saw UAV Industries, the Western Cape's only drone pilot training centre, award its first 14 graduates their wings as drone pilots. By re-inventing the use of drones from – largely – a product associated with wars, the opportunities now exist for drone pilots to track animal migration; deliver products like medication to remote areas; and film parts of the planet that used to require expensive trips to negotiate.
In all cases of "service on demand" (or answering the call), one or two people came up with a plan – possibly based on personal experience – and took a risk on their own re-invention of an industry. So, how does this impact the workplace?
For a start, we all work in a global village and a knowledge economy and individuals should be encouraged to innovate to create opportunities within their own work environments that they can pioneer, creating a specialised job or division that will be beneficial to themselves, their company and ultimately the economy. Change needs to happen within companies to encourage this and ensure innovators are not only retained, but rewarded.
The companies that stay relevant in industries that are changing almost weekly are those that are going to offer ongoing training and the opportunity for staff to re-invent themselves and their jobs. Growth must come from within, as the thin spread of specialists that may be enticed to change jobs is growing thinner. By acknowledging that CSI could actually be inwardly focused and putting structures in place to retrain your own employees, you could join the ranks of the "disruptors" who not only provide products, but provide solutions.
Traditional education by schools and tertiary facilities are evolving very slowly, It appears to me that the "Moore's Law" of skills upgrading is going to have to come directly from the sources that need it most – companies and staff in specific industries. Online learning platforms like Coursera.org - an education platform that partners with top universities and organisations worldwide offer courses online for anyone to take – offer exciting opportunities for those looking to upgrade their skills.
I, for one, am seeing re-invention as an opportunity for our economy and to the broadening of the workforce. The more specialists employed in any one industry or company, the more opportunity there will be for support staff to climb the ladder by leadership encouraging skills transfer.
Innovation needs to have all fearfulness stripped from it, and be understood for what it is: An idea whose time has come, backed by people who believe in it. Innovation is actually the most basic of the principles of success – give clients what they want, when they want it - as three young men who rented out air mattresses in their San Francisco flat as a way of making money discovered.
It is an exciting time to be alive and in the business of seeking out those individuals who are re-inventing themselves for companies who are adopting a "work, learn, innovate, succeed" culture. In viewing how many organisation are stepping up to meet global challenges head on, I'm reminded of the old HR that goes: "What if we train this individual and they leave?" "Aaah – what if we don't train them, and they stay?"
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