With the rise of online collaboration tools, video meeting platforms and even mobile coaching apps, it’s safe to say that the future of work is digital. Today’s leaders need refined digital skills to lead their teams through continued transformation and change and into the future. To learn more about digital leadership, we’re speaking with Anja Emonds expert research manager at CrossKnowledge.
Listen to learn more on:
- The rise of digital leadership.
- The skills digital leaders need in their roles.
- How leaders can assess their digital skills set.
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Additional Resources:
- Leading Leadership Development Certificate
- Agile Certification for HR and L&D
- Training Industry Magazine: Modern Leaders
The transcript for this episode follows:
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Business of Learning, the learning leader’s podcast from Training Industry.
Sarah Gallo:
Hello, and welcome to the Business of Learning, I’m Sarah Gallo, an associate editor here at Training Industry.
Taryn Oesch DeLong:
And I’m Taryn Oesch DeLong, managing editor of digital content at Training Industry. This episode of the Business of Learning is sponsored by CrossKnowledge.
Speaker:
CrossKnowledge empowers global organizations to continuously develop a skilled workforce with a multi-awarded digital learning solution. CrossKnowledge uniquely combines digital content for the most in-demand skills, a powerful learning platform and expert capabilities to create impactful learning experiences. For over 20 years, CrossKnowledge is recognized as a true partner for effective skill building at scale, with unmatched expertise and accountability. CrossKnowledge is part of Wiley, a leader in research and education, and serves 500 clients, reaching 12 million learners.
Sarah Gallo:
With the rise of online collaboration tools, video meeting platforms and even mobile coaching apps, it’s safe to say that the future of work is digital. Today’s leaders need refined digital skills to lead their teams through continued transformation and change, and into the future. To learn more about digital leadership, we’re speaking with Anja Emonds, expert research manager at CrossKnowledge. Anja, welcome to the podcast.
Anja Emonds:
Thank you. Nice to be here.
Taryn Oesch DeLong:
To get started, let’s define some terms. So, for the purposes of this conversation, what are we talking about when we say “digital skills gap” and “digital leadership”?
Anja Emonds:
Really nice question to start off with, because it lays the foundation of everything that we will be talking about. For me, digital skills gap, that’s the first one that I went to center on, and it really references two very different things. The first one is what we also tend to call “digital poverty,” [which] is the lack of digital skills among existing workforces, or even the lack of access to digital media. So that is one hand, but the other one, the second factor, is that there is oftentimes a lack of properly trained people to fill those digital posts that we are seeing, being created in [today’s business] environment. So we really see that on one hand we have the digital poverty, and on the other hand, the people to fill in the people who have needs for those digital skills. So we already see there a little bit of a difference from the company versus the individual. We see that companies are looking at how to bridge that digital skills gap. And it really says something about bridging that digital poverty. They want to reach out to people. They want to make sure that their people have access to digital media. They want to make sure that their workforce has the existing skills it needs to actually do things. And then toward the second factor, companies really want to reach out to employees and make sure that they get the proper training, and that they fill those gaps with new graduates. Toward the individual, we can see that there is a slightly different interpretation. There, we can already see that when it comes to digital poverty, people are looking for ways to bridge that. They suddenly got thrown into a whole new situation, and they’re looking at which tools are readily available to them. They’re being very adamant about learning how to use these new tools. So that’s the first part, the digital poverty part. And then, of course, we see that companies there can play a big role. We, as a company, need to make sure that people actually have access to the tools and media they need to perform their job. And of course [we need to] provide them with the right training to overcome that skills gap. I know that you also asked about digital leadership, so I want to tell you a little bit more about digital leadership as well. For me, digital leadership is really about creating digital leaders. And we’re not talking about just digital leaders, but also about digital learning leaders. We need to keep our workforce motivated. We need to keep them engaged. We need to keep them learning to prepare our companies for the future. And for me, a digital leader is somebody who really explores how technology can be used to help reach business goals. It’s somebody who really understands the importance of data and technology, and of course, who combines that with their own role. So here we’re really talking about digital leadership in the way that digital leaders can help build a digital learning culture where we really see that learning leadership is the basis of everything, and it’s connected to a lot of different factors that we can actually help improve.
Taryn Oesch DeLong:
Thank you for clearing up those terms for us so we can start off on the same page. Then, what skills are associated with this type of digital learning leadership? And obviously you talked about the importance of continuously learning, but what else is involved in this type of leadership?
Anja Emonds:
We actually see that there is a whole new skill set that’s been existing since about May [2020]. Since we have gotten into this COVID period, we [have] actually seen that there’s new skill sets breaking out. We call them “new workforce skills.” And there’s a lot of focus on the digital when it comes to those, of course, because we are all working from home, so we’re looking for ways to stay connected. So digital leaders now, at this moment in time, need to have a very clear digital identity. They need to make sure that the person that they are portraying online is the same person that they are in reality. And that is definitely something where research is saying that’s not always the case. Just look at how, for instance, influencers are sometimes creating this digital persona that totally doesn’t match with their daily working life, daily style, daily attitude and [who they are] as a daily person. So here we need to be very aware that the digital leaders we are portraying toward people are not just offering all of these digital leadership skills in a different way than that they would be doing that face to face. So, we need to make sure that [their in-person persona] is the same persona they are portraying online. That’s definitely something to keep in mind. The next one that we also see quite heavily coming up is what we call “digital emotional intelligence.” We’re noticing that a lot of people are feeling [that] they’re having trouble with engagement; they’re feeling a little bit tired. They’re working a lot from home. It’s a different situation than normal, maybe the kids are running around. And actually creating that social and emotional awareness, that’s a skill set that’s totally new. In the past when we’ve had meetings online, they were very, very factual. There were based on giving information and receiving information. And all of [that] connecting toward people in real life, that happened at the coffee table, that happened at the fridge, that happened at those informal moments. So now there is a huge gap, and we as digital learning leaders are trying to fill that gap by connecting emotionally online as well. So definitely digital emotional intelligence is one of the factors that we should be thinking about for the future. And then one that I also want to mention, which is also a little bit of a risk on one hand, is digital use. We’re noticing that a lot of people are having very heavy screen times. We’re working a lot longer behind laptops than we’re used to. So time is running up quite quickly, and it also has an impact on our health. Maybe our neck is feeling a bit more tired. We’re feeling our backs a bit more. We’re moving less than we normally would. So definitely making sure that your employees are having a healthy digital use of screens is something that you as a digital leader need to start thinking about for the future. And it’s a very good skill to have. On the other hand, there’s also some other things that are coming up, for instance, digital communication. As I was mentioning before, not everyone is equally [proficient] in making sure that teams are collaborating well online, making sure that communication is going smoothly online. And of course, keeping in mind that digital footprint as well. Where has my team been? How are they communicating with each other? That digital footprint is important because, when we think about it, once we go digital, nothing can be erased, and things can be interpreted differently than they would be face to face. So we often see these little things happening, where if it would have been said in person, it would have probably counted as a joke. However, because it sits black on white, because it’s written and there’s no facial emotions connected to it, we as humans don’t have the ability to interpret it correctly. So the digital communication is definitely something that our leaders should be aware of, and it’s a skill that they can work on. On the other hand, we also see, and this is the last one that I’m mentioning, because I know that there’s a lot of them out there, but we also see digital safety. We see that people should become aware of the behavioral risks involved with the complex risks. So we should become more aware of what we are sharing and who we are sharing it with, especially because normally we are saying these things sometimes in trust, informally, and now everything is being written down. So even those emails, sometimes you have an email coming in from a client, for instance, and you quickly send the forward to your colleague, but then that colleague doesn’t really notice that it was meant only for them and [they] reply, put the client back in copy and then suddenly there’s a situation there that would have never arisen when we all would be working together. So indeed, digital safety is also something that we should become more aware of. I’ve just given you a few of the workforce skills that are coming up, and the things that we definitely should be looking forward toward [more in] the future. So I hope this makes it a little bit clearer.
Sarah Gallo:
Yeah. Thanks for breaking that down for us Anja. And now that we know what skills digital leaders need, why is it important that they have these skills in today’s business environment, which as we record this episode, is more uncertain than ever?
Anja Emonds:
Definitely. I think that’s such an interesting question. And I would like to start that off with not only analyzing our current situation, but also having a little bit of a look back on what has happened since COVID has hit us. So we’re really talking about a hard reset here. At the moment COVID hit us, we started to think about where should we be putting our focus, where should we be putting our priorities? And honestly, I’m so proud to look at all of these businesses and companies, because so many transitions have already been made. And it’s gorgeous to see how adaptive we are when we [need] to be. The first one that we identified was of course, everybody suddenly needed to go remote working. So that already had a huge influence on today’s business environment. It had a huge influence on our digital leaders. Suddenly they needed to start thinking about how to design and deliver trainings, how to make sure that technology was reachable for everyone. And then of course, for L&D, it also came toward a big shift, an organizational shift even. There were so many trainers out there who needed to work suddenly from face to face, they needed to re-conform to all of those online media, and also all of their training programs. How are they going to make them? So there has been a huge shift there already. And then of course, we also need to look at the future. There have been several impacts that we have already had, but looking toward the future, we actually see that data analytics is becoming more important than ever. Especially now, because we are all working online, it really means that everything we are doing can be tracked. So there is more data available than ever. So it also means that for us, the correct interpretation of all of that data is super important. We need to start thinking about which data tells us what. We need to start thinking about how we can ask that data the right questions, to make sure that we can update ourselves for the future. Next to that, we also see that there’s a huge request for creating a better learning plan. People are working suddenly at home alone, and they’re feeling quite disconnected from each other. So even digitally, we should be thinking about how can we create that learning climates where people feel safe to learn and feel okay to share failures, where people feel it’s good to come together and learn. How can we make it safe to learn? And then of course, for the future, we’re seeing some new things popping up. The first one that we definitely see popping up is what we call the mental health of our employees. Companies are starting to worry more and more about, until which degree are they responsible for their employees? And here we’re really talking about, are they comfortable at home? Are they having enough time to spend on working? Is there anything else that we can do for them? Do they have a good desk? Do they have good access to the internet? Because all of these things, suddenly the company is not providing anymore. And normally when you are providing a working place, you can make sure that people are there, and that they have all of those things. However, now, since the situation has changed, it’s a little bit of a different mindset that the company needs to create. And it’s also having a lot of trust in people. Believing that they will be doing their jobs, and even if the hours differ a little bit more than they would, when they are working in the office, now we see people becoming super creative with that. So they don’t work less hours, they work different hours. They start a little bit earlier in the morning before the kids get up. And then when the kids go to bed, they continue working. So I really liked to see that we as companies are actually adapting so fast toward that. The second thing that is popping up is mindsets. How are we making sure that all of those people working from home have an open mindset when it comes to learning. How can we make sure that they feel that it’s okay to learn? And then of course, we also see that vitality, and here I’m not just talking about employees but also managers. We need to make sure that we can keep that work engagement going, and that definitely will be one of the trends for the future. Creating vitality at work from home as well. So here we can see that leaders have big influences. We know that without leaders, we can’t create a digital learning climate. Without leaders, we can’t test whether the mental health of our employees is there. I know of one company for instance, has built this really amazing rule of just making sure that the leaders, every time they have a conversation with an employee, ask, “How are you doing?” And they should not ask it once, but they should ask it twice, because the first answer to that question is always, “Yeah, I’m okay.” But then the second answer to that question is of course a little bit deeper, a little bit more personal. So I thought that was a really nice thing to add. And then of course, we see the importance of digital leaders when it comes to vitality. We are the ones that are talking to people, so we are also the ones that should be making sure that they are feeling energized and that they’re feeling engaged to work.
Sarah:
Thanks so much for breaking that all down for us Anja, you made a lot of great points, especially about, supporting employees who are working from home and also parenting, and really looking at employee mental health and wellbeing, and taking that in mind. So going off of that Anja, how can training help leaders develop digital skills for the remote workplace today?
Anja Emonds:
I think that’s also a very nice question. On one hand, we’ve already been talking a little bit about the digital persona and making sure that is in accordance with their real life persona. So that is definitely something that training can help you with. And also on giving you tips on how to actually make sure that people are motivated and how you can do that online. On the other hand, I also really believe that training can help digital leaders have their own digital literacy under control. Of course that’s a point that’s really important. We ourselves, we need to walk the talk. We need to show that we do it as well, before of course others will follow. And where training can help as well, and I think that’s a very interesting idea as well, is dealing with digital immigrants. We always have, of course, people who are coming into this world of remote working and they don’t have any experience. So at that moment in time, training can definitely help bring them up to speed, and it can help them get to grips with technology and the tools that they need to really bring their entire workforce along. And then of course, I also strongly believe in the importance of training when it comes to big data and making sure that you are correctly interpreting it for the future and analyzing all of the data that is passing by. That you’re asking the right questions, and that you can look at it from a very critical point of view. So that you can then start to look at how you can effectively use that data to connect to business goals, and then of course increase opportunities for your company.
Taryn Oesch DeLong:
Thank you for that. So we’re obviously seeing a rise in remote work this year due to the pandemic, but looking ahead, even after the pandemic is over, hopefully soon, do you predict that this trend will continue, that the demand for digital skills, remote working skills, digital leadership, will that continue, do you think in the future?
Anja Emonds:
Definitely. I’ve actually been talking to a few visionaries here, and what we are currently seeing is that more and more offices are being closed toward the future. So there’s a lot of companies that are saying, “Okay, I’m not going to fire any of my employees, but they’re doing an amazing job working remotely. So why should I then be spending all of that money on an office space?” And what we will be seeing is that there will be offices, but they will be flex workplaces, where people can actually go to and they can rent an office whenever it is needed. And even one of the visionaries that I was talking to was saying that soon, all of those empty office buildings in the big cities will become vertical [living spaces]. So there are a lot of things that might change towards the future, but I definitely think that this trends of working digitally, and working remotely, will be something that we will keep doing, especially since we are now more globalized than ever, and people can work anywhere anytime. So I really believe in the power of digital leadership and working remotely.
Sarah Gallo:
Definitely. That’s a great point. I think it’s also important to look at as well, remote work really can improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace by letting working moms work, or people with a disability. So it definitely can create a more inclusive future of work as well. So, we know that being a leader isn’t easy, especially when business priorities shift seemingly overnight or when technology may again disrupt the way we are used to doing things. So, Anja, what are some of the main challenges modern leaders are facing in their roles right now, and how can building digital skills help solve them?
Anja Emonds:
I think one of the biggest challenges that we are currently facing is what we call technophobia. People are so bombarded with technology at this moment in time, that they’re actually becoming tired of it, and some people are even afraid to move forward with it. So, I really believe that building digital skills can help solve that. And I like to comment with a few numbers here as well, because I have been doing some research and I found a really nice research [report] from Capital One and Burning Glass. Be a little bit mindful that this was published in 2017, so the situation was of course a little bit different, but it already shows us the importance of having digital skills, even back then. So what they found was that more than eight in 10 middle skills jobs, about 82 percent actually required digital skills. And in those jobs, those digitally middle skills jobs, they actually pay more than the non-digital middle-skills jobs. And even going a little bit further, we see that when you have a digital skill, it will help you provide a career pathway into middle and high-skills job. So really, when you have digital skills, it helps employees allow more opportunities in their career. And this also in their goal positions and in their salary. So here we already see the importance of digital skills. I think for the future, they will become even more important. For me, we actually see that there are some really advanced digital skills that we might need for the future, for instance, how to do digital customer relationship management. That’s one of the skills that I [believe] we will see popping up pretty soon. Another one might be how to make sure that there is digital media and design? How to make sure that there is someone that is making sure that computer and network support is going well? So we actually see that those kinds of jobs will be popping up more and more. And we as leaders, we can only make sure that we are ready to have people on boards that know how to do these jobs. And we as leaders should be talking a lot more with universities and business schools. And I think if we can make sure that the skills gaps that we are currently facing can be bridged by graduates who have actually had an education on how to fill them, we will of course be a lot further on. So I think for us as modern leaders to really face the future, we should be talking more with universities, doing more research together with universities, and working a lot more with business schools as well. Hand-in-hand, in creating education and delivering them, of course, the challenges that we are facing, so that students are also working on real life challenges, so that students can already grab a little bit off work-life experience. And then of course, all of that should be happening digitally. So that’s, I think, one of the main challenges that we will be facing for the future, and also how we can help solve it.
Taryn Oesch DeLong:
Thanks. That’s a great point. I’ve been seeing a lot of conversations lately about just that, about employers partnering more with education, with universities and colleges, to make sure that the graduates are really prepared for the workplace. So that’s a great point. We’ve got an understanding of what digital leadership is, [and] what skills leaders need. So how can leaders understand where they are on that continuum? How can they assess their own digital skillset?
Anja Emonds:
I think that’s an interesting question, because we continuously see that digital skill sets need to be updated as well. So I think just being very critical about yourself, and of course thinking about how you’re portraying yourself online, making sure that you have all the information, and making sure that you know about privacy, intellectual property rights, freedom of speech. All of those things will have a huge impact as well. On the other hand, I would like to refer back to the skills that we need in our roles. I think there’s still a lot of skills that people nowadays are lacking, and I’m pretty sure that there’s a lot of different things that will be added towards those skills for the future. So I think just making sure that we are continuous learning, will be our strongest point to move forward. So as long as we can keep an open mindset and continuously improve ourselves, I’m pretty sure that we will get there.
Sarah Gallo:
Perfect. All right. Well, to wrap things up today Anja, do you have any final tips for our listeners on how to improve their own digital skills?
Anja Emonds:
Yes. I think for me the best digital leaders are very humble and collaborative but also ambitious and creative. And I actually have three very practical tips for them. So the first one is “walk the talk.” So, make sure that you are setting the example of leadership, and that you’re portraying the things that you want to see within your employees, even when that is digital. I think the second one is exchange and discuss your vision, make sure that you’re keeping that collaboration in there, make sure that people have an individual responsibility to really tell their story and add towards the learning. And then of course, make sure that you support your people. And I’m really talking about what I call a little bit, the warm feeling after you’ve learned. So making sure that people feel warm and supported. And here we actually find three different levels. Making sure that people feel comforted and warm between colleagues, [is where] we see the first level. The second level is between, of course, employees and leaders. And then the third level is a level that I often see is forgotten, and that is the organization, and making sure that people are actually having the opportunity to learn digitally and making sure that they feel warm when they’re doing something digitally, is something that most companies don’t think about. So why not act like a digital wall of fame where you can show to people who have been investing the most, where you can actually show the experts so others who don’t feel that comfortable can reach out to them? Why not have emails sent out when people have been doing great jobs? All of this can be arranged company-wise as well. So I think we as companies need to start thinking a little bit about how to support our employees in this digital era as well. And I really like the idea of, because we are nearing Christmas and nearing the new year, making sure that we don’t just go digital but that we’re also connected to the real world, and that we send out a little something that they can actually touch and feel. I do believe in the power of digital, and I believe in the importance of it, but we need to remember that we are all human and that we also need sometimes a little bit of face to face, and a little bit of warmth. And of course, people to people. So I think that’s my last remark. So those are my three final tips, walking the talk, make sure that you exchange and discuss your vision, and that can all be done digitally. And then of course, make sure that people feel supported. And that’s on the three levels. So thank you very much for that.
Taryn Oesch DeLong:
I love that Anja. I’m hoping that this year will have taught everybody that, at the end of the day, the employees are all human, just like we are. And hopefully we keep that in mind moving forward.
Anja Emonds:
Definitely. Thank you so much.
Sarah Gallo:
What a great note to end on. All right. Wel,l that concludes this episode of The Business of Learning. Anja, thank you again so much for speaking with us today.
Anja Emonds:
It was lovely. Thank you for the great questions, and I’m looking forward to another time, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:
To learn more about digital leadership and the digital skills gap, check out the show notes for this episode at trainingindustry.com/trainingindustrypodcast.
Taryn Oesch DeLong:
And if you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to rate and review us on your favorite podcast app. Until next time.
Speaker 1:
If you have feedback about this episode, or would like to suggest a topic for a future program, email us at info@trainingindustry.com, or use the contact us page at trainingindustry.com. Thanks for listening to The Training Industry Podcast.
