Skills can make or break digital transformation

International research by McKinsey has shown that the primary reason for digital transformation failures is a lack of a workforce with the required digital skills in 42% of cases. It also found that 37 % of companies recently embarked on the transformation journey have had difficulty filling digital jobs. Another global survey of digitalization found a direct correlation between the financial outcomes of transformation and the integration of digital skills.

Transformation success depends on high levels of digital skills at all levels of the organization. It is, therefore, worth leaving no stone unturned, but targeted skills development for employees is now inevitable. With Péter Szél, Chief Technology Officer at Green Fox Academy, we looked at the most frequently asked questions about training: who to teach, what to teach and how to teach it.

 “In most industries, it will soon be critical that workers have up-to-date digital skills. Every employee needs to become a user who understands the logic of IT systems and can confidently operate basic tools and software,” says Péter Szél. 

An insightful example of the overall development of digital skills is Green Fox’s Hello IT! for Women programme. It provides a solid IT foundation through an enjoyable, easy-to-follow curriculum combining self-learning and mentoring sessions. The programme has been a huge success, with more than 950 participants obtaining the final certificate so far.

There are, of course, specific needs for different business functions. “Not everyone needs to learn to code, but all colleagues need to know how to use advanced tools and new forms of collaboration,” adds Péter Szél. “It is highly recommended to provide shorter IT training sessions on priority topics that transform business processes, such as cybersecurity, data processing or process automation.”

At this level, Green Fox also supports its partners with themes and proven methodologies tailored to the needs of companies. For example, the four-week Data Analytics Coding Camp for beginners is built around an exciting project in which participants analyze and automate their own financials. According to Péter Szél, “a specialized IT course focusing on a real workplace challenge, guided by mentors, is a handy tool that contributes to the success of digitalization.”

Whether you’re a company in digital transformation, driven by technology innovation, or operating in the tech sector, having an IT team with the right skill set is key to productivity. This can only be achieved by regular upskilling of developers and other roles, especially when new technologies are introduced or technology changes occur.

Training is an excellent tool to set an attractive career path for your IT professionals, to develop an experienced team with a deeper knowledge of the company’s stack and, therefore to overcome labour shortages as well. For programmers, training goes beyond the transfer of critical skills. It nurtures professional ambition, helps to avoid burn-out and fosters loyalty. 

You have multiple options at this point, so let’s look at the three most popular ones, pros and cons!

Pros: If the aim is to integrate one or two new employees or to improve the knowledge of less experienced staff, often more experienced team members are entrusted with training the people concerned. A senior colleague with deeper technological and company-specific knowledge can provide guidance and feedback along the way to solving a specific task or project.

Cons: It requires a lot of energy and attention, which reduces the productivity of the senior staff, so the 1:1 situation is actually a high cost. You should also consider that even the most experienced colleague may not have a teaching routine. If there are several “learners”, they cannot be expected to reach the same level of knowledge.

The optimal solution is to hire an external mentor. Whether you need to accelerate the onboarding of new employees or raise the knowledge of a small team to a uniformly higher level, Green Fox mentors provide tried-and-tested training. “Our transition assistance makes the workflow more efficient, and teams run smoothly while we also reduce the burden on senior staff,” says Peter Szél.

Pros: For short, near-simultaneous training of groups, it seems an obvious solution for the company to provide employees with access to competence-building courses, for example, on Udemy, which colleagues can complete at their own pace and flexibly. 

Cons: They rarely provide the specific knowledge that a company or employees need. “Watching training videos alone is not enough to develop new skills, as there is no processing of incoming information, problem-solving or attempting to apply the study material. E-learning courses are best suited to impart theoretical knowledge. Still, applying it is often not self-evident and requires further training. Moreover, only 5-10% of participants complete e-learning courses without mentoring. Unfortunately, this form of training is very low impact”, summarises Péter Szél.

The optimal solution is a corporate bootcamp. Any training can only be effective if it provides a relevant answer to a specific challenge. Therefore, instead of generic online courses, a corporate bootcamp designed around your company’s current needs and modelled on real work situations offers a much higher quality result. Another huge advantage is that Green Fox supports your success at every step. Its key figures are mentors with significant experience in education and IT, who facilitate the training, support and motivate the participants. The corporate bootcamp is the optimal solution for acquiring real knowledge that can be used immediately in projects. This is why this training programme was chosen by more than 20 partners of Green Fox, including international companies and industry leaders like Audi Hungaria.

Pros: Companies that encourage continuous improvement look at employee training as a constant and proactive process framed by the operation of an in-house IT academy. It is also an innovative way of attracting and developing talent, supporting individual career paths and strengthening commitment to the company.

Cons: Developing and running internal academies is a resource-intensive task, which can be done effectively by a dedicated team. A complex training system requires a wide range of competencies in IT, HR, education and administration. As companies respond to the challenges of markets and the economic environment, the IT training centre must keep pace with technological developments and business strategy changes.

The optimal solution is to involve a professional partner. “Creating your own academy is the best return on investment,” says Péter Szél. “But companies do not need to use only their resources. In fact, it is highly recommended to involve a professional partner to contribute to continuous innovation and smooth operation.” Green Fox Academy has already proven its worth in this field. For example, since 2016, it has been a partner of Lufthansa Systems Hungária. Thanks to the IT Young Professionals programme of the software company, it has already discovered more than 100 talents.

Are you interested in what we could suggest to solve your specific situation? Schedule a call and raise all your questions.