Importance of Digital Skills in the Workplace
Table of contents
Analysis
The need for digital abilities in the workplace has never been higher, and learning these skills can significantly improve your life in a world that is becoming increasingly digital. Being proficient in a wide range of these abilities is essential for your career since an increasing number of individuals are working remotely, and 82% of all jobs in the UK identify digital skills as a criterion.
While it’s simple to assume that digital literacy is sufficient for the workplace, a recent study found that 52% of workers lack critical digital skills. In this post, we’ll define digital skills, give examples, discuss why they’re essential in the workplace today, and advise on developing them.
Digital Skills for the Workplace
The phrase “digital skills” might be challenging to define because it covers a wide range of competencies and skills according to corporate input. In a nutshell, it refers to any abilities required to function successfully in a world that is becoming more digital.
According to UNESCO, having digital skills is being able to access and manage information using digital tools, communication programmes, and networks. Although they can be data and IT-focused, it’s crucial to remember that these talents span a wide range and include fundamental problem-solving and communication abilities. They make it possible for us to instantly and worldwide interact, communicate, and create content.
While they might range from basic functions to more complex capabilities, all digital skills are highly transferable and are now considered essential to employability. Transferable skills, especially those in the digital sector, are rising in demand as digital technology and automation transform the jobs market.
The Digital Skills Gap
Despite increasing technology use, there remains a sizable digital skills gap leading to many problems. Lack of digital skills prevents people from getting employment and advancing in their careers and has a detrimental effect on the UK economy’s general development and productivity.
Furthermore, and maybe unexpectedly, this impacts people of all ages. Only 1 in 5 teenagers believe they possess the advanced digital abilities that employers demand.
We must do more to ensure more people acquire the digital skills necessary for the workplace. When you consider that employers’ expectations for digital abilities are continually evolving to keep up with technological breakthroughs, it becomes evident that more needs to be done.
Essential Digital Skills
The digital abilities you require will vary depending on the career path you choose, but a few fundamentals are becoming increasingly important in practically every position. Everyone should work to improve these abilities.
- Social media
- Email and instant
- messaging
- Word processing
- Web-based research
- Data entry and handling
Advanced Digital Skills
Furthermore, mastering more complex digital abilities could help you stand out in technological fields like marketing, design, programming, and data science. Employers will continue to require these more advanced technological abilities as 85 million jobs are anticipated to be eliminated and another 97 million created by 2025, many of which will be technical employment.
- User experience design
- Coding
- Programming, web, and app
- development
- SEO, SEM and content writing
- creation
- Data analysis
Importance of Digital Skills for Work
Technology today has a significant impact on both the economy and society as a whole. In order for businesses to remain competitive, they must keep up with the rapidly evolving digital landscape. As a result, there is a great need for abilities that weren’t even possible a few years ago. In order to remain employed, people must continually improve their skills.
The benefit of Digital Skills for Employers
Having a workforce with various digital skills has many advantages for your business. Adopting new technology in the workplace helps streamline working processes and frees up staff to concentrate on higher-value work that helps you and your employees achieve your goals by reducing time spent on repetitive tasks.
Overall, the increase in productivity brought about by digital technology makes room for organisations to be more innovative and collaborative. As a result, a fun and an effective work atmosphere is created, which improves worker retention and recruitment.
Given these multiple advantages, it should come as no surprise that businesses demand that the bulk of their staff possess the digital competencies necessary to embrace the usage of cutting-edge technology.
The benefit of Digital Skills for Employees
While digital skills are crucial for businesses, they also have significant advantages for employees. It may be immensely empowering to have the essential digital skills to move a firm forward. It also makes people feel more assured and safe in their jobs. Organizations can use digital marketing assessment to upskill their employees.
However, research suggests that having the correct digital skills can help workers lower the danger of their employment becoming automated by 59%. In the modern world, people who have historically performed professions are progressively being replaced by automation software.
Additionally, having a wide range of digital talents translates into a higher wage, with occupations needing digital skills typically paying 29% more than roles that do not. Therefore, acquiring digital skills for the workplace generally boosts one’s financial situation in addition to helping one’s employability, job security, and professional advancement.
The benefit of Digital Skills for Students
Digital abilities could be the difference-maker for job seekers trying to stand out from the crowd of other qualified applicants. One of the best methods to improve your chances of getting hired for your preferred profession is to learn various digital skills required for the vast majority of job openings.
Today, a lot of jobs are exclusively listed online. Job applications show your level of digital proficiency even before the interview stage, and companies are on the lookout for this. To assess your talents before an interview, many applications now include a range of online tests and forms. Gaining the necessary digital skills could help pass these entrance exams and continue to the next stage of the application process.
Improve Essential Digital Skills
It is obvious that possessing various digital abilities is necessary to succeed in today’s workplace, but how do you acquire and enhance these vital talents?
Fortunately, several affordable and quick ways to broaden your knowledge of digital technologies exist. There are many chances to learn new digital skills and upskill oneself, whether online, through face-to-face training, or while learning on the job. To get started, employ these techniques:
1. Improve your Digital Presence
Spending more time online and becoming familiar with the most often used features of the internet is one of the best methods to develop your digital abilities.
Creating a social media profile can help you keep up with the most recent online trends, and email or instant messaging services can help you communicate better and work more effectively online. Additionally, exploring tools like Android video editor or a free video converter can enhance your multimedia skills, allowing you to easily convert and edit videos for various digital platforms.
Your digital skills will develop naturally the more time you spend in the digital world and the more at ease you’ll feel navigating it.
2. Online Training Courses
Online learning is a quick and convenient approach to acquiring and retaining information if you’re trying to pick up a new skill to help you advance in your career.
Online training is becoming increasingly popular since it is thought to be a more efficient learning method than conventional face-to-face instruction. It’s not difficult to understand why 79% of learning and development professionals expect to spend more on e-learning than 3 years ago.
With e-learning, you may learn more quickly and flexibly from any place using any device. According to a recent study, those who completed courses on their smartphones did so 45% faster than they would have otherwise without sacrificing the quality of their learning. The estimated additional productivity is 4,270 hours as a result. PT training has seen a surge in popularity with the rise of online learning, offering flexible options for advancing your career.
3. Access Free Guides and Resources
While it’s common to assume that gaining new knowledge and skills will cost money, many excellent free online resources can assist you in learning various digital skills without spending any money.
Your employment prospects, employability, and ability to use contemporary technology can all be improved by acquiring digital skills. It’s crucial to have various fundamental digital skills in an increasingly digital environment, and it’s a good idea to expand your knowledge to more advanced ones to upskill yourself and close the digital skills gap.
