Transcription
We do often hear, "Well, that's not quite going to work," or "That's not, that's not what we do," or "Historically, you know, our workforce will reject that," or whatever. Get lots of excuses and reasons why it won't work.
Um, those excuses have gone away.
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Welcome, everybody, to another episode of Insights and Innovations. I've got two fantastic guests with us today. I've got Andy Reagan and Heidi Millberg, and they're going to join, and we're going to talk about, I think, some of the challenges that our clients are facing in the workplace and thinking about how they are going to solve some of those challenges. But let me give a second to kind of let them introduce themselves. So, I'll start off with you, Andy. Tell us a little bit about yourself and, uh, what you do for GP.
Yeah, thanks, man. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. I am a Senior Account Director for GP Strategies. I work with a handful of our key accounts, and a couple of those are in the aerospace and defense industry. So, we have some, um, unique challenges tied to the technical workforce.
And Heidi, I've been with GP Strategies over 20 years, and I'm a Vice President of Learning Solutions. My role is really in business development around our managed learning services. I do have the opportunity to work very closely as a client service lead for some strategic accounts, including a few that are in our aerospace industry. So, like Andy, thinking a lot every day about the challenges that they face and how we can help them.
Thank you. And I think today, we're really going to talk about a topic that is addressing, uh, not only our clients but it's across, I would say, the L&D industry broader. And it's really around workforce transformation, being able to upskill rapidly, get the workforce where they need to be, not only for the skills and the roles today but the ones that are emerging for tomorrow. And I want to kind of talk a little bit about what you're seeing in the technical space. And so, what are some of the challenges that your clients are seeing around that transformation of skilling, uh, new and emerging skills? What are some of those challenges?
You know, this is not, uh, specifically in the aerospace industry. This is not new, right? I mean, this has been a challenge in terms of, um, you know, skill sets and and getting the right people filling roles for very technical positions. And for years, the companies that we work with have often, um, been looking for creative ways to solve this challenge. And a lot of what we've seen over the years are that they're trying to find resources to fill these roles and get to them earlier and earlier in their careers. And so, a lot of that has evolved to a lot of relationships with universities, custom degree programs. They are doing pre-employment training where they're offering free training to drive people into specific areas like mechanical, those types of things.
And I think what we're seeing even more so now, and again, this isn't new, they, you know, they're sort of ahead of the curve in a lot of ways in in helping to ensure that they can fill their their workforce. Um, they get hit sooner than than others. And so they've been doing this and tackling this for years. But we're seeing a lot more targeted towards high school age students or potential employees. And again, you know, a lot of that might be related to pre-employment type training tracks where they're offering for free, and they get targeted towards, um, you know, a junior, senior level high school employee. So again, trying to entice and get people interested at an earlier age and then offering the the training that will drive them into the specific needs of the organization.
So, I think in the industry, they've been pretty adept at thinking of ways to, you know, um, to get people in the pipeline for them. Doesn't mean that they've solved the problem, but certainly, you know, will continue to be a challenge. But they, they, you know, whether it's, um, you know, working with the government, local governments in areas where they have facilities, working with the local universities, working with their tuition programs, they've certainly, um, worked a lot of angles to try to entice and attract, uh, employees and drive them and improve, you know, upskill them into the fields where they need them.
Yeah, I've seen the, uh, the exact same thing with, uh, with my clients. Um, Heidi, I mean, I couldn't really agree more. Interestingly, um, you know, they've, they've worked collaboratively with local community colleges to help them build out their own curricula focused on their specific needs. And so once they, once they graduate from that program, voila, they immediately have qualified, uh, employees that they can put right on the floor. Um, so it's a, it's a very much a win-win for the community college as well as for for our client.
Another interesting situation we've, you know, we we often find ourselves assisting our clients in developing technical training content for their folks on the floor. We've actually gotten pulled into assisting their recruiting departments in developing new and innovative materials that they then go to high schools and colleges and and work to to try to convince them to come work for them and try to try to market themselves. And we have found ourselves actually developing some of that content that they've that they've gone and used. So, um, yeah, it's like you said, Heidi, it's, it's a situation, um, that has been going on for a really long time now. And, um, it's one that I expect will continue, uh, far out into the future, obviously getting new fresh talent ready when they're coming in. So, I really like the concept of being able to almost pre-skill them before they're getting into the companies. They're already closer to where you need them to be when you're working with them.
I like that we're seeing a lot of those changes in the boundaries between, uh, the corporate organization and the entities that are enabling the workforce kind of coming into, which is great. We're even seeing the changes in the way that they're actually doing credentialing. So, doing things like, uh, you know, micro-credentialing or, uh, nano-curriculums that allow for more that flexibility to not only upskill quicker but also add more variation in it.
Is one of the reasons that did you the real focus on this? Is there really a concern around turnover or loss of knowledge in the organization? How significant of a concern is, uh, the loss of folks retiring or moving on to other initiatives? Is that a factor at all in the industry?
I have found it to be, and it's, it's significant with the with a couple of clients that I mentioned in the aerospace and defense industry specifically. They, uh, and this may not be unique to their industry, but they have a very heavy aged population, folks that are that are moving out the door, some retiring early, so on and so forth. And it has just exacerbated the issue and and caused them to really pick up the pace in trying to find, uh, new and creative ways to bring additional folks into the organization, and hopefully bringing them in while that aging workforce is still around so there can be really solid knowledge transfer in addition to the existing, um, content and curricula that they have in place.
One thing I'll add to that because, you know, if we think about the last few years, you know, it's sort of a lot of it, you know, we saw a trend, um, where we thought we were going to lose a lot of the aging population. Um, you know, and the economy changed, and so we didn't see as as as much of the drop as we anticipated. Um, but, you know, moved forward a few years, and we had COVID, right? And we, you know, the the activities of the last few years, um, you know, there is the concern, uh, where you had folks that were staying around. But this immediate sort of, um, impact and the shift to virtual or the stop work that took place, and, you know, we are seeing that, uh, there are just those that are really considering not coming back or pushing up their timelines in retirement. So, absolutely, um, that that is a concern.
Um, you know, one of the things that has been really exciting about work that we've been doing and and the partnerships that we have with a few of the companies in this space is that we've been looked to to provide resources around the training and upskilling side of, um, of the need, especially in the technical area. And so what we've done is we've we've been capitalizing on those retirees, that pool of resources who, you know, want to be engaged in the workforce but really want to do it on their own terms. And it's been a fantastic opportunity for us to bring back some of that knowledge and use that to then help upskill the individuals that are coming new into the organization. That tribal knowledge that those individuals have real value that they can bring to the organization. And as a, as a service provider, as a supplier, a partner to those companies, we've really been able to, um, you know, bring that back to them, that much needed support.
We have seen the exact same phenomenon where, uh, folks have, you know, aged out, moved on, taken early retirement, what have you. And but they're not quite done. They're not, they're not ready to completely step away. And we've been able to offer them the opportunity to come in as as facilitators, instructors, and so forth, to continue to to share that knowledge. And, um, it's, it's been a really good benefit for for us and for the client.
No, I like that. I mean, so you've kind of captured. We've talked a little bit about the pre-skilling. We've talked about on the other end on how to retain, you know, the knowledge that is out there and how to hold on to it a little longer in slightly different ways. I really like that. But when you're looking at the current workforce, what are some really, I'd say, um, you know, successful or engaging ways that that folks have been looking at reskilling or upskilling a current workforce, uh, with new things that are coming out? Are there any great practices you're seeing out there?
I don't want to, you know, restate the the obvious over the last few years of how it's impacted, um, and and where people's minds are in terms of the challenges that learning organizations have faced, um, uh, given the, uh, the lack of ability to be on site or, in some cases, the need to be on site. But some of the challenges, um, for those that are on site, everything from, you know, the social distancing and the classroom activities that that needed to change. So, if you had to teach on-site for things that must be done on-site and work that must continue, and let's say, you know, sort of the manufacturing environment, you know, those, you've seen class sizes that have to be taken down significantly with more space in between them. You've seen added burden on the instructors, the facilitators, to clean in between each break of the desks. And so there's added time that's needed there and consideration teaching with masks on. If you reduce the class size, you essentially have to double the amount of training that you might have done before.
So, there's been a lot of impacts just in terms of, you know, having to learn in a new way or sort of modify the way you're thinking about delivering training. And so it makes you really think about the better opportunities available to you or potential modes of delivery that you might not have thought about previously. Um, whereas in other industries, a lot of times, um, you know, we might be ahead of the curve in supporting other industries using virtual reality or some of those new ways of delivering learning virtually. And so, um, I definitely have seen all in this industry a recognition over the last, uh, couple of years that there are things that can be done virtually, as much as maybe in the past you thought that wasn't going to be the approach.
I've seen a commitment to continue virtual, not because of of the current state of not being able to go back on site, but just because it proved effective and it can be done and people were okay with it. And so we're moving to more of an acknowledgement that if we're going to do this virtually because we know it can be done, how do we do it in the best, most effective way? And while we might have done it in a way that allowed us to sort of repurpose our convert our instructor in-person training and deliver it virtually, it wasn't built to be delivered virtually. And so knowing that it can be done virtually and we can do it in a more effective way, let's think about the different modes and options we have that we can use. And it's, it's just this more openness to consider using modern learning techniques, other delivery modes, whereas before there was a much quicker sort of response that said, "Oh, no, that won't work," or "It doesn't work in this environment," or "These learners are not prepared for that."
I think what this done, what these last few years have done, is forced everybody to sort of acknowledge that, you know, we can do it, and, um, and we have to do it. So, again, more of an openness to to sort of move in that direction is what is what I've been experiencing.
Andy, are you seeing an openness to virtual that it's been in the past before?
Yeah, I'm gonna sound like a broken record here. I, I, I would repeat everything Heidi just said, frankly, for my accounts. It's, it's, it's interesting. Um, like Heidi mentioned, we've been talking for for some time now about with our clients about moving to more modern learning approaches and modalities. And, um, we often are met with some resistance. Now, there's budgetary constraints and and and other constraints that get in the way, of course. But to Heidi's point, we, we do often hear, "Well, that's not quite going to work," or "That's not, that's not what we do," or "Historically, you know, our workforce will reject that," or whatever. Get lots of excuses and reasons why it won't work. Um, those excuses have gone away, frankly, uh, due to COVID, out of necessity. And as they've been, um, tried out and and proven successful, now all of a sudden it's like, "Give me more, give me more," like, "Let's do more of it." And, um, and they can't do it fast enough. And, um, and like Heidi said, there's, there's no going back, at least that we're seeing, because it has proven to be effective and, um, and and frankly can save them money in a lot of cases, um, to use these more modern approaches.
And it, and it ranges, it, you know, it's, it's taking a traditional ILT course and simply moving it to virtual and with with a producer or a virtual facilitator, or, and then it ranges all the way up to more advanced, um, you know, virtual reality, augmented reality solutions that, while might they might be pricey upfront, the the return on investment is quite significant in the long run. And, and like I said, our clients are giving it a go now and and much more open to trying it, given the the, um, the environment that we're operating in these days, and and it's proving to be successful.
One of the things that's been really important is that GP Strategies has been able to help, I think, make the right selections that are the best fit for them. Whether you're talking about augmented reality, virtual reality, assistive technology, bringing those to bear has been really critical, uh, to help make the right decisions for them. And each of our clients are using them differently within it. And it's not even just like all or nothing, like everybody's in a virtual or by themselves. We even have worked with being able to set up remote sites using virtual reality to come together and be able to say, for example, have a main group and a live session in one location, and then have remote sites enter into a shared virtual space to be able to kind of go through and meet with an instructor or a coach and be able to do that. So, it's not just one size fits all with that.
A lot of what we do with our our clients that they really value is is really just bringing forward some of those innovative ideas and demonstrating how the different ways learning can be delivered and and connect making those connections for them. You know, Matt, you do a lot of work in the in the innovation space and and in our innovation in our eastern kitchen, um, those have been really valuable to bringing our thought leaders to our clients and having them have conversations about it. Really allows them to ask questions about, "How do you use this? Is it effective? Give me scenarios of what you've done in this industry and other industries." And I think that that's again, proven really valuable to them. And they come to us sort of asking us to, um, look ahead, be ahead for them, and then bring those ideas and examples, um, to cut the the learning curve down for them.
I want to close out with one question that I'll kind of wrap up with each of you, and I think it's going to be the magic wand question. So, if you had a magic wand and you could solve one problem for each of, uh, you know, different clients that you have, what would you use that much magic wand to kind of solve? So, I'll start off with you, Andy. What would that be?
Yeah, absolutely. I, I, the the big one right now is simply, um, identifying and measuring, um, the critical skills needed for the workforce of the future. I mean, that that's it. Um, that is a massive struggle, um, for for my clients at the moment. They're working feverishly to catalog those skills and and obviously, they're they're mapping to where they want to go in the future, what what they want to what they want to do, and what's, uh, going to be required of their workforce to get them there. And so cataloging all of that, and then figuring out how to actually measure it, measure against it, and make sure that they are actually, um, filling their pipeline with resources, whether that be internal and training them up or going external and recruiting and bringing them in. But making sure that they are adequately staffed to address those, uh, those areas of concern in the future. The critical skills for technical folks, we've talked a lot about technical folks quite a bit, different than the critical skills needed for perhaps folks that are moving through leadership positions or folks on the finance side of the house and whatnot. And and measuring those skills on those two different sides of the house. On the technical side, it can be a little more straightforward. On the non-technical side, it's been quite challenging for my clients to really figure out how to measure success and and making sure that they've they've got the right, uh, caliber of folks in-house. So that would be, that would be what I would do with my magic wand.
Heidi, what would you do with yours?
Yeah, I mean, it was great to do all those things because those are those are absolutely critical and some of the challenges. Um, the other thing I would say, what I found with the clients I work with, one of the areas that they struggle with and and need to get better at is demand planning and forecasting, and particularly in the learning space. It's that connection between, um, you know, sort of the business and, uh, the skills gaps and the recruiting and all those pieces, and really a tighter fit between those organizations so that they can better plan for and support that upskilling and, and reskilling and onboarding and all those pieces. It seems to be a big challenge in the industry. And I know, you know, in the work we're doing, we're certainly helping to bridge that gap and and work to, um, you know, work on the back end to make sure that there's readiness to get the learning to the individuals. But certainly, I, I think that's an area that has significant downstream impact. And if, um, if I had a magic wand, I would, I would help them, you know, improve that, um, you know, give them an eye to the future, that demand planning and forecasting, what's ahead of them, what do we need, and, um, you know, what, how do we make sure that we have those things in place.
All right. Well, thanks again to both of you for joining today. Really appreciate your time, and I am sure we will be talking in the future.
Awesome. Thank you, man. Excellent. Thanks for the invite. Good seeing you guys.
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