Cornerstone CEO: ‘The workforce readiness gap costs organizations’ – here’s how to close it

Four in ten organizations saw stagnating or declining revenue last year – that’s according to new research by Cornerstone OnDemand and Lighthouse Research & Advisory.

This is a huge issue for businesses, but it isn’t their only challenge.

Cornerstone’s survey of 1,300 organizations and 1,000 employees found that attrition rates continue to remain high (52% of employees are unsure whether to stay or planning to leave in the next six months) and productivity has peaked (53% of organizations think that employees have reached their maximum productivity).

These stats suggest that there is a workforce readiness gap, and it “costs organizations”, Cornerstone’s CEO Himanshu Palsule exclusively tells UNLEASH.

The situation is only going to get worse as “factors such as ever-evolving technology, multi-generational workforces and changing markets are increasing the pace of change and impacting employee and employers’ ability to adapt”, continues Palsule.

63% of workers told Cornerstone that their work environment is evolving quicker than ever before – 60% believe AI has a role to play here – and more than four in ten do not think they have the right support or resources to adapt and thrive.

Plus, six in ten organizations agreed that the workforce are underprepared for change.

This is particularly true around skills. Skills have now replaced jobs as currency in the new world of work, but, unfortunately, there is a perception between employers and employees on learning and development.

While four in five employers told Cornerstone their workforce receives adequate training to do their job, just 42% of employees agree.

If employers can get the formula right with skills, they will not only fix their challenges, but they reap additional rewards.

Cornerstone’s data shows that employees with the right training support are 2.5x more equipped to adapt to changes at work, and employees in organizations that promote skill development are twice as happier and are less likely to quit.

It’s time to get future ready around skills

In order to reap these rewards, employers must not just do more training – instead, they need to rethink how they view skills, learning and development.

First of all, employers need to be better at identifying the skills they have in their organization (and figuring out which ones are missing), and build skills programs around that. There needs to a be a culture of learning and employee growth.

Currently, only 45% of organizations know what skills they have in the organization, and 72% of employers said they lack awareness or understanding of employee skills across the workforce, and this is a burden on the organization.

48% of employees agreed that their organization doesn’t keep track of the skills in their organization.

Another issue is that nine in ten organizations said they have a plan for future readiness, but when Cornerstone asked learners only 16% agreed, and can see how their skills fit into the future strategy of the organization.

This stat was particularly shocking to Ben Eubanks, Chief Research Officer at Lighthouse Research & Advisory, Cornerstone’s partner for this research.

He shared his exclusive thoughts on the data at UNLEASH America 2024.

All of this suggests that these plans for the future is not trickling down; organizations are failing to communicate effectively.

Eubanks tells UNLEASH: “They’re not casting that vision, or making it felt [and] connect to people who need to be on board supporting that and driving that direction.”

When managers and leaders communicate better, employees are twice as likely to be motivated to upskill and reskill and are 50% more likely to see their employer as caring about their career growth (which is good for retention).

“We’ve got to make sure that everyone understand how they fit into that bigger picture and their contributions matter,” concludes Eubanks.

The final piece of the puzzle is technology – currently only 36% of employees have their skills measured by assessment technology, but workers are on board with more learning tech.

Two-thirds are interested in using VR to learn, while six in ten believe that adopting AI has a positive impact on their learning and the HR’s team productivity.

Organizations, its time to close workforce readiness gap and create a thriving workplace (and business).