“You’re on mute”. How often did we use this phrase before COVID-19?
We’re also saying, “Let’s set up a Zoom meeting”, “See you in Teams” and “I’m turning off my camera because my internet’s a bit flaky” with regularity. The pandemic has not only forced us to reinvent the way we do things, but it’s also birthed a whole new language.
There’s another phrase too, that’s now becoming part of our discussions about the future of organisations - the new business normal.
COVID-19 has been the catalyst for talking about the new business normal which includes an increase in remote working as well as more business being done online. And it’s happened fast.
This rapidly-changing environment has highlighted, and exacerbated, what we already knew – that the way we work is changing fast. Closed borders and changing mobility patterns have also highlighted something else - we're facing critical skills shortages and growing skills gaps in our workforces.
Every day we speak to leaders and managers who are thinking deeply about what their industry is facing and the skills their workforces need to thrive in the future. Many have been affected by these border closures and the inability to supplement skill shortages in Australia with workers from overseas. The most forward-thinking recognise that reskilling and upskilling their people is the best option to prepare for future success.
Building resilient, fit-for-purpose team members who can adapt with the changing needs of a business is key to success in the new business normal. The organisations that embrace lifelong learning for their people will be the ones that continue to thrive.
Embedding lifelong learning into the organization’s heart and culture isn’t just good for business – equipping the workforce to cope with change – it also builds employee loyalty. It’s about investing in people to deliver the results you need for you – and for them.
UTS itself has been impacted by the pandemic and this changing face of work. Like other organisations, we’ve also had to do business differently. In March 2020 we pivoted to digital, delivering all courses online and moving to a largely remote workforce. A year on, we’re continuing to reinvent both our teaching and our ways of working – getting to grips with new hybrid settings and context.
We’ve also added to the types of learning we deliver to cater for the needs of organisations to create capability development opportunities, delivering bite-sized chunks of training to help build employees’ skills quickly.
To make this new form of learning as targeted and relevant as possible, UTS’ customised short courses are created by experts, often world-leading academics, in partnership with our clients. We are driven to provide high-quality education that addresses skills gaps with speed and relevance.
We’ve worked with Telstra to create courses in data and analytics, data engineering, data visualisation and machine learning to rapidly upskill teams of software and networking professionals in Australia and overseas.
We prepared a free special course for COVID-19 responders that is helping front-line workers around the world as they take on the pandemic.
And we brought together engineers, professionals, business and government representatives to understand the needs of organisations delivering the large-scale infrastructure megaprojects that Governments are investing heavily in to support economic recovery from the pandemic.
UTS short courses are designed to support skill acquisition whether you’re an executive, middle manager, team member or professional. They built for those who require rapid reskilling, particularly in areas like data and analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, software and systems development, change management, and innovation. These roles encompass a range of sectors, from health, law and science to business and communications and technology.
The shift to online in response to the pandemic will not be reversed. We should expect continual change to be the new normal. Successful organisations will be those eager to continue to learn as they pivot to unexpected challenges and fast-paced change.
More information
Our short courses are suitable for small to large companies across all industries and are specifically relevant to those currently going through change, threat or growth. Our courses can be co-designed or customised to your specific organisation and can be delivered online, face to face (where COVID-19 allows) or in a blended way.
If you’re interested in discussing how these new forms of learning might help your organisation please contact our Enterprise Learning team.
