Digital skills are being sought after by nine in 10 employees, as reported by Userlane in their 2023 State of Digital Adoption Report. Their report discusses in detail on UK companies have adopted digital technologies, the impact of it as well as the challenges. Further, they also aimed to understand how business leaders envision digital transformations and leverage them.
Overall, it is agreed that most businesses are aware of the need for digital adoption. However, in its practice, the impact and implication vary. According to the report, only some have mastered it. Currently, there have been conversations surrounding the digital skills shortage in the UK. This is largely caused by inadequate levels of digital literacy.
Strategising forward, companies should seek solutions on how to improve digital skills. This can be done by implementing strategies that focus on digital skills development.
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2023 State of Digital Adoption Report
The report by Userlane covered the current landscape of digital adoption and its impact on employee experience. For this report, they surveyed 250 business leaders as well as 250 employees at large organisations in the UK. The questions in the survey largely revolve around challenges in digital adoption and ambitions for digital transformation.
Overall, 85% of businesses admit that one of the key elements in their business strategies is digital adoption. However, most (96%) still face challenges caused by poor digital adoption.
The main challenge is software-related, which has caused the average employee to lose 2.33 hours of work per week due to software issues.
This is something that significantly needs improvement, as the usage of software is not only expected but also increasing – as indicated by 53% of employees. Not only that, software usage has a significant impact on employee experience and satisfaction as 75% of employees admit that a seamless software experience experience contributes to their productivity as well as happiness for 68% of them.
Further, it is very much in the interest of businesses to provide adequate digital tools for work as the average organisation invested £1,786,036 in software last year. However, 91% of companies have had digital transformation projects fail. Financially speaking, it can put an organisation at a major loss if they do not invest in the appropriate digital tools.
However, as companies recognise the importance of digital transformations, efforts in this matter are being sought with 60% of companies planning to increase budgets for digital transformation in the next 12 months.
It is important to note that there is no single formula for success for digital transformations, as companies vary in industry, background and workforce. This is done in many ways, but ultimately 96% of them agree that digital transformations should be measured to indicate success and address challenges.
How to Improve Digital Skills
It is the norm of today that jobs require a degree of digital skills. At the base of it, using digital tools requires digital literacy. The degree of digital literacy for each individual varies, as different people have different backgrounds, age groups and education.
What is digital literacy?
Digital literacy can be defined as the skills or ability of an individual to find, evaluate, create and share information using information systems and digital technologies.
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Below are some tips to improve your digital literacy skills:
- Engage in Proactive Steps:
Take initiative to learn new digital skills. This may be daunting if you have never encountered a similar situation, but there are many resources that you can access through the Internet. You can find courses on the National Careers Skills Toolkit. For beginners, you can visit your local library to use their computers and resources.
- Gain a Certification:
You can also gain a certification for digital skills. Many organisations offer a digital skills boot camp that is generally open to all. These programmes are usually more specialised, which allows participants to gain a deeper understanding of digital platforms. You can find skills boot camps by the UK Government here.
- Seek Employer Training:
If you are currently employed, you might have access to company training and development schemes. It is within the organisation’s interest that employees are able to utilise digital tools, so most companies would have a programme in place. Alternatively, you can speak to your HR & Talent Development department if none exists currently.
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