Carolyn Long of Spartanburg, SC is co-owner of a Management Consulting Firm with her husband Donald Long also of Spartanburg, SC. Carolyn Long discusses in the article below if job seekers are focusing more on opportunities with education packages. Additional contributions to this article come from Donald Long.
When job seekers look to change careers, they often search out employers that offer the best compensation matched with decent benefits. Among the many benefits touted by HR is the opportunity for educational opportunities. This begs the question, though, are job seekers more attracted to employers that offer these opportunities?
While there’s no denying that the chance for further education is certainly enticing, it all depends on the type of education on offer from the company. Carolyn Long of Spartanburg, SC takes a closer look at how offering education opportunities help some companies find new employees while others could be scaring off talent with such an offer.
Employees Want Job Training but Only Where It Counts
There’s no denying that the world has changed at an unbelievable rate in the past decade alone. Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing have contributed to a revolution in how we perform basic jobs, and, as robotics become a staple of every career field, more and more people look set to made redundant explains Carolyn Long.
This means that employees will have to stay up to date on the latest trends to keep their jobs. If they fall behind, they risk becoming inefficient and outpaced by lightning-fast technologies. So, to put it simply, yes, employees want education opportunities but only if they’re learning the right thing. Outdated trainings that rehash the same information they already know are not only ineffective but also inefficient.
This means training employees to work alongside robotics and AI rather than having them learn skills that be easily replaced. These skills can be boiled down to:
• Purely human skills – As amazing as AI becomes, it simply cannot replace the creativity and innovation of a human. For example, AI generated art has failed to capture anything new and often runs into an uncanny valley. It’s undeniable that AI will soon become a staple of the workplace so training employees to be the creativity and brain behind AI outputs will help lead to success.
• Analytics and Decision Making – A robot never has to take a break and can produce faster, more precise outputs. Yet, a robot cannot plan ahead based on outputs. This sort of thinking can only be done by a human, yet most employers are not training their staff to carry out such work. For employees to succeed in the future, they must learn the skills to play the manager.
• Programming – Programming has already made its way into childhood education yet, for whatever reason, employers have let it become a blind spot. In a world where AI and robotics are sure to become a part of the workforce, it only makes sense that employees seek opportunities to learn this now-essential skill.
For an employee to excel in the modern world, they must learn these skills. Understandably, then, job seekers are more focused on educational opportunities that will prepare them for the future.
Employers Shouldn’t Overlook the Benefits of Higher Education
Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC explains that although it’s unlikely that every American company will suddenly offer post-secondary or even post-graduate education, there’s no denying that it makes a job highly attractive. The military alone pulls in thousands of young men every year with the promise of a full-ride college education. The same can be said for Chick-Fil-A and several other fast-food chains.
By providing higher education opportunities to their workers, these career fields help prepare their employees for a brighter future. With the promise of a college degree, more and more employees sign up hoping to better themselves and make more money later down the road says Donald Long of Spartanburg, SC.
This translates across many industries, though. Companies including Disney, SONY, and JetBlue all offer educational support for their employees with the knowledge that smarter workers produce better services. From a corporate perspective, investing in employees is an investment in the business.
While it’s certainly expensive, the takeaway is that companies shouldn’t overlook the benefits of higher education. Providing employees with the opportunity to learn and grow not only benefits the employee in the long term, but it also benefits the company.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, it’s clear that offering educational opportunities is a great way to attract top talent states Carolyn Long of Spartanburg, SC. In an ever-changing world, it’s more important than ever for employees to stay ahead of the curve, and the best way to do that is to provide them with the opportunity to learn.
While it may be expensive, companies that invest in their employees will see a return on that investment. So, the next time you’re looking to hire, Carolyn and Donald Long say don’t forget the importance of offering educational opportunities.