In Italy there is a lack of digital skill: according to Excelsior Unioncamere data updated in February 2021, the need for digital professions amounts to about 23,200 units and it is proving difficult for companies to find specialised resources to fill these new positions.
If we look at who is applying, the report also confirms another trend, namely the shortage of graduates in the face of a surplus of high school graduates, who are not sufficiently prepared to fill certain types of roles. An initial response to this trend can be found in post-graduate training and specialisation masters. But to keep up with the “new normal” there is one fundamental thing that companies must do: rethink the organisation in an agile way, re-evaluating not only the tools but the corporate culture itself and creating new forms of digital-oriented welfare.
If the pandemic has accelerated digital convergence processes, making our lives increasingly connected, the scenario will be one in which Italian HR managers will need to map skills and start reskilling and upskilling projects to quickly adapt candidates and encourage entry into the company. However, it is not just about technology, but also about enhancing human capital, to allow people to carry out different jobs and in situations never faced before today.
How to make a land like that of today’s Italy flourish, where there is a need to rethink a new economy that bridges the gap between skills and work, to create a more dynamic “digital” one?
We asked Andrea Ciofani, founder of AcademyQue, a digital Business School born remotely (and in the full pandemic) which is helping professionals in areas such as Human Resources, insurance, financial and the tourism sectors to acquire digital skills necessary to keep up with the changes.
“Those who are excluded from digital, either by choice or by chance, lose the advantages. Adapting to constantly evolving reality is a process that young people, but above all businesses, must carry out, starting with entrepreneurs, managers and professionals, to acquire all the specific notions that allow anyone to measure KPIs and often unknown digital metrics, but are fundamental to define an effective business strategy and to know how to change direction when needed” explains Ciofani. After all, his start-up gives an example of how the ingenuity and creativity of professionals, combined with that of young and talented people, have not been affected by the virus.
Scrum method, psycho-aptitude tests and intelligent teaching that uses artificial intelligence for continuous learning, are at the heart of AcademyQue’s training. The company has created, through the e-learning platform, an open and flexible system which, thanks to the AI machine learning algorithm, detects the improvement areas of students by passing psycho-aptitude quizzes, developed by clinical psychologist Fabio Montebruno. The tests are carried out with an approach that also collects personal trends and downturns, useful for improving the candidate’s skills and subsequently orientating him towards the most suitable professional path.
“The simple shift from typical office and learning processes within a videoconferencing platform can change corporate cultures and school communities. With this in mind, therefore, an effective use of technology requires us to reinvent the way in which work and teaching are carried out virtually. But let’s not look at it negatively: if on the one hand it seems that technology sacrifices relationships, by opening our mind a little we realise that we are in a new dimension. The real problem, however, lies in wanting to adopt new ways of doing the things we did before. So if we decide to adopt an agile work model, then, the “boss” must abandon the need to control and embrace the approach of practical community in which time or presence no longer determines the results, but the coordinated focus that led to the results.” Ciofani concluded.
