Event of the 11th october 2018 : «Develop employability in a digital and VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity et Ambiguity) world»

Back to our event from the 11th October «Develop employability in a digital and VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity et Ambiguity) world» in our coworking office Voisins105 in Geneva! Our guests could discover some concrete skills development and employability projects through different speakers presentations:

✪ Developing some flexible, efficient and new organisations models at the General Hospice – Anaïs Stauffer, HR Director and Sybille Eigenheer, Training and Development HR Manager

What a challenge for the General Hospice to reinvent fundamentally its functioning, its modes of management and organization in an extremely restrictive context (galloping precariousness, limited resources, bureaucracy …) and in front of a society in deep mutation (evolution of mentalities, new citizens’ expectations …)! The reinforcement of its corporate culture requires a new state of mind, where the participation of employees in the process of collective innovation and the improvement of the user experience are central. The General Hospice has thus embarked on a “journey” of almost two years, in order to encourage creativity, empowerment and autonomy through the stimulation of collective intelligence and the creation of a new skills reference. To change the management mode: co-development leadership workshops, 360 coaching and implementation of LMS educational capsules. A diversity of individualizing educational approaches, emphasizing innovation and mixing digital and face-to-face relationships.

✪ Combining robotization and employability – Audrey Zimmer, Head of goods distribution sector at CHUV

At a time when some articles predict that robots will destroy many jobs, it was crucial to provide a concrete example of how AI can work for employability! The context of the project: the development of new buildings around the CHUV, the densification of care and research activities, the modernization and improvement of working conditions. 500 trolleys of 300 kg are moved daily in the corridors of the CHUV! The goal is to deploy new generation of internal transport: scalable, efficient and economical, while at the same time making it easier for carriers to increase logistics capacity and improve traceability and quality. In this sensitive context, the coworkers were involved from the beginning of the project in the 3D simulations, designed to test the feasibility as well as the difficulty of maneuvers currently made by humans. The project has opened a window of opportunity for employees to move towards new functions within the CHUV, by offering them tasks with higher added value, promoting human contact, working in collaboration with caregivers and enhancing the role of logistician while modernizing practices (computerization).

✪ Developing skills in a digital world – issues et trends – Yves Epiney, Learning Stream Lead, Swisscom et Management, Leadership, Marketing & Sales Trainer

The digital revolution is transforming our lives, penetrating all areas with fluidity and eliminating ever more the separation between work and private life, work and learning. Learning and development are emerging today in different areas and under different aspects. Facing with this new situation, Swisscom has set up a “Digital Fitness” course for its employees, designed to develop digital skills but also to trigger a self-learning behavior, to foster a culture of lifelong learning in the company. Creating the awareness that this new attitude is absolutely crucial, teaching people how to share their knowledge through new collaborative tools, developing collective intelligence through agile devices, these are some measures that tend to support the development of the employability.

✪ The employability in a digitalized and VUCA world – Laurence Waeber, Direction Plus

Employability includes professional, social and personal skilss, but also an individual disposition or attitude. We can therefore see employability as a meta-skill that should be developed continuously. However, there is no “training plan for employability” which defines the objectives and contents. We can’t imagine a “Federal Employability Certificate”! Digitalisation and the VUCA context have new implications for career development: – responsibility to self-manage / plan career (internal compass) – continuous maintenance and development of skills (fitness) – development and use of different resources 4 fundamental elements promote the development of employability in a sustainable way: knowledge and skills, motivation, the environment and actions undertaken by the person. We can see that this is a shared responsibility between the employer and the individual.

CONGRATULATIONS and THANKS to all guests and speakers or their engagement, the very rich exchanges and discussions, which continued during the round table and the evening cocktail! ? Why such an event ? In an increasingly digitalized, complex and changing world, the development of employability (ie the ability to master one’s career path and constantly adapt one’s skills to the demands of the market and the environment ) is a crucial issue for employees and businesses.