Proud dad, having the luxury of navigating Baltinglass Golf course in howling winds, rain and sleet with Jean - reminds me of the important role of parents in education and career journeys. Imagine a world where every child is empowered towards their potential, where their dreams are nurtured, their aspirations supported. In this world, parents are not just caregivers, but the guiding lights, the champions of their children's learning journey and career outcomes. From the moment a child opens their eyes to the world, they absorb knowledge, values, and beliefs from their surroundings, with parents at the forefront of this formative experience, serving as the primary educators in a child's life. Long before formal schooling begins, children learn fundamental skills, behaviors, and attitudes from their parents. Whether it's through storytelling, play, or everyday interactions, parents instill in their children a love for learning, curiosity about the world, and the resilience to face challenges.   But parental influence goes beyond imparting knowledge; it extends to nurturing a growth mindset and fostering a sense of self-belief. Children who grow up in environments where mistakes are embraced as opportunities to learn, where perseverance is celebrated, are more likely to develop the resilience needed to navigate the complexities of education and career. Moreover, parents serve as role models, demonstrating the importance of education, hard work, and ambition through their actions. When children witness their parents pursuing their passions, overcoming obstacles, and continuously learning, they internalize these values and carry them into their own endeavors.   As children progress through their academic and career journeys, parental support becomes increasingly critical. From helping with homework to providing guidance on subject choices, career exploration, and college applications, parents play a pivotal role in helping their children make informed decisions about their futures. Perhaps the most profound impact parents have on their children's learning and career outcomes is the emotional support they provide. In a world where failure and setbacks are inevitable, knowing that they have a safe harbor in their parents gives children the courage to take risks, explore new opportunities, and pursue their dreams with conviction.   Nevertheless, it's essential to recognize that the influence of parents is not uniform. Socioeconomic status, cultural background, and parental education levels can significantly shape the opportunities available to children. As a society, we must strive to create equitable environments where every child, regardless of their background, has access to the resources, support, and opportunities needed to thrive - however, this starts with the movement of one.   Thus, by fostering a love for learning, instilling values of resilience and ambition, serving as role models, providing guidance, and offering unwavering support, parents have the power to unlock the full potential of their children and shape a brighter future for generations to come. Let’s embrace this responsibility with humility and determination, recognizing the profound impact we have on the lives of our children and the world they will inherit. ... View more

Gramps used to say that “the world isn’t the same anymore” – these days this is even more true, especially in the way we buy and sell. In exploring the acquisition of a new car, TV or microwave, I’m not dependent on a product brochure or salesperson to inform me anymore. Instead, I navigate online, at my leisure, to product tests, reviews and recommendations, before eventually transacting, again mostly online.   This means that the rules of commercial engagement have shifted dramatically, especially in the field of education and education-related marketing. The traditional approach of A→B product marketing communication simply doesn't cut it anymore. We've entered the Data-rich era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, where anyone and everyone is active, in good and sometimes, unfortunately, not-so-good faith. The implication is that authentic interactions and trust-building are key to successful commercial engagement for learning & education.   This introduces the concept of Learning Brand Ambassadors A Learning Brand Ambassador is a person in your customer-base that has a well-developed virtual communication platform with authentic, trustworthy and impactful connection that is relevant to an engaged target audience – talking their walk in a virtuous cycle. The Learning Brand Ambassador differs significantly from a social media Influencer, especially from the perspective of the intent of the Learning Brand Ambassador not related to personal monetary gain.     Why Learning Brand Ambassadors matter Selling Isn't Buying Anymore: Traditional marketing is a one-way A→B communication street that is fraught with participant bias and predisposition – reminiscent of the Wild Western snake-oil salesmen. Fortunately, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has democratized and transformed customer engagement into a collection of multi-channel B↔B'-communication synapses. Learning Is Buying: Learners are psychologically "buying" into the learning experience as an essential prerequisite to learning. My strong recollection of my alma mater as well as its teachers and professors implies that generally, a strong bond is formed between learners and their educators and learning institutions. The implication is a learning process psychology that organically creates authentic ambassadors. Branded Learning Sells: Brand-embedded learning fosters familiarity and association of the brand with a learning discipline - Learners trust brands they've bonded with. The result is authentic and trustworthy Learning Brand Ambassadors!   Generation Examples Let's consider a look at some examples of Learning Brand Ambassador generation: The Centre for Business Mathematics and Informatics at North-West University equips Actuaries, QRM's, and Data Scientists with SAS embedded for computational learning deliverables. These graduates become "home-grown" Learning Brand Ambassadors for NWU and SAS. Through the SAS Analytics Leadership Program, the International Institute for Analytics trains executives to understand, apply and leverage analytics strategies using SAS as the underpinning technology. These executives, armed with their newfound knowledge, act as Learning Brand Ambassadors, guiding their organizations' strategic analytics thinking with an underpinning of SAS.   It's time to recognize that learning and authentic, trustworthy branding are inseparable in today's world. As we embrace this shift, let's harness the power of Learning Brand Ambassadors to shape the future of education and market engagement. ... View more

  Third Industrial Revolution (1970s) Back in the ‘70’s, the Third Industrial Revolution was in full-swing, with physics- and solid-state electronics-based industries flourishing under, at that stage, largely technocrat leadership. In order to successfully participate in the Third Industrial Revolution economy, governments and companies invested in developing the much-needed Natural Sciences- and Engineering skills pipeline from internally focussed tertiary academic institutions. This was done mainly through stake-buying mechanisms such as Industry Chairs for Educators and study bursaries to students. This gave industry a mechanism to influence and reserve Baby-boomer and Generation-X talent.   Fourth Industrial Revolution (2020s) From the ‘90’s onwards, globalisation, economic crises and a shift to cost-curtailing finance leadership resulted in industry outsourcing their costly technology-development to universities, creating a focus on industry research-based third revenue-streams for academic institutions, at the cost of industry talent-investments. Upon fast-forwarding this by thirty years to the present ‘20’s data-driven innovation-world, one finds: On the one hand, skills-development and education investment decisions left to students (a situation significantly enabled by the newly enhanced general access to information that the Fourth Industrial Revolution offers), and On the other hand, with industry that desperately need have in-house technical expertise, but without significant assurance of a talent pipeline from tertiary academic institutions.   The Evolution of Talent Connection Mechanisms The unfortunate outcome of the above talent connection mechanism-evolution is industry executives that struggles with insufficient in-house talent to match the innovation-pace of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As executives, it is crucial to proactively address this issue and develop strategies that alleviate the data skills shortage. One approach that holds immense promise is talent-reservation – a proactive method of identifying and nurturing promising individuals with data skills to ensure a sustainable pipeline of talent. The key building-blocks towards transformative talent-reservation can be described as follows..   1. The Urgency for Talent-Reservation The first step in addressing the data skills shortage is acknowledging its significance and impact on business success. Data-driven decision-making is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity for organizations to stay competitive. By recognizing the urgency of the situation, executives can build a sense of urgency within their organizations, compelling them to take action and invest in long-term workforce solutions such as talent-reservation.   2. Identifying and Nurturing Talent Talent-reservation involves the proactive identification and nurturing of individuals who possess the potential to become skilled data professionals. This involves organisational leadership collaborating with human capital functions, educational institutions, and industry networks to identify high-potential candidates early in their career development stages. This could include partnering with schools and universities, sponsoring internships, and offering scholarships in data-related fields. By investing in talent early on, organizations can cultivate a diverse pipeline of skilled individuals who are ready to contribute to the organization's data-driven objectives.   3. Active involvement in Talent Development Talent-reservation is not restricted to the creation of a talent pipeline, but also the cultivation of the talent delivery mechanism and process. This implies the active involvement in primary-, secondary- and tertiary education, including teacher development, curriculum support, educator retention and academic third-stream investment.   4. Creating a Culture of Learning and Development Building an organisation culture of continuous learning and development is essential for nurturing talent. Executives should champion programs that encourage the organisational talent-pool to acquire skills in data-related domains. This can involve providing guidance and access to training resources, establishing student mentorship programs and promoting internal and external workshops and seminars. By fostering an environment that supports professional development, organisations can establish a talent culture that supports current and future human capital requirements.   5. Partnerships for talent development To alleviate the skills shortage, organizations should seek partnerships with external entities, such as technology accelerators, universities and industry associations. Collaborating with these partners can bring fresh perspectives, insights, and talent development opportunities to the organization. Leadership can establish programs like internships, externships and secondments, allowing current- and future employees to gain practical experience and exposure to cutting-edge data practices. Such collaborations not only address the immediate skills shortage but also promote innovation and cross-pollination of ideas.   6. Retention and Career Progression Retaining top data talent is as crucial as attracting them. Executives should focus on creating an environment that provides meaningful and challenging work opportunities for data professionals. This should include assignment to high-impact assignments and developing data- and analytics thought-leadership in high potentials through formal Analytics Leadership development and mentorship programs.  Recognizing and rewarding coaching and mentoring in data-related roles can further reinforce a culture that values and supports data skills development.    Conclusion The data skills shortage is a pressing challenge that organizations face in today's data-centric business landscape. By embracing talent-reservation as a proactive strategy to support talent retention, organisational leadership can unlock the potential to bridge this gap and fuel their organizations' data-driven success. By identifying and nurturing promising individuals, fostering a culture of learning, collaborating with external partners, and ensuring career progression opportunities, organizations can build a sustainable pipeline of skilled data professionals. Through talent-reservation, executives can position their organizations at the forefront of data innovation, ensuring long-term competitiveness and growth in an increasingly data-dependent world. ... View more

Over the last two hundred years or more, and particularly since the first Industrial Revolution, we have developed a relatively stable concept of employment. We had a clear idea of a job that you started doing in your late teens and stayed in for the next 40 years or so, often with the same employer. After that, with luck you retire and spend some years enjoying not working before the inevitable. However, in the last 20 years, those ideas have been turned upside-down. As life expectancy increases, we are all recognising that we will need to work until we are older to fund the retirement that we want. The concept of a ‘job for life’ has all but vanished. In all honesty, few of us even expect to be in the same field for the whole of our careers. We want variety, flexibility, and opportunities. For individuals, that means learning, developing, upskilling and reskilling on an ongoing basis so that we can take advantage of those opportunities. This model of work is challenging for many employers, and it is taking time to adjust expectations. The initial approach taken by many was simply to hire in the skills needed. They certainly did not expect to provide or support any general training opportunities for their workforce, lest they should leave to work elsewhere. However, this approach has given way a more nuanced understanding that retaining good employees is important. Making changes to business structures and organizational hierarchies, and introducing more flexible ways of working have therefore crept in as ways to support retention. There is also growing understanding that workforce development is likely to play an important part in employee engagement and retention in future. The future starts now It is also rapidly becoming clear that employee development matters now, as well as in the future. The world of work is changing rapidly. New technologies and shifting market demands are creating a demand for new skills and knowledge, and these are not always available in the marketplace. Instead, organisations are having to be more creative about how they acquire skills. Perhaps the key change in this area is the rise in the use of data and analytics to drive decisions—or rather, the desire to use data and analytics to drive better decisions. Most organisations now have access to huge amounts of data, and recognise that they should be using it to improve their insights and decisions. However, far fewer have access to the skills that are needed to achieve this. Many senior managers are therefore turning back to use of intuition and ‘gut feeling’ because they simply cannot read the data well enough to make effective use of it. Data science skills have been a shortage area for some years now. Universities are doing their bit to expand courses, and there is a lot of thought going into how to close the skills gap. Key to this is employer commitment to short- and long-term workforce development, and investment in the right tools for data management and analytics. Short- and long-term employee development In the short term, I believe organisations need to invest in two key areas: the right tools to support access to analytics, and training for employees in how to use these tools to get insights from data. The rise in self-service and ‘drag and drop’ analytics platforms mean that it is much easier to provide access to data for everyone. However, many employees still lack the basic skills to take advantage of this access. A dual-pronged strategy is therefore necessary: Simpler tools and supported skills development. In the longer term, organisations need to focus on developing a learning culture. They need to encourage employees to develop their skills on an ongoing basis. This might be in specific shortage areas—and here again, data science springs to mind—or more generally. A learning culture is encouraged by initiatives such as mentoring and shadowing programmes, a budget for training and development (perhaps to attend courses such as Analytics Value Training), or dedicated time off to pursue learning opportunities. In combination, short- and long-term employee development strategies can provide organisations with access to the skills they need to thrive in the future. They will also improve employee engagement and retention, and therefore productivity and innovation. We cannot necessarily predict what skills will be needed in future. However, we can predict the conditions that will be needed to encourage people to develop those skills—and we can put steps in place to create them. The future starts now. ... View more