USA 
United Kingdom
Employees want training on human skills including adaptability, communication, and leadership above technical skills like AI and data analysis, new research from Deloitte has found.
Anthony Stephan, Deloitte US Chief Learning Officer, said the research indicates the pressing need for employees not to “overemphasize” technical training over human capabilities.
Deloitte’s growth & development team currently runs 103,000 active training courses for over 218,000 employees, balancing ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ skills.
The study, run in partnership with Wakefield Research, surveyed around 1,000 adults in full-time roles at companies with over $100million in revenue. 94% of respondents said they were concerned about future generations lacking human skills when they entered the workforce.
Deloitte survey: Employees value human capabilities above AI integration skills
According to Deloitte’s research, 87% of employees believe human skills including adaptability, leadership, and communications are fundamental to their career development.
Teamwork and collaboration (65%) ranked as the top human skills workers wanted to see their employers focus on. Meanwhile, only 54% wanted training on AI integration and data analysis, with a greater share of respondents opting for communication (61%) and leadership (56%).
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The study indicated this may be due to the shorter shelf-life of technical skills, with 70% of respondents saying they been pushed to learn a new technology by their employer only for the technology to become obsolete.
Meanwhile, 95% agreed that human skills are “timeless” and always important, described by Deloitte as having “staying power.”
But employees also indicated they don’t believe their employers share their concerns. Only half (52%) felt their company valued workers with human skills more than those with technical skills; three in five said their company focused on immediate business needs with training rather than offering training geared towards long-term success.
Moreover, a staggering 10% of respondents said they only receive learning and development opportunities if they initiate it or not at all, and 43% said investment in their growth only happens “periodically” rather than “on a consistent basis.”
Deloitte CLO calls for ‘symbiotic’ human and technical skills development
Amid major concerns that new generations entering the workplace will not possess the necessary human skills, respondents indicated mentorship programs (61%), on-the-job shadowing (57%), and opportunities for quality interaction around work and personal life matters (56%) would be crucial in driving skills development.
Anthony Stephan, Chief Learning Officer at Deloitte US, encouraged other employers to follow Deloitte’s lead and redress the balance between human and technical skills development.
“Organizations that overemphasize technical training at the expense of enduring human capabilities — like divergent thinking, emotional agility, and resilience — could end up impeding innovation and leaving employees ill-equipped to lead teams, adapt to market opportunities, and fully harness the potential of technology,” he warned. “Technical and human skills are symbiotic, which is why leaders should take a ‘Yes AND’ approach — for the investments they make in tech skills, developing an equally exciting and critical human skill experience.”
Stephan also encouraged leaders to encourage learning across generations, locations, and channels, creating workplaces where learning occurs organically in the flow of work between employees.
The executive gave the example of Deloitte’s culture of growth and development: “Several years ago, we anticipated and recognized a rising need for the bolstering of human skills amidst rapidly advancing technologies in a dynamic workplace,” he explained.
“More recently, this has evolved into a unique suite of leadership development opportunities for our people to grow as humans, leaders, and community members — and we’ll continue to double down on additional growth and development opportunities, embedding learning at the center of our culture.”
