Developing skills through the classical model
In this blog post, we take a look at the development of organisational competences using a well-known and traditional tool. In particular, I will try to highlight the specificities of digital competences. I think that SWOT analysis lies in its simplicity. Has your organisation already stopped to think specifically about the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats that you face? Or could it be that competence development is done more or less by feel and as “it has always been done before”.
The SWOT analysis has a fourfold structure, as shown in the picture, divided into strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats. Strengths are positive internal competences, while opportunities are positive external issues. Weaknesses are negative internal competences and threats are negative external issues. I would like to use examples from these four areas to highlight some ideas for reflection. Let’s start with the negative, so we can end this text on a more positive note.
Weaknesses:
Personally, I see these internal weaknesses mostly through leadership and as leadership problems. How has management done in terms of recruitment? Have managers focused, or been able to focus, on managing people rather than bureaucracy? How has management ensured an even distribution of skills among employees, and do they dare to talk about any weaknesses already identified? Are the right people in the right places? Communication, an organisation’s culture of debate and a positive drive to build competences are largely down to management. Managers don’t need to be digital gurus themselves, it’s enough to be able to direct employees to the right information.
And again, as an educator, I would like to emphasise here the opportunities for staff to develop their own skills. A variety of opportunities for learning through online courses, recordings, webinars, events and extensive training packages is of utmost importance. If this is not enabled and encouraged, I can promise the organisation will be in trouble.
One weakness I have encountered, particularly in educational organisations, is the excessive concentration of knowledge on the shoulders of one or a few. So what happens when that specialist, who is enthusiastically involved everywhere, goes on long sick leave or changes jobs? Is provision made for such an eventuality?
Uhat:
You can’t always influence external events and threats, but you can do a lot to prevent their potential negative effects by being prepared. Have you stopped to take stock of the big trends for the future of your industry? An easy example is artificial intelligence. How have you responded to its developments? What threats does it pose to you and how can you respond to them? What added value does your business bring that AI could not replace in a few years? Do you have the necessary skills to deal with potential security threats? Is there enough talent in your industry from universities or would expanding recruitment beyond Finland’s borders be an option in this case? Are you prepared for a possible language barrier if you recruit from abroad?
Strengths:
Sometimes it seems that identifying strengths is an organisation’s biggest weakness. Many things have become so commonplace that they are not even recognised as strengths. So I think that identifying strengths is a really important strength in organisations. And as with weaknesses, the role of leadership is also highlighted in the case of strengths. Strengths can be communication, creating a positive and trusting culture and so on. A particular strength is having the courage to argue constructively and to disagree strongly.
It is also worth thinking broadly about strengths. For example, in addition to hard skills, strengths can be found in the age structure, educational background, diversity of personal life, sense of humour, and so on. Often, bringing out such slightly different competences, both internally through skills development and externally through, for example, sales, is a vital competitive advantage.
Opportunities:
Like threats, opportunities are the external factors that an organisation interested in its own future invests in identifying. Like strengths, opportunities are often more difficult to identify than weaknesses and threats.
Change in the business environment is an opportunity. New employees are full of opportunities. New technologies are opportunities. You can see opportunities everywhere. The trick is to identify the opportunities and, after careful risk analysis, dare to go for them. I am reminded of a big Finnish company that hesitated too long over touch screen devices and lost a strong market position. The great opportunity was seen as a threat and soon turned into a weakness.
Finally. I recommend that you sometimes draw that SWOT square on a flipchart and go through your organisation’s situation. Preferably still in such a way that the squares are thematized, so that each theme gets its own snapshot and it is easier to start working on concrete measures. If you go through this thematic cycle every six months or so, it will certainly make it much easier to develop your skills. I promise.
Author’s introduction:
Simo Marttinen, a former classroom teacher, current civil servant and a fairly long-standing digital educator. Lives in Jyväskylä, enjoys cooking and knows and thinks he knows about many things.
