Not only the current crisis has shown: The German middle class is lagging behind in terms of digitization! We have summarized exciting survey results for you and show why digital further education is worthwhile for SMEs.
The company starfinanz surveyed medium-sized enterprises at the end of 2019 regarding the extent to which digital change has reached their operations. A good message upfront: Most companies see digital transformation as an opportunity and are already dealing with the possibilities and tasks that lie ahead. However, the current crisis has shown that digitization is not progressing quickly enough. This backlog has hit the middle class hard: Many SMEs were not prepared at all or poorly prepared for the sudden digital upheaval.
German middle class underestimates digital change
Although many companies are already dealing with digitization, the topic has not yet arrived in all sectors: The level of digitization in German companies is especially low in agriculture, gastronomy, and the construction industry – this is the result of the study.
The larger and more profitable a company, the more likely it is to address the topic of digitization.
Decision-makers in the middle class must initiate comprehensive changes, now faster than ever: Important for digital change are especially changes in thinking and working methods, general organization, and the skills of employees.
About a quarter of the respondents stated that they do not deal with the topic of digitization at all. This is mainly because they see no need or added value for their industry. However, the lack of need is likely to have changed significantly during the Corona crisis. Lack of time is also a popular reason why digitization is not given attention.
Digital further education is a first good step
Digitization has not yet reached the middle class on a large scale. However, digitization offers enormous opportunities for SMEs: Communication, administration, and further education are three good starting points for digitization. In the field of further education, increased digitization in the middle class has a double positive effect:
First, it promotes the overall digitization of companies. Comprehensive digitization of the entire company is not possible for many SMEs, and often (still) not necessary. Starting with the further education of your employees can be a worthwhile kickoff for further digitizations.
This creates a second advantage: If you offer learning concepts digitally, you directly introduce employees to digital innovations. Through digitization of further education, your employees acquire important digital skills. They need these for later widespread digitization. Furthermore, digital further education concepts not only provide them with enormous temporal flexibility – as the person responsible, you also need to plan fewer expenses for expensive in-person events.
Therefore, it is worthwhile for medium-sized companies to invest some time in digitizing internal further education now. In the long run, this investment pays off – in terms of time, financially, and regarding the company's own status of digitization.
Reading Tip: In the research project KMUdigital, we support selected SMEs with the blink.it learning platform in getting started with digital further education. Read in the interview how digital further education works practically in SMEs.
Are you looking for a quick entry into digital further education – and at the same time a starting point to introduce your SME to digitization in general? Then start with Blended Learning, the combination of in-person and online phases. In our free guide, we explain how you can implement Blended Learning in just a few steps in your company.
