Personnel development 4.0 – what does it actually mean? We will answer this question for you in this article and provide helpful tips for implementation.
Update: We originally published the article in January 2017, and after 3 years, the topic deserves an update! Therefore, we have researched again and brought the article up to date for you. Enjoy reading 😊
In order for us to talk about the topic of personnel development 4.0, we should first agree on a definition of personnel development.
Definition of Personnel Development (Gabler Business Encyclopedia)
Personnel development (PE) encompasses the coordination of education, promotion, and organizational development based on the individual needs of the company, as well as the derivation of suitable measures and strategies aimed at qualifying human resources. The development of successful personnel development measures requires the consideration of several aspects: deriving developmental goals from corporate goals, establishing a connection to organizational development, and aligning measures with the various stakeholders of the company (e.g., career starters, skilled workers, high potentials).
And what does 4.0 mean?
The addition 4.0 describes the expected changes in the learning and working world over the next 5 - 20 years. It is used in various combinations (e.g., Industry 4.0, Work 4.0, or Further Education 4.0).
The driver of these changes is digitalization. Among other things, changes are predicted …
in production through intelligent factories, new conditions for human work tasks (e.g., in these factories),
for new ways of providing services (e.g., with the help of bots, drones, and robots),
and for the entire human-machine interaction, which is increasingly coming into everyday life.
These also lead to new demands and challenges in the areas of safety, education, competency development, communication, teamwork, leadership, health, demographic developments, and occupational safety.
Importance of 4.0 for Personnel Development
Personnel developers in companies must prepare for new tasks. After all, digitalization requires new competencies and methods in all areas. Not only must these be mastered by PEers themselves, but they must also be able to pass this knowledge on to their employees. In the spirit of personnel development 4.0, PEers take on the role of a learning companion. However, the goals from the perspective of companies and employees are also changing:
Personnel Development 4.0 for Companies
In terms of personnel development 4.0, the role of HR personnel is evolving into a passive, supportive position, very much in line with the role of a learning companion. They ensure the necessary learning content, its accessibility, and provide content that goes beyond the actual learning objectives.
Employees are constantly learning, independently and especially spontaneously – preventive learning in planned face-to-face events is now outdated. Therefore, it is even more important to equip your employees with the necessary tools. Companies and HR personnel still need to decide which knowledge needs to be updated and what competencies employees require:
In addition to classic self-learning competencies, employees will need primarily soft skills in the future. Soft skills are the foundation for collaboration in a heterogeneous, multicultural team. An important question remains the transfer of training, i.e., what is practically implemented after the measure. Especially with soft skills, transfer through practice and application is important.
Personnel Development 4.0 for Employees
Competency development should increasingly take place in a self-responsible manner, very much in the spirit of self-organized learning. Employees thus determine when and to what extent they learn. This not only improves their competencies but also makes them particularly efficient – after all, they know best when they are truly motivated for further education. Another way to make further education flexible is to offer Learning on Demand. Employees and learners need:
learning motivation and self-discipline for self-responsible learning
media and selection competence to choose relevant knowledge content
the ability to acquire knowledge independently and pass it on to others
It is not only sensible to give responsibility to employees regarding further education. For example, actively involve them in planning and let them create user-generated content themselves.
Further Education 4.0 as a Result of Personnel Development 4.0?
The constant technologization also affects the world of work indirectly, for example, through new requirements it places on employees. The requirements identified by Markus Dormann and Karl-Heinz Gerholz in the article “Training and Further Education 4.0: Implementation Opportunities” are summarized as follows. The following five core competencies are important for future-oriented further education:
Competency requirements of Further Education 4.0 // Presentation: blink.it, based on personalSCHWEIZ,
It becomes clear that 4.0 has arrived in all areas of the world of work and that digitalization brings new opportunities. However, 4.0 also requires new competencies.
As a personnel developer, you must therefore consider several things: Due to the constant presence of digital devices and the increasing information overload, conscious breaks and short, intensive learning phases are needed. Offer employees small learning bites instead of large further education courses. The keyword: Microlearning!
Learning Culture as an Answer to Personnel Development 4.0?
For a transition to personnel development 4.0 to succeed, a change in mindset must occur not only among HR personnel and employees. The company's culture must also adapt!
For employees to learn independently and during their work, a culture of learning must prevail in the company. Personnel developers play a particularly important role in this: they are responsible for the organizational establishment of a learning culture. We have already explained how a learning culture becomes visible in the blog.
Now dive into the learning culture in your company and use important leverage points to increase learning success. You will learn all of this in the free guide “Learning Culture in Companies” – download now:
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Learning Culture in Companies
In the free guide, you will learn what constitutes good learning culture in your company and how you can improve it with 5 leverage points. Including a checklist to tick off!
Download the Learning Culture Guide now
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