In reading the title of a recent article posted on MarketWatch, “Accenture Study Finds U.S. Workers under Pressure to Improve Skills, but Need More Support from Employers,” my initial reaction was, “Well, duh.”  This is in no way meant to be a slam on Accenture’s work.  In fact, I’m glad that someone has done some research to back up this obvious claim with statistics (since there are many out there who ignore the obvious without some type of empirical proof).  My reaction was more in response to the idea that some managers and leaders out there don’t recognize that their workers face this challenging situation, or perhaps that they turn a blind eye toward it.

One of the more interesting results from the study is that “… more than two-thirds (68 percent) of workers believe it is primarily their own responsibility, rather than their employer’s responsibility, to update their skills.”  It is encouraging to see that so many people want to take ownership for their development. 

The problem is that the vast majority of North Americans are passive learners.  They may believe it to be their responsibility to attain new skills, but they don’t know how to go about doing so without the help of their employer. 

This doesn’t mean that employers need to go back to the old-school ways of learning (i.e., heavy curriculum-based training delivered in classrooms and/or e-learning modules).  As it relates to their learning, most employees don’t need or want to be dictated to in an instructor-led classroom setting, but they do need to be supported as they work to improve their skills. 

Forward-thinking employers (many of whom we have the pleasure of working with) are putting enterprise mentoring systems in place that provide an element of guidance to assist employees with connecting with others to learn critical competencies and skills.  For employers, the Accenture research is very encouraging.  Most employees are willing to take steps to self-source to meet their learning needs; employers simply need to provide the supportive systems that allow them to do so.  When it’s put like that, it’s easy to see why I think this is a no-brainer.