Freelancers spend 10x longer on learning new skills
The growth of Open Talent and why you may need to reprioritise
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The Freelancer Advantage:
These stats from John Winsor and Jin Paik’s Open Talent: Leveraging the Global Workforce to Solve Your Biggest Challenges jumped out at me:
The average business invests just 0.3% of an employee’s salary in training job-specific skills.
The average freelancer spends 15% of their time focused on learning new skills.
Their new book explores how blending employees, freelancers, gig workers, and crowdsourced talent allows for more flexibility, innovation, and scalability in workforce management.
What’s clear is that when it comes to opportunities to acquire new skills, all is not equal.
On the one hand, this is an excellent argument for an open talent strategy. And an endorsement for micropreneurs and independent workers. Adaptability and expertise are your currency in the marketplace when you're a freelancer. Continuous learning is the key to maintaining your competitive edge and ensuring you stay in demand.
On the other, it’s bad news for those in full-time employment.
Because as John says:
“I’m always willing to bet on the learners.”
And wouldn’t you too?
So, how should managers and employees respond?
Managers:
Take learning seriously: Everywhere you look, you’ll read about rapidly advancing technology and the changing expectations of a multi-generational workforce. How else will you and your team solve these without prioritising learning new skills?
Be realistic about time: It’s no good committing to learning if people are overworked and burned out. If you’re already battling against back-to-back meetings and drowning in relentless emails and IMs, you’ll neither have the time nor energy to learn useful skills, let alone put them into practice.
Invest (in time): Yes, a formal training budget is helpful, but learning isn’t all about sitting in a classroom or in an online session. Create opportunities for peer-to-peer AND self-directed learning. Crucially, give people the opportunity to apply the knowledge.
Employees:
Choose wisely: When considering new roles, evaluate the learning culture of potential employers. How seriously do they really take it? How much time will you be given to develop job-specific skills? Ask pointed questions, and don’t be afraid to grill people who work there to hear their honest take.
Focus on curiosity: Find the sweet spot where your interests align with what the market needs. Building new skills that you can use in your role obviously matters, but you'll get bored quickly if you don’t genuinely care about the subject. Following your curiosity is generally solid career advice, and it’ll also ensure you’re more engaged and effective at applying your knowledge.
Showcase your learning journey: Tracking and sharing your career journey is a great way to see your progress and growth. You might publicly demonstrate what you’re learning with a newsletter, podcast or other side project. Or you may just focus on adding value to your day job. But don’t just keep it to yourself! Prove the value of the investment your employer is making.
Listen to John and I discuss Open Talent on this week’s podcast.
And if you’re interested in me discussing these topics with your team, get in touch.
Have a lovely weekend,
Ollie