One of the biggest challenges that has hindered the digital transformation of companies is the lack of digital skills among their employees. Nate Riggs addressed this problem in his INBOUND 2016 session.
His approach to create a large pool of skilled inbound marketers is to start training students in the local universities/colleges.
Nate started with some statistics that left everyone quite worried about this situation in the industry.
The average digital skills scores for all marketers was 57. @nateriggs #inbound16
— Sara Paxton (@sarasocialmedia) November 10, 2016
Only 8% of marketers tested achieved entry level digital marketing skills @nateriggs #inbound16
— Sara Paxton (@sarasocialmedia) November 10, 2016
Only 43 colleges offer a degree in sales or marketing. Therein lies our digital skills gap. @nateriggs #inbound16
— Sara Paxton (@sarasocialmedia) November 10, 2016
Then he moved on to how you can close the skills gaps from leading the conversation at the local university. The way forward starts from addressing the inbound need and culminates at making smooth transition for students, who can then seamlessly fit into your agency’s culture.
Love this as I’m planning for summer interns… Great presentation @nateriggs #INBOUND16 #OhioUnite #BabyeGrumpyMan pic.twitter.com/DHK97pKkIk
— Rachel Ennis (@TheRachelEnnis) November 10, 2016
Students’ transition is not easy, but Nate showed how to do it effectively.
#closetheskillsgap #INBOUND16 @nateriggs pic.twitter.com/fLWhm3jP9n
— Eileen Kline (@eek_line) November 10, 2016
When you are creating something, you have to lead from the front, constantly remain engaged, and guide at every step. And that’s exactly what Nate said.
Lead the conversation. @nateriggs #INBOUND16 pic.twitter.com/kzyaafJQ4J
— Sara Paxton (@sarasocialmedia) November 10, 2016
It takes a lot of skills at your end before you start bridging the skills gap, and the best people to take on such a mission are the T-shaped people. They are the ones who have deep expertise in their subjects and at the same time, are evolving with knowledge and experience of other related subjects.
T-shaped people… for bridging the skills gap. #INBOUND16 @nateriggs pic.twitter.com/avJNIWFWjH
— Sara Paxton (@sarasocialmedia) November 10, 2016
Now it’s time for us to take a cue from Nate’s presentation and start building a skilled workforce of inbound marketers.
You can catch more such insights by checking out our other sessions recaps from INBOUND 16.
