Training will continue to consist of identifying the necessary skills to get the work done and teaching those skills. There is an adjustment coming to those skills, but we’ve faced many adjustments.
The entire system is based on the license plate database being connected to all of the automated plate readers. All it took for this to become a problem was for part of that not to stay safe. Since the license plate database isn’t, anyone can create a fake license plate, pop it on a similar-looking vehicle, and the collected data is tainted. All those people who had nothing to hide now have a system that assumes they were driving illegally, causing accidents, etc. They are facing actual fines, increased insurance costs, and possible arrests because of surveillance data that’s been hacked. Data that should show them as innocent but false information has been injected into it.
Too many people seem to think that you can automatically teach other people about something if you’re an expert at it. Being an SME is great, but communicating that expertise so others can learn from you is a different skill. In fact, it’s a set of skills. Skills we should encourage our SMEs to learn to help our whole team grow.
I’ve had an opportunity lately to play around with some AI tools, including Microsoft Copilot for 365, and I have to admit, when I have a question about how to do something, I ask Copilot. I ask Copilot because:
It’s right there while I’m working.
I don’t have to bring in another tool or trainer.
I don’t have to take a class or watch a YouTube video to learn a new skill. (Imagine a Copliot prompt like – “How would I do a VLOOKUP with this data using ID as the unique identifier?”)
It really shouldn’t be newsworthy that someone thinks employees don’t care about shareholders, and for those of us in the legal space, it should also not come as a shock that your staff doesn’t care about “profits per partner.” It’s irrelevant. I spent years assuming that if profits and shareholder value were up, that would result in better pay and raises for everyone. That was naïve. We were likely talking about the difference between a 2% and a 3% raise. It’s not nothing but not worth all the long hours and life-wrecking commitments we are often asked to give to work.
When you’re young and not on the standard education/career path due to mental health, there’s no career history or learned skills to fall back on. I think many employers would view you as unemployable in our current environment. I’m not saying that should be how it is, but it is likely the way it is. My story illustrates the path out of that, but it also contains some privilege. I was able to go to therapy. My family gave me a place to live while I wasn’t working. I had access to learning tools. I had to work hard to create opportunities to learn new skills, but I also found myself in places where I could do that. I had help.