Here are three events from my week, which I offer to you as an opportunity to reflect on how the present may impact on your are plans for the future.
- A couple of events I attended included discussions on the future of learning & development in business. At one, a speaker was considering using in house Corporate Trainers as a target audience. Another looked at the nature of future of careers in L&D. Also, an opinion piece in People Management Magazine suggested some key skills for the future workforce: creativity, active learning, and digital skills.
- In the UK the government have announced that the directive to work from home where possible will end on July 19th.
- The UK FTSE 100 hit 7130 and the S&P 500 in the US hit 4351 (and by the time you read this will have changed)
It may not surprise you that I focus attention on learning & development. Like many others, I look to see what is happening in the world, make sense of it to the benefit myself and my clients, and consider what action to take as a result.
Coincidentally, I came across a challenge from US consultant and speaker Alan Weiss, who was talking about Thought Leadership and the qualities that make a Thought Leader: one of these was that they make predictions. I thought I would have a go:
- The focus of L&D careers will move from the provision of training (learning) to the application. Knowledge is now substantially obtained through a screen: mobile, laptop, desktop, TV. New skills can be obtained the same way – however they need to be applied to real situations to have effect.
- Within 5 years we will see another opinion piece on the skills required for the future of work which will include creativity, active learning, and digital skills. (The term digital may be dropped by then, maybe someone will just say technological?)
- The end of the directive to WFH will not end WFH. Depending on how well the home suits working, another People Management report suggest 1 in 5 in the UK will not want to return to commuting. I therefore forecast a growth in self employment in response to employers’ lack of flexibility in working hours and practice. The level in the UK has declined over the pandemic so far: that will increase again.
- There will be a Stock Market Crash. What I am more wary of is predicting the timing, which is the clever part of this prediction. As long as there have been Stock Markets there have been crashes there always will be. But successful predictions of exactly when these happen are much fewer and further between. How about a ‘correction’ (market down 10% or more) in October?(That is a guess by the way, and in no way investment advice).
What might we learn from predictions?
- We can always have an opinion about the future, but we do not know.
- A great prediction combines what with when.
- My predictions are probably wrong. If so, please keep quiet, but if not, please come back and remind me.
- Its not what you predict, but the action you take as a result.
Over the coming week you will be making plans for the future, or acting on the plans you have already made. Predictions help light the path, but also throw shadows.
What have you learned this week, and as a result, what do you now predict will happen? Because if you are not making some kind of prediction, you may become stuck where you are.
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/voices/comment/what-skills-employers-looking-for-future?utm_source=mc&utm_medium=email&utm_content=PM_Daily_07072021.Opinion%3a%c2%a0What+skills+will+employers+be+looking+for+in+the+future%3f&utm_campaign=7295441&utm_term=8005277#gref
Desperate for an S&P update? https://yhoo.it/3yvOlNZ or FTSE? https://www.londonstockexchange.com/indices/ftse-100?lang=en
Buzzwords of the Week – IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards)
Definition – International Financial Reporting Standards set common rules so financial statements can be consistent, comparable & transparent, around the world. They are issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). IFRS specify how companies must keep and report their accounts, defining transactions and other events with financial impact. IFRS were established to create a common accounting language so that businesses and their financial statements can be consistent and reliable.
Alternate View – “ Consistent & reliable”: nice idea. Except not everywhere uses IFRS, notably the USA which uses similar, but not exactly the same, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Other countries have their own variations e.g. Indian GAAP. Non specialists may struggle to tell the differences, but occasionally these become significant – treatment of inventory under IFRS bans Last In First Out (LIFO) method. The primary difference between the two is that GAAP is rules-based and IFRS is principles-based. Basically, IFRS guidelines provide much less overall detail than GAAP. So, the principles of IFRS leave more room for interpretation, and maybe lengthy disclosures in financial statements.
Coming Up…
Online Learning – my online finance programme – How to Read Financial Statements. This is a series of 7 online lessons:
- How finance fits with Strategy
- The Language of finance
- Owning & Owing – using the Balance Sheet
- Measuring & Managing Profit
- Measuring & Managing Liquidity
- Budgets, what, why & how
- The most important part of all
Each last between 20 & 40 minutes and includes the slides and videos to help you understand what good looks like in financial terms.
For more details and to sign up now: https://mailchi.mp/92ada0829df3/htrfs-v2