Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Technological change shortens the useful life of job skills, yet many employees lack the numeracy, literacy and digital foundations needed to learn what comes next. Organisations then invest in advanced programmes that a large part of the workforce cannot absorb, and learning stops when a course ends. This course equips managers to build lifelong learning into the workforce: assessing foundational skills, prioritising future skills, and designing learning routines and pathways that employees sustain. Participants apply each method to cases from several sectors and leave with a Foundational and Future Skills Development Programme for a workforce segment.
Course Objectives
- Map the foundational and future skills a workforce needs using the OECD Survey of Adult Skills domains and the WEF Future of Jobs skills clusters
- Establish a workforce skills baseline and rank skills by obsolescence risk and business impact
- Apply learning-to-learn frameworks, including the self-regulated learning cycle and the OECD Learning Compass, to programme design
- Design learning routines and pathways that build lasting habits through spaced practice, deliberate practice and personal knowledge mastery
- Reduce participation barriers and recognise learning through micro-credentials issued as Open Badges
- Produce a Foundational and Future Skills Development Programme for a defined workforce segment
Target Audience
- L&D managers responsible for workforce-wide skills programmes
- Talent and capability managers planning for future skills needs
- HR managers accountable for employee development and learning culture
- Line and operations managers leading teams affected by technological change
- Programme managers running literacy, numeracy or digital skills initiatives
Course Outline
Day 1: Lifelong Learning and the Skills Landscape
- Foundational Skills Domains in the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)
- Future Skills Clusters in the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025
- Skill Half-Life and Obsolescence Risk Assessment
- Lifelong Learning Provisions in ISO 30422
- Workforce Foundational Skills Baseline Survey Design
Day 2: Frameworks for Foundational and Future Skills
- OECD Learning Compass 2030: Transformative Competencies and the Anticipation-Action-Reflection Cycle
- UNESCO Digital Literacy Global Framework Competence Areas
- T-Shaped and Pi-Shaped Skill Profile Models
- Zimmerman Self-Regulated Learning Cycle: Forethought, Performance and Self-Reflection
- Dweck Growth Mindset Model and Learning Agility Indicators
Day 3: Building Learning Habits and Skills Pathways
- Personal Learning Plan Based on Knowles' Learning Contract
- Spaced Repetition and Retrieval Practice Schedule Design
- Deliberate Practice Plans for Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Personal Knowledge Mastery: Jarche's Seek, Sense, Share Routine
- Foundational Skills Pathway: Numeracy, Data Literacy and Digital Fluency Modules
Day 4: Barriers, Inclusion and Recognition of Learning
- Participation Barrier Analysis: Time, Motivation and Access
- Low-Proficiency Learner Support and Confidence-Building Design
- Micro-Credential Design and Open Badges 3.0 Metadata
- Learning Culture Pulse Survey and Manager Role Charter
- Skills Programme Risk Register: Low Uptake, Drop-Out and Unrecognised Learning
Day 5: Case Work and the Skills Development Programme
- Manufacturing Case Study: Numeracy and Digital Gaps Blocking Automation
- Health Services Case Study: Data Literacy Across Clinical Support Roles
- Foundational and Future Skills Baseline Build for an Own Workforce
- Foundational and Future Skills Development Programme Drafting
- Peer Review Panel and Programme Defence
Skills You Will Gain
- Foundational Skills Assessment
- Future Skills Prioritisation
- Learning Pathway Design
- Self-Regulated Learning Facilitation
- Learning Habit Design
- Micro-Credential Design
- Learning Culture Development
- Participation Barrier Analysis
Why Attend This Course
- Leave with a Foundational and Future Skills Development Programme for a real workforce segment, already reviewed by peers
- Identify which staff are held back by numeracy, literacy or digital gaps before funding advanced programmes
- Build learning routines that employees keep using after a course ends, rather than one-off events
- Learn from managers in other sectors and countries preparing their workforces for the same technological change
Conclusion
A workforce keeps pace with change only when its foundational skills are secure and continued learning becomes routine. This coreconcept course moves from the skills landscape and the international frameworks for foundational and future skills, through learning habits and pathways, to the barriers and recognition choices that decide participation. The final day turns that work into a Foundational and Future Skills Development Programme that participants take back to their organisation, ready to launch with a defined segment and a clear baseline.