Hey Leaders, It’s Time to Train the Workforce: Critical Skills in the Digital Workplace

Businesses are confronted with digital challenges and require skilled employees to work effectively in the digital workplace. Drawing on the theoretical background of digital workplace transformation and the conceptual learning framework, we conducted a qualitative study. With the help of a cross-case analysis of nine multinational corporations, we provide a skillset for leaders on how to train the workforce in the digital workplace. The insights showed that an entrepreneurial mindset, digital responsible thinking, digital literacy, transformative skills, personal development skills, communication skills, community management skills, data analytic skills, and web development skills are critical in the digital workplace. These findings contribute to the literature by offering an exploratory understanding of essential skills for the digital workplace. Furthermore, we provide a theoretical foundation for future empirical investigations of cognitive and metacognitive, social-emotional, and practical skills. The study also offers practical implications for businesses and leaders on how to upskill the workforce and what kind of employees to recruit in the future workplace.