“Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!”

― Maya Angelou

Are you prepared to remain competitive in your career in 2023? A successful career in our digital age depends on your digital literacy skills. A recent study found that 70% of businesses believe that in the next five years, it will be hard to find people with the skills they want. According to a 2018 article in The Economist, prioritising digital literacy is imperative if an organisation wants to be competitive in the 21st century. If companies want to succeed in the digital age, they must adjust to the shifting needs of their customers. The lack of adequate digital literacy is one of the issues confronting businesses today. 

How Critical do we Need Digital Literacy?

According to a 2017 Deloitte survey, 65% of executives said spending money on workplace digital literacy would pay off in the long run. The survey also showed that many leaders feel unprepared to tackle these issues. Only 35% of respondents indicated that their organisations had a formal strategy for training employees on digital skills. Will you wait on your organisation before you acquire the necessary digital skills to advance your career?

Some experts also argue that investing in digital literacy programs in developing countries can help bridge the digital divide. In 2019, the OECD released a report suggesting that digital literacy is critically important to the economy and society. The report showed that low digital literacy could significantly reduce a country’s GDP by as much as 1% per year. The report also found that addressing low digital literacy could increase a country’s GDP by up to 3%. Therefore, increasing your digital literacy can affect the economy by allowing you to complete more tasks quickly and efficiently, saving you time and money. Take this scenario from 2016, where the Independence Day celebration brochure of the Republic of Ghana has several grammatical errors. The editor could have avoided those mistakes before publishing if they had employed programmes like Grammarly and Quillbot (digital tools that use artificial intelligence to help fix grammatical errors), saving the entire country from shame.

Digital literacy is a non-negotiable skill to have as a citizen if we want to contribute to the growth of a digital economy. 

Every job is rapidly evolving by leveraging the power of technology to do more. For example, Veolia, a company seeking to be the benchmark for ecological transformation, designs smart-waste collection solutions by introducing electronic sensors and gradually automating waste collection and processing. With every product or service becoming accessible over the internet, we all need to be able to leverage these services.

How do I know If I need to Improve?

Digital literacy is different from digital skills, which are the ability to use a computer device or be able to use social media. Digital literacy goes beyond being able to use digital technology and then use it to communicate in meaningful ways. Thus, it implies that a digitally literate person uses a computer to generate meaningful content. How do I know that I need to improve my current digital skills? Here at 12pencils, we believe in empowering you to stand out in today’s digital space by providing you with the knowledge that sets you apart.

Personal Digital Skills

Let’s start with your data. As a “netizen” (digital citizen), creating a collection of your data and being in control of it is necessary. Here are a few areas of your life that digital literacy can improve.

Personal Data Management

Do you know what the internet knows about you? If you use Google services, which are required for every Android phone to function well, you can view the profile Google Ads has created for you here. The places you’ve visited with their map service are here. All the Google services you use are listed here, and all the contacts you’ve saved are here. Facebook also gathers information about you. 

What should you do with your digital data? If you feel uncomfortable with how much information the internet has on you, start by auditing your digital data. If you do it well, you may even be able to manage your digital legacy when you die.

Personal Information Management

Have you ever heard someone say they lost your contact details because they recently changed their smartphone? That person needs digital literacy. Have you ever said that yourself? You know you need to improve your digital literacy skills.

We are in a digital age where all your basic information must be readily accessible wherever you are on this planet. With any device with internet access, you can have your contacts, birth certificate, driver’s licence, national identification, bank details and many others secured in the cloud for free. Tools such as Evernote, Google Keep

Personal Career Development 

The premise of every career is to add value. With companies fiercely seeking the best talents to remain competitive, employees must position themselves ahead of the talent pool. The days when we relied on our HR to chart our career path are no more. Creating your career development plan is a must for everyone today.

Education in a digital era is ubiquitous. Every day, everywhere, we have access to new knowledge. Online platforms such as LinkedIn Learning and Alison have several tutorials to improve or learn any skill of your choice. The minimum skills we all need are the ability to:

1. Use a word processor to write and format every document professionally,
2. Do an advanced online search and use the results without plagiarising,
3. Design easy-to-understand, formatted with automation in a presentation document,
4. Use digital tools to plan and get things done faster and more efficiently.

Professional Digital Skills

Having digital abilities for your development is no longer enough in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. A hindrance to the adoption of digital transformation for most companies is the inadequacy of their employees to use those digital tools, as reported by a recent study by the Polytechnic University of Munich and SAP, which indicates that 17.3% of companies consider that their employees are not prepared.

Jobs requiring digital skills have increased by 4% since 2014, according to a report by Burning Glass Technologies. The increase comes in light of companies targeting better consumer relations and overall business operations. 

Businesses’ working methods have evolved, shifting from brick and mortar to online, and now work from home. The shift to a digital world has had fruitful outcomes for the world. Being able to code, design, analyse data and communicate efficiently with digital tools will set you apart. Here are five digital skills you could acquire to be part of the future of many developing businesses.

1. Digital Marketing: Search Engine Marketing, Email Marketing, Pay Per Click, Content Marketing, Video Marketing. These are all unique ways to market a brand online that you can learn,
2. Content Management: Copy Writing, Blogging, Infographics, Podcasts, and Status updates on Social Media. The ability to write engaging content that catches attention is a skill every business needs today.
3. Building Web apps: All digital tools are web applications packaged into platform-appropriate programs. The Spotify app on your iPhone, Android, and WearOs is from one main web app. You are a hot commodity on the job market if you can understand and write basic codes.
4. Design: Nothing drives customer engagement like images that communicate effectively. If you can use tools such as Canva, that alone is sufficient to set you apart from your peers. Freepik, pixabay, and flaticon are other digital design tools that can improve your design output.

Make Digital Literacy a New Year Resolution for 2023

With today’s digital technology affecting every area of our everyday lives, personally and professionally, the value of digital skills to many shareholders is growing. Regardless of the job you are currently in or seeking, recruiters will value you more if you have a broader set of digital skills and experience. 2022 is almost over, and 2023 is only a few days away; hopefully, this article will encourage you to make digital literacy part of your new year’s resolution. 

Creating podcasts, newsletters, videos, and blog posts are new ways to connect with customers. Making judgments based on information acquired online and through social media has become the foundation for drawing and keeping customers.

Do you have mastery of any of the digital skills mentioned in this post?

Want to learn and master any other digital skills that would be the best fit for your career or business? Feel free to enter your email below or fill our contact form in the comment section.