EY Cyprus: Skills upgrade a must to deal with changes

Training and upskilling their people in this fast-changing environment is of strategic importance for companies, which is one of the reasons that led to the establishment of the EY Academy.

Director, EY Academy of Learning & Development, People Advisory Services at EY Cyprus Christine Kowal and Partner, Head of People Advisory Services at EY Cyprus Panayiotis Thrasyvoulou in an interview with StockWatch, explain the mission of the Academy.

They give their insight into what companies need to do in order to keep up with the rapid development of new technologies and they underline the importance of skills upgrade and investing in the continuous development of the workforce.

They identify the challenges that arise along with the use of artificial intelligence, while also recognizing interest from clients to improve awareness and ways to identify and contribute to sustainability targets within organizations.

The Interview

Q: What is the purpose of the EY Academy of Learning & Development and what are its goals?

A: The EY Academy was established in Cyprus and is currently part of the People Advisory Services. However, its mandate is to work closely to support all EY business lines with any learning solutions. This includes Tax & Legal, Consulting, Assurance and Strategy & Transactions. The EY Academy was created in response to our clients recognizing that training and upskilling their people in this fast-changing environment is a strategic importance. Therefore, the EY Academy functions as a hub to allow us to get closer to our clients and support them with their broad-spectrum learning agenda. Our mission is to help our clients build a better working world, by nurturing talent, fostering growth and driving innovation.

Q: What gaps do you identify in the market in terms of employee skills given the rapid development of new technologies?

A: There’s a huge mandate in Cyprus and of course in other markets to upgrade the digital skills of the workforce. We have been working closely with our Technology & Transformation Consulting team on several exciting opportunities ranging from developing the basic computer skills of unemployed people to complex front-end and back-end application development. It’s a dynamic learning space that is evolving daily. The biggest challenge is to keep ahead of the learning demands! We also notice that leadership development is an area which is prone to evolution, as the new normal requires constant adaptation and change. This is why at EY we have created the Transformative Leadership Series and the Digital Era Leadership Program.

Q: Market players estimate that the arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will significantly change how people learn in the workplace. Which do you think will be the most positive and the most negative developments?

A: AI in L&D offers quite a few interesting advantages to companies who embrace it. There are efficiencies to be gained in terms of rapid content development, however one of the most exciting AI uses in L&D is the ability to develop personalized learning experiences for individual employees. Our AI assisted EY Skills Foundry is a great example of this technology – an end-to-end, managed services platform that helps enable organizations to build adaptive, empowered, knowledge driven workforces at scale. By using leading edge artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze millions of data points, EY Skills Foundry generates personalized and enterprise-wide views of skills gaps and learning pathways by specific role.

In terms of challenges to using AI, they are concerns broader than the application to L&D. Ensuring data privacy and security as well as managing the risk of copyright infringement and liability remain present. Specific to L&D though, the challenge is to develop AI skills and an organizational culture willing to support AI-driven learning. Our recent Work Reimagined Survey results clearly show employers recognizing the importance of developing regenerative AI skills, but it falls far down the list in terms of learning priorities.

Q: The risk of cyber-attacks has been particularly noticed in Cyprus lately. What can employers do to educate their people and protect the business?

A: In the event of a cyber-attack, highly trained employees are your first line of defence. Even when businesses think they have a secure IT infrastructure, the employees might not know or understand how best to manage security solutions and situations for the company's benefit. As Digital Transformation becomes a priority for organizations, the need for a thorough security awareness program becomes more imminent. This shall include training sessions, cybersecurity policies, simulation drills, and social engineering training.

Q: Sustainability and ESG are very hot topics especially with COP28 having occurred nearby. What are you seeing in terms of demand from business to increase awareness on these topics? 

A: We’ve seen quite a bit of interest from clients to improve awareness and ways to identify and contribute to sustainability targets within organizations. The EY Academy regularly works closely with other service lines such as our Climate Change and Sustainability Services team and Tax teams to provide a variety of tailored workshops. In fact on January 12^th, we will be holding a public training seminar on Sustainability and Green Tax Awareness. This will include discussions on circular economy, impacts on financial statements and creating a sustainability culture through diversity & inclusion. For more information or to register for this upcoming seminar, please visit the EY Academy website here.

Q: Which should be the focus of the companies in the near future to keep up with all these developments?

A: If I could give any advice to business owners and leaders of organizations, this would be to never underestimate the value of continuous development of their people. As training budgets get stretched and other strategic priorities take over, it can be tempting not to invest time and money into employee development. However, with things changing so fast, it is easy to get left behind quickly. It is important to keep learning top of mind and to have strong partners to help keep the learning agenda relevant and active so employees feel prepared and engaged with the changes coming.