Every year, Autodesk conducts the State of Design and Make study and solicits input from leaders in a variety of industries including architecture, engineering, construction, and owners (AECO); design and manufacturing (D&M); and media and entertainment (M&E).
Talent management was one of the primary focus areas of the 2024 study. Although competition for top talent is less intense than last year, companies are still addressing talent gaps through a mix of training, digitization, and other means. The 2024 State of Design and Make research found that 71% of participants consider digital maturity to be a top attractor of talent.
When it comes to talent retention, it’s important to pay attention to the employee experience. Professional development and training are key elements of the employee experience that can’t be overlooked – 21% of study respondents said that their organizations are supporting existing employees through initiatives like technology training, mentorship, and coaching, as well as upskilling and reskilling programs.
According to participants in the 2024 State of Design and Make research, the top three skills of the future are the ability to implement and work with AI, digital design skills, and digital project management.
Source: Autodesk 2024 State of Design & Make
Here are three examples of how companies across different industries are leveraging technology to improve the employee experience:
- Construction. At a general contracting firm, project managers struggled to create submittals from design specs developed by architects, MEP firms, or structural engineers. This process took around two weeks on average. In addition, considerable manual data entry increased the risk of human error. To address these challenges and improve the employee experience, the company implemented an Autodesk solution to create new submittals automatically. This has reduced the number of person hours needed for projects, decreased the risk of human error, and resulted in happier project managers.
- AEC. After an engineering, procurement, and construction services company adopted the Autodesk AEC Collection, the firm found that its designers had different levels of expertise on the various software programs within the collection. The team felt that in-person training wouldn’t be the right fit for their needs, so they spoke to IMAGINiT about eLearning options. The firm deployed IMAGINiT’s ProductivityNOW eLearning platform which offers on-demand access to hundreds of self-paced classes on Autodesk software, as well as online training videos, white papers, and other resources. It also provides access to IMAGINiT support staff via chat, phone, and email. This approach has increased employee productivity and fast access to knowledge has improved the employee experience.
- Manufacturing. A manufacturer of material handling and automation systems recognized that they needed to centralize their asset libraries and enable employees to easily search for information. In addition to creating a repository with company-specific material, the team wanted access to training materials for software like Autodesk AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor. This would reduce the time that engineers had to spend documenting workflows, tips, tricks, and lessons learned. The company decided to work with IMAGINiT to deploy the ProductivityNOW eLearning platform which could be customized to their unique needs. By empowering employees to easily find answers, the company has improved the employee experience and enabled teams to provide better customer service.
If your organization is interested in discussing how technology can improve the employee experience and contribute to staff retention, feel free to reach out to us at IMAGINiT. We’re happy to share our knowledge of Autodesk products, as well as our extensive experience training teams on software solutions.
