Skillsoft found an average of only 22% of respondents said they were fully ready for a future digital working environment.

In comparison to the other respondent countries (Germany and France), the UK lags behind in its preparedness for digital transformation.

The UK sits below the 22% average, with just 14% of organisations saying they have fully prepared employees with new skills.

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The lack of transitional L&D skills is a major issue for UK business with 48% of UK respondents saying that digital transformation was the more challenging issue, compared to Brexit at 26%.

Much of the issues and concerns for firms are about their struggle to keep pace with learning and development (L&D) needs, the research found.

Digital transformation in key areas

Reskilling a workforce in the face of changing and increasingly digital working environments is the biggest single issue for L&D professionals across Germany, France and the UK.

However, opinion is split between which areas to prioritise; operations were found to be considered the most important in the UK, sales and marketing was found to be most important in France, and IT the most important area of focus in Germany.

Despite the overwhelming response that organisations are not preparing employees for digital transformation, only half of the organisations in each country have increased investment in skills to keep pace with the transition according to the study.

“It’s clear that across these three major territories, digital transformation is severely testing the planning, implementation and spending strategies for L&D professionals. Despite a clear trend of increasing and targeted investment, the industry faces a challenge to keep pace with the changes that digital transformation is bringing,” explained Steve Wainwright, managing director EMEA, Skillsoft.

“It’s vital, therefore, that we also look to technology to help build successful L&D strategies so we can all reap the benefits of this exciting era of disruptive change in the way we learn, widen our skillsets and give employees the greatest opportunity to develop.”