Trends in Education 2025: These 4 Skills Will Strengthen Your Resilience

The year ahead promises to bring its fair share of challenges for the business world. Geopolitical tensions, technological innovations, and social upheavals will be to blame that neither employees nor companies can catch a break. For executives, this means that technical expertise alone is no longer enough. It will be crucial to acquire targeted skills that not only promote personal development, but also ensure the strategic resilience of the entire company. Konrad Holleis, Head of Executive Education at the WU Executive Academy, and digitalization expert Martin Giesswein analyze which skills will be particularly in focus as a trend in education for 2025.

Which skills will be particularly in demand in 2025? The following trends in education show which abilities managers and companies should strengthen now to remain resilient and successful.

Geopolitical tensions, a high degree of volatility regarding interest rates and inflation, and an economic slump and stagnation are forcing companies to strengthen their strategic resilience from within. The key word is adaptive agility, a trend in education that helps managers to optimize their level of flexibility.

Adaptive agility empowers managers,

• to tolerate and accept a lack of predictability and situations with uncertain outcomes and to continuously strengthen their adaptability to swiftly respond to changes,

• to use scenario planning (strategic foresight) to identify risks and opportunities at an early stage and develop a variety of potential future scenarios to fall back on in any kind of contingency,

• to use the help of data when making complex decisions as well as further develop both their own and their teams’ innovative competences.

Implementing artificial intelligence in companies is no longer a question of technology; instead, this embrace has become a strategic investment that comes with a multitude of opportunities and risks. The development of AI-sensitive leadership skills is therefore one of the key trends in education in 2025 in order to make the most of the potential of AI.

A well-known example of a business segment that has embraced the use of AI is HR. Automated tools greatly reduce the workload that comes with sorting and assessing applications. In the absence of ethical standards, however, such systems can reinforce implicit biases, as a result of which some groups of people are (subconsciously) discriminated against. This is why companies should enter strategic alliances with AI experts and ethics teams to minimize such risks.

“Companies must find ways to help people trust AI systems. Transparency, data protection, and fairness are key ingredients that not only bolster acceptance by employees and customers but also make for a long-term sustainable application of these technologies. It is thus essential to implement governance guidelines and offer trainings early on to make sure that all stakeholders know the potential and limitations of AI as well as the ethical implications of its use,” says Konrad Holleis, the Academy’s Head of Executive Education.

Managers are thus well advised to take steps to ensure AI compliance already now; abiding by the EU AI Act will then be a walk in the park. The effective use of AI in companies can put them one step ahead of their competitors, for instance when implementing AI applications for which data from various sources have to be meaningfully merged. Aptly done, this can enable better strategic decision-making, for instance regarding the customer focus. In addition to that it’s just as important to lead teams in a way that signals a certain openness towards AI, Martin Giesswein says: “That is why it’s so important not to see AI as a threat and to encourage staff to use AI while simultaneously establishing a culture conducive to learning and innovation. This also involves familiarizing top managers with AI technologies.

EU legislation obliges companies to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and 2030 will be an important milestone in this endeavor. Against this backdrop, managers can no longer view sustainability as a mere necessity of their business; they need to consider it as a competitive advantage of strategic importance.

To reach this admittedly ambitious goal, managers must

• adopt corporate environmental and social responsibility in their corporate strategy along the entire value chain,

• integrate concepts such as energy self-sufficiency, alternative and green forms of energy, the circular economy, and biodiversity in strategic considerations,

• use the innovative power brought forth this way to further develop their products and services.

To avoid frustration among staff members, the corporate purpose must be more than just a buzzword and flimsy marketing measure in 2025. Companies with a clear purpose are more profitable and set up for more sustainable business success because they combine their long-term orientation with agility needed in the short term. “This requires executives to engage in continuous education to be able to implement the cultural values and aspects associated with the organization’s purpose in their actual leadership practice,” Konrad Holleis says.

A strong corporate purpose put into practice has three decisive advantages:

1. Employee Retention and Motivation

Studies show that employees with a sound grasp of the purpose of their work are more motivated and productive. A strong corporate purpose attracts talent and helps companies prevail in the race for skilled workers.

2. Brand Reputation

Customers increasingly favor companies that act responsibly and base their business on ecological and social values. If the purpose is clearly communicated to stakeholders, it increases customer loyalty and helps enterprises stand out from their competitors.

3. Strategic Resilience

Companies that use their purpose for orientation are better equipped to successfully navigate stormy times. A purpose can serve as a sort of compass that helps managers identify the right priorities needed to weather uncertain seasons.

Managers must heed the corporate purpose on a strategic level and in their decision-making and also ensure that it is clear to employees and guides them in their daily business practice. “For this reason, managers make a real difference in whether or not a purpose is put into practice. They are the missing link between vision and implementation and have to be role models in enacting the corporate purpose,” Martin Giesswein concludes.

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