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Lesson Learned: Don’t Get Left Behind
Fiona sat frozen in the meeting room, her mind spinning as the words from her boss barely registered. Across the table, the HR manager looked on with a neutral expression as her boss handed her the dreaded envelope. Fiona’s heart sank as she tried to grasp the situation — she was on the retrenchment list. It didn’t make sense. Just an hour ago, she was buried under spreadsheets and deadlines, working tirelessly like she had always done.
Fiona felt a sharp sting of disbelief. She had been with the company for years, rarely taking leave, giving her all to meet targets and finish projects. Yet, none of that seemed to matter now. “How could this be happening?” she thought.
The answer came swiftly — technology had outpaced her.
Her boss explained it matter-of-factly: “Your role is being replaced by tools that perform at 1/100th of your speed.” Fiona’s hands trembled. For years, she had clung to her familiarity with Excel spreadsheets, believing that the same skills she developed two decades ago were still enough. But in reality, the world had moved on without her.
The newer tools—Excel with advanced analytics features and Power BI—were light years ahead. What took her hours to analyze, modern data tools could summarize in mere minutes, generating visual insights in clicks. Fiona regretted not signing up for the company’s internal upskilling programs. Colleagues who attended Excel and Power BI courses were now thriving with these newfound abilities, while she was left with obsolete skills.
All the late nights spent manually cross-referencing data, trying to make sense of spreadsheets, felt wasted now. The work that once made her proud had been reduced to inefficiencies in the eyes of the company. Fiona realized that hard work without the right tools was no longer enough.
The Success Story: James Embraces New Skills
In contrast to Fiona’s predicament, her colleague James had a completely different experience. A few months ago, he too felt the pressure mounting as the company shifted towards digital transformation. Unlike Fiona, though, James chose to act. He enrolled in the company’s Excel and Power BI course, dedicating time to learn modern data analytics tools.
Initially, it was tough. James wasn’t particularly tech-savvy, and some of the functions in Power BI seemed overwhelming at first. But he stayed consistent, and as he progressed, he discovered how much easier his work became. He could now pull data from multiple sources, create automated reports, and build interactive dashboards with Power BI.
Tasks that used to take him hours to complete in Excel were now finished in a fraction of the time. One-click pivot tables and VLOOKUP functions made data manipulation seamless. With Power BI’s visual dashboards, his insights were no longer buried in rows and columns but displayed clearly, making decision-making faster for his team.
The best part? He was no longer dreading his workload. The tools he had learned to master eliminated repetitive tasks and freed up time for him to focus on creative problem-solving. His manager quickly noticed the improvement and assigned him to higher-impact projects, setting James up for career growth.
Lesson Learned: Don’t Get Left Behind
The stories of Fiona and James highlight the importance of keeping up with technology. While Fiona stuck to the old ways, believing hard work would be enough, James adapted and took action. He understood that Excel and Power BI were no longer just tools—they were essential business skills.
In today’s fast-changing world, businesses need employees who leverage technology to optimize work, not just rely on manual labor. Fiona’s regret serves as a warning to anyone who believes the same skills from years ago will carry them through. The future of work is evolving rapidly, and it’s crucial to evolve along with it.