Address Skills Gaps: Upskilling And Reskilling

Address Skills Gaps And Enable Employee Development

Developing new skills is essential for career growth. Employees want it and businesses need it to keep up with market and industry needs. Upskilling and reskilling are effective skills-building strategies to help your employees get there. But what exactly are employee upskilling and reskilling? In this article, we’ll be exploring why upskilling and reskilling are important, their benefits, and what strategies you can start implementing to give employees upskilling and reskilling opportunities.

What Are Upskilling And Reskilling?

Upskilling involves providing your current team with training to help them gain additional skills. These skills will be valuable in helping them take on additional responsibilities and tasks and will set them up for success when seeking future promotions. By undergoing an upskilling program, employees become more productive and efficient, allowing them to perform their roles more effectively and efficiently.

Reskilling is when you provide employees with training to gain new skills required for a different line of work. This can be useful when an employee has some of the skills required for a position in a different department and only needs a few additional skills to qualify for the role.

Something that upskilling and reskilling have in common is that they both require career pathing, which helps employees understand the different career options available to them and the development support they need to get there. The main difference between upskilling and reskilling is that upskilling involves advancing an employee on their career track, while reskilling prepares employees to transition into entirely new roles. Similarly, while you would typically offer upskilling to all employees, only a select few would undergo reskilling programs.

Why Are Upskilling And Reskilling Important?

According to a McKinsey report, 87% of businesses around the world have realized an unforeseen skills gap in their company. A large reason behind this is that companies lack upskilling and reskilling strategies. Upskilling and reskilling prepare employees for changes in their industry and help them better perform their jobs. This is essential as businesses in all industries face continuous and fast-approaching developments due to changing standards and technology.

Professionals want career growth and development. One report found that 57% of U.S. workers want to upskill. To retain employees and maintain employee engagement, growth is essential and helps employees feel like their work is valuable. Additionally, reskilling and upskilling will improve your business’s overall productivity and efficiency, helping you stay ahead of the competition in today’s market.

Benefits Of Upskilling And Reskilling To Address Skills Gaps

Let’s talk about how upskilling and reskilling helps your employees. If you’re looking to understand why you should add upskilling and reskilling programs to your company, here are five benefits of staff training:

• Reduces the need for external hiring
  By preparing your existing employees for promotions or adjacent roles, you’ll be able to fill up vacant positions quickly and at a lower cost.
• Retain institutional knowledge
  When upskilling or reskilling an employee, you can rest assured that they have the institutional knowledge they need to perform tasks accurately and correctly.
• Enhances trust
  Promoting your employees can cause your employees to trust you and the company more, allowing you to retain more employees.
• Acquire and retain top talent
  When you do need to hire new people, upskilling and reskilling opportunities at your company can make top talent want to join your company.
• Bridge talent gaps
  Upskilling and reskilling programs can help your employees gain more skills and get ahead of the competition.

Implementing Upskilling And Reskilling Strategies For Your Organization

After understanding the benefits and importance of upskilling and reskilling, it’s clear that they play a crucial role in retaining staff and keeping up with industry needs. Here are a few strategies you can implement to effectively achieve your long-term corporate goals.

1. Assess Company Needs

Evaluate the current skills your employees have and the skills your company needs to keep up with industry demands. Start assessing the areas and departments that may require upskilling and gather information from employees with the following methods:

• Self-assessment questionnaires
• Surveys
• Performance data analytics
• Key Performance Indicator (KPI) reviews

2. Set Clear Objectives

Using the information you gathered from the assessment, create clear and attainable goals for your upskilling and reskilling initiatives. A clear understanding of the skills you require and how you will achieve them can help you project how and when your organization will address these skills gaps. After establishing the goals and how long it will take, break them down into smaller milestones to keep employees motivated and able to track their progress with ease.

3. Train Employees To Learn New Skills

Now, you’ll need to train employees across the organization to pursue and attain a wider skillset. This is possible when you look at how specific training will benefit your various departments, since each will require specific and unique skills. Be sure to assign employees skills training that will benefit them in their current jobs and future positions.

4. Implement An Effective Training Program

It’s important to factor in various learning styles and incorporate them as needed to enhance the effectiveness of the training program. For example, some employees may retain information better through visuals, while others prefer to read or do quizzes. Some modalities you can add to your training program include eLearning, video, and immersive technologies such as AR and VR.

5. Monitor Progress On Training Programs

Lastly, monitor your employees’ progress to understand which training sections are most effective and which parts need improvement. One way of doing this is by tracking KPIs directly related to the procedures or processes that you are training your employees on.

Implementing A Successful Training Program To Address Skills Gaps

Now, let’s explore what you should include in your upskilling and reskilling programs to improve performance. Here are three important practices that will help you implement a successful training program for staff.

1. Empower employees to pursue career development
   One smart practice you can use to empower employees to embrace their career development is holding weekly meetings to discuss professional interests and goals so that management can either assign employees to similar programs or create future training for it if it is currently unavailable.
2. Identify and address recurring themes
   Take note of recurring themes in surveys and feedback from both clients and employees, and determine what upskilling training will be effective to improve those situations.
3. Create a roadmap
   Provide your employees with a clear view of their path along their skills training journey to maintain their engagement and measure performance.

Putting It All Together

In conclusion, upskilling and reskilling are indispensable strategies for both employees seeking career growth and businesses aiming to stay competitive in evolving industries. By providing targeted training, organizations can empower their current workforce, reduce the need for external hiring, retain institutional knowledge, and foster trust among employees. Implementing clear objectives, tailored training programs, and continuous progress monitoring are essential components of a successful upskilling and reskilling initiative, ensuring that businesses not only bridge skills gaps but also create a pathway for sustained employee development and organizational success.

Originally published at www.intellezy.com.