The job market is being radically transformed by the rapid evolution of technology. Every organization faces a major challenge in keeping up with the pace and scope of digital transformation. Technology not only creates powerful business opportunities, but also challenges the existing workforce.
Gartner HR Research reported that 58% the current workforce would need to acquire new skills in order to succeed.
Companies must engage in an upskilling movement to address the skills gap. This will empower employees to learn across departments, acquire new skills, and equip themselves with exciting and fresh capabilities.
What is upskilling?
Upskilling involves learning new skills, and acquiring the relevant competencies required for today's workplace as well as the future. It is a process of improving employee skill sets through training programs that are offered continuously to employees. This helps them progress in their current jobs and discover new opportunities in the future. In order to be competitive in a digital world, employees must have a learn-for-life attitude and a willingness for new skills to be acquired.
Upskilling vs. Reskilling
Reskilling or upskilling allows employees to bridge the skills gap and acquire the necessary skills to stay competitive at work. Both terms have their benefits and best use cases. But when is it the right time to use them? We can better understand the differences by examining the main features of each.
1. Focus
Employees who wish to upgrade their skills and knowledge must learn new material. They do not have to assume a different role. The goal is to provide employees with the knowledge and tools they need to do their job more efficiently and effectively.
Reskilling, on the other hand is when an employee develops new skills in order to perform a different job function at their company. This is a good option for employees who have skills that overlap with those needed to fill a new job. A data entry specialist who has strong technical skills could be reskilled to become a data analyst.
2. Implementation
In situations like:
Helping employees to succeed at their current jobs. Workforce adaptation is key to helping the workforce adjust to changes in the industry. New Software ImplementationsHelping employees remain confident in their area of expertise, even as it changes.
In situations like:
Retaining high-performing, reliable employees whose jobs have become obsolete. The retirement of legacy software means that you no longer need employees who were originally hired to perform a specific job. Retaining current employees and implementing a strategy to shift personnel from one department into another.
Digital Age: The Need to Upskill Workforce
Why employees should consider upgrading their skills for the digital age
1. Your job may be threatened by machines
A report states that one third of jobs will be affected by the technological advances occurring every day in the coming decade.
Automating repetitive tasks in highly-skilled jobs such as those of tax consultants, financial traders, and marketers can save money and time. Artificial intelligence (AI), for example, is already being adopted by companies to improve the efficiency of their processes.
The good news is, digital technologies do not automate the entire job function, but rather certain manual tasks. Future process-oriented jobs will be performed mainly by machines. However, tasks that require a human mind, such as problem-solving or social skills, will still be done by humans. It is essential that humans prepare and upskill themselves in order to be able to work alongside AI and other digital technology.
2. Employees need to have digital skills
All organizations involved in the digital economy are realizing that digital skills will be essential in the future. Skills like AI, ML and data science are highly demanded and will remain so in the future.
The ability to adapt to changes in the workplace and to maintain their job security will allow employees to better adapt to any business restructuring.
3. Your career future proofed
As technology advances, so do job roles and business processes. It is therefore essential that employees upgrade their skills to keep up with fast-paced technological changes. This will help them to secure their future and explore new opportunities.
Upskilling Benefits for Employers
Employee upskilling plays a key role in this transformation. Organizations constantly transform their workforces for productivity, digital innovation and growth.
We'll discuss some of the most important benefits that come with upskilling.
1. Increased Employee Retention
It is important to maintain high employee performance levels and low turnover rates by ensuring high levels of satisfaction in your company.
According to a study by Willis Towers Watson, 70% of "high-retention-risk" employees want to leave because they see no future advancement in their current job".
Organizations must ensure that employees feel valued in order to achieve high employee satisfaction. Upskilling your employees is a good way to show them that you are interested in their progress and give them the feeling that there is something "in it" for them. This, in turn boosts employee satisfaction, productivity and retention.
2. Savings in time, money and energy
You may already have the top talent that you are looking for. Consider internal mobility before posting a vacant position. This can be achieved by re-skilling and up-skilling current employees.
It is better to upskill existing employees than hire someone new, because it costs less. They could also easily fill the role. Hiring internally also means that the organization is hiring someone that they trust and who has proven to be a skilled worker. It takes time, planning, and effort to hire and train new employees.
3. New talent is attracted
Employees who feel valued by their employers and are encouraged to progress in their careers will become your strongest advocates. They'll be more likely to refer your company to friends, former colleagues, and family. You can choose from a large pool of talent when you're ready to expand your organization. They're also committed to helping a business grow, achieve its goals and be successful.
4. Morale boosts
Teams that have a variety of learning and development opportunities enjoy a higher morale at work. The continuous learning and development opportunities provide comfort to the workplace, as well as encourage employees to be happier, more satisfied and motivated. This will increase employee satisfaction and make them more optimistic about their future.
Benefits of Upskilling Employees
Upskilling is not just beneficial to the employer. It's also good for the employee. Upskilling has many benefits for employees.
1. Negotiate a Raise
Upskilling is not just beneficial to the employer. It's also good for the employee. Upskilling has many benefits for employees.
2. Career Change
Upskilling also allows you to change careers. Your newly acquired skills may help you get a job or promotion at a different company.
3. You Can Improve Yourself
You can improve your life by upskilling. Learning can add meaning to your life and make you more fulfilled in both personal and professional areas.
How to develop an Upskill Workforce
The right edtech can help organizations upskill employees for the digital age by predicting the skills they will need in the future, creating effective training programs and fostering a culture of learning and continuous development.
Here are some steps that will help you plan an effective upskilling program for your employees:
1. Conduct a skill gap analysis
A skills gap assessment is a form of assessment that HR teams use to determine if the current skills of their employees meet the needs and goals of the organization. As an output of a skill gap analysis, you will receive a list that includes skills employees have already, those they need to improve on, and those they need to develop.
You can then fill the skills gap by using online training and courses to upskill and train your employees to help them meet your company's goals.
2. Add upskilling to your employee development plans
Organizations need to stress the importance of upskilling in the progression of employee's careers. You can do this by incorporating certain skills into the employee's learning objectives and annual goals.
Align employee development plans to future workplace skills, which support your company's overall objectives and meet each employee's individual development needs (identified through skill gap analysis). These plans will help your employees gain the skills and knowledge they need to excel in their roles and prepare them for the future. Any goals you set should be time-bound, specific, challenging and attainable. A goal might be to have every employee of the sales department become proficient in two future critical skills in a six-month period.
3. Select Your Employee Training Methods
Different people have different learning styles - some prefer visuals, others need hands-on training, and some want an instructor to guide their progress. L&D teams must understand the learning styles of their employees and take into account other factors, such as training goals, costs, timelines, and objectives.
The most effective methods of employee training are
a. eLearning
b. On-the Job Training
c. Instructor-Led Learning
d. Roleplaying
4. Utilize Technology
Leverage employee training software to deliver effective upskilling programs. These tools will allow you to develop engaging training modules, ensure security and compliance, track employee engagement and analyze performance. Here are the two most popular training and learning softwares:
Learning Management System (LMS). A corporate LMS is responsible for all aspects of training employees - from the creation to delivery to tracking training materials. It can be used to identify and assess individual and organizational goals for learning, as well as track progress of employees towards those goals.
Digital Adoption Platform: This is a training software that can be integrated with enterprise applications. It helps users to learn while they are working. DAP creates contextual task lists that include interactive walkthroughs and videos to help users navigate through an application. DAPs are a great way to train your employees on the latest applications, tools or processes, without interrupting their workflow.
5. Follow up and track progress
It is important to assess the success of your entire upskilling programme and whether it met its goals. Employee training software, as mentioned above, allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of training and development programs. Monitoring KPIs, such as the course completion rate, training progression rate, assessment scores and reducing skill gap analysis. This helps you determine the effectiveness of training and whether or not your employees have acquired knowledge or skills by the end.
Use the following metrics to evaluate your training effectiveness
a. Feedback from employees: Employee feedback is a great way to determine if the training has helped them learn new skills.
b. Assessments: Quizzes, tests, or demonstrations are used to evaluate the knowledge, skills, and abilities gained by the employees following the upskilling program.
c. After-training job competency: Watch your employees and see if they are using their newly acquired skills.
Bottom Line
It is important to upskill your employees if you are serious about the success of your company. When you develop trust with your employees and make a commitment to keeping their skills current and relevant within your business, they will remain and grow in your company, giving you impressive results when it comes to retention, revenue and profitability.
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