Are you upskilling and reskilling your employees? You should be, because it seems the “Great Resignation” isn’t ending anytime soon.
Per a survey conducted by Microsoft in March 2022, 41% of employees were thinking about leaving their jobs.
According to a similar study by McKinsey, 40% of employees were planning to quit their jobs.
These numbers call for organizations to evaluate the reasons why people are leaving their companies, and what they can do to keep them.
That’s why you need to master upskilling and reskilling as effective means to make employees feel more valued and prevent talent shortages.
Upskilling and Reskilling—What’s the Difference?
The process of educating and training employees to hone their skill sets is known as upskilling. Reskilling involves educating and training employees for different roles.
Research shows that 42% of organizations boosted their upskilling and reskilling efforts after the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, 68% of organizations are investing in upskilling and reskilling employees to tackle changes within the organization.
Why You Need to Upskill and Reskill Employees
Another survey shows that 80% of employees say that upskilling and reskilling have boosted their confidence. Therefore, the impact of upskilling and reskilling employees is evident, and organizations are embracing such efforts to motivate and retain them.
Research by the World Economic Forum shows that by 2025, over 50% of employees around the globe will need to upskill or reskill to remain competitive.
The world is rapidly evolving. Therefore, to ensure your organization stays ahead in the evolution race, you need to invest in your employees. By investing in your employees, you can motivate them, improve their productivity, and make them more adaptable to changes.
According to LinkedIn’s Workforce Learning report, when employees realize their organization is investing in their development, they are less likely to look for another job.
Per a Gallup survey, 87% of millennials consider their development and growth extremely important. If you want to retain top talent, you need to show them that you realize their value.
How to Upskill and Reskill Employees
Now that you know why you need to upskill and reskill employees, here’s how you can do it:
Use a Performance Enablement Solution
To build an adaptable and resilient workforce, you must consider implementing a performance enablement solution in your organization.
Performance enablement solutions map employee performance data with their learning experience to provide valuable insights. They help organizations look beyond performance metrics and help employees grow.
Recognize That Soft-Skill Development Is Also Important
Many organizations focus primarily on the development of hard skills. However, they need to understand that soft skills come in handy in the longer run.
Research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center reveal that 85% of job success comes from having well‐developed soft and people skills, and only 15% of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge (hard skills).
Even though organizations are exploring technologies such as automation, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), etc., to improve business efficiency, the “human touch” is not going anywhere. Organizations need to focus on the soft-skill development of their employees.
Promote Mentoring Programs
Per an article on Forbes, approximately 70% of Fortune 500 organizations have mentorship programs in place.
Mentorship programs can also help in upskilling and reskilling employees. Mentor-mentee relationships nurture learning among peers and help in building team spirit. Mentoring programs especially come in handy when employees are being promoted within the same role.
Encourage Self-Learning
Self-learning is one of the most valuable methods of upskilling/reskilling.
Whether working from the office or remotely, managers should encourage their teams to invest time in self-learning by:
- Collaborating with peers and cross-functional stakeholders
- Attending seminars and workshops that best suit their interests
- Attending paid training sessions to hone their skills
