In recent years, the world has been evolving and adapting to various changes as a way of curbing the impacts of the ever-soaring recession rates, unemployment, globalisation, covid pandemic as well as many other business impacts. These new changes have led to new lifestyles, work cultures and business demands – consequently reshaping jobs and skill requirements for each job. For instance, unlike in the past, there are now many new jobs and roles with new skills requirements in the workplace.
A lot of strategies, tools and advice have been put forth to try and address all these new impacts. Amongst the recommended solutions, up-skilling and re-skilling seems to be the most highly recommended and trending technique.
As per the concept of these techniques, many people are working hard to learn new skills to enable them to find hybrid work, switch roles as well as get better jobs. Also, recent research shows that unlike anytime before, many employees now highly rate the availability of training and growth opportunities in their workplaces as proof of great workplace culture and good employee well-being. The Hr department is not left behind either, as leaders are busy creating new roles as well as recruiting employees with certain skills to fill up the talent gap. But is this talent development technique worth the hype?
Read through this article to know more about the basis of these techniques, their benefits and many other insights.
Contents
What is the Difference Between Up-skilling and Re-skilling?
Benefits of Employee Up-skilling and Re-skilling?
Tips to Help Your Employees to Up-skill and Re-skill
What is the Difference Between Up-skilling and Re-skilling?
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What’s the difference between upskilling and reskilling?
The only similarity between these two terms is that they both help an individual to gain more knowledge but it is worth noting that they have significant differences and objectives.
Up-skilling involves elevating the employee’s existing skills and expertise to an advanced level by providing additional training. These new skills have to be related to the employee’s current role to enable them to gain an advanced understanding of their field of work as well as to enable growth in their career path. Over time as the employee continues to level up and enhance their expertise they end up qualifying for new advanced roles at work.
Re-skilling on the other hand enables one to grab an entirely new role, as such it involves an individual undergoing learning to gain skills outside their existing ones. Sometimes employees may even be required to accept new work positions to meet the needs of their organisations. Re-skilling may be used to retain the services of trusted and hardworking employees whose original roles are no longer needed in the company.
Benefits of Employee Up-skilling and Re-skilling
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Why-should-you-upskill-and-reskill?
This constantly evolving world calls for skilled, flexible employees who are well-equipped to withstand any changes. And there seems to be no better tool to meet all these demands other than up-skilling and re-skilling.
These talent development strategies do not only benefit organisations, but they can also change an individual’s professional life for the better. Below are some of the reasons why many individuals and companies are considering up-skilling and re-skilling:
- It helps to reduce retention rates.
- It attracts talent.
- It improves the company’s reputation.
- It improves overall business success
- It saves time and money that could be spent scouting for external talent.
- It enhances employee morale and productivity.
- Helps employees to adapt effectively to changes in the business world.
Tips to Help Your Employees Effectively Up-skilling and Re-skill
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Tips to help you effectively upskill and reskill your workforce
Below are some of the recommended tips to help you craft an effective up-skilling and re-skilling strategy for your workers :
The HR department should begin by carrying out an analysis to check whether the existing skills of their employees match all the company’s needs. The results of this assessment can then be used to provide specific training programs that will help close the skills gap in the workplace.
After determining the talent gap, it is essential to ensure that the employees also understand the organisation’s development plans and the benefits of expanding their skill set.
To keep up with the doctrines of diversity. equity and inclusion in the workplace, the Hr department should also carry out surveys to determine each employee’s suitable learning method and any other special needs. This will help to ensure that the training program is effective and better suited for each employee without any biases.
After selecting proper training programs for your team, ensure that you follow up on progress to determine if it was successfully run and completed.
FAQs
What are some of the methods that can be used to Up-skill and Re-skill the workforce?
The suitable method to use depends on the results of a skills gap assessment. Below are some of the ways you can use to increase your employee’s skill sets:
- Permitting employees to cross-train in positions related to their original roles.
- Rotating employees between roles.
- Encouraging employees to try self-training.
How can you elevate your skills and expertise?
- Request for new growth opportunities at work.
- Enrol for online courses and training programs.
- Learn from others in your preferred career path.
What are some of the top 5 skills that employees are expected to have?
The answer depends entirely on your organisational needs and objectives. To boost productivity in the workplace, employees need to have emotional intelligence, stress management, effective communication, time management and problem-solving skills.
What are some of the challenges associated with up-skilling and re-skilling the workforce?
- Tight budgets.
- Lack of time.
- Poor training methods.
- The constant change of technical skills.
Up-skilling and re-skilling prove to be golden tools that can help many organisations to adapt to the current business challenges and to prepare them for any other challenges. It permits employees to focus more on improving themselves, adapting to new challenges as well as developing new talents to meet their employer’s objectives while at the same time providing a higher quality of service. To avoid being left behind and disadvantaged by new developments everyone needs to understand the power that comes with elevating skill sets and knowledge to meet current work demands.
