A company is as productive as its workforce, but as the work environment evolves hand in hand with technological advancements, employees and employers should be ready to face the imminent skill gap between the experience and skills they need to keep pace with growing demands. To ensure that your workforce remains flexible and capable, upskilling could be the solution, supporting the increase of productivity and, ultimately, company success.
Upskilling, also known as retraining, is the process of learning new and advanced skills to improve performance and growth within a current role. This approach involves deepening the current knowledge set and fortifying experience within an industry, focusing exclusively on expanding the abilities of your existing employees to fulfill the strategic needs of your business, thus reducing the need to find and hire new ones.
It can be particularly useful in industries impacted by the advent of Artificial Intelligence and automated services.
How to leverage upskilling as a business strategy:
- Begin by defining the skills required to fulfill the roles your company has, as well identifying potential skills gaps.
- Budget enough time and money for training programs, including identifying internal and/or external training partners, as well as gain employee support.
- Develop a measurement system that tracks progress and allows you to optimize along the way.
Upskilling courses are flexible and can be tailored to address skill gaps or business needs. Courses can focus on training soft skills or can lean toward building technical and digital capabilities, such as providing employees with workshops.
How Upskilling Helps Meet Talent Demands
- Reduces Recruitment Costs
It’s no secret that the costs of hiring go beyond employees’ hourly wages or salary. Total costs include recruitment, benefits, training and integration into the company. Resources for Employers estimates the cost to replace an individual employee can be substantial, often amounting to 6 to 9 months of the employee’s salary.
- Increases Loyalty and Retention
Employees who feel valued, invested in, and that they are on a path to advance in their jobs are more likely to be happier, which impacts their productivity, output and the experience they deliver to customers.
- Boost Company Reputation
Companies that offer upskilling, training and development signal to prospective and current employees that they care about their job satisfaction and growth ambitions. This will make your company more attractive to candidates, improve your brand image and serve as a competitive advantage. This is especially important for Millennial and Gen Z workers who want to grow quickly, contribute to a higher purpose, and add value.
According to McKinsey American Opportunity Survey (AOS), answered by 5,277 adults (18 and older) from the continental United States in 2024:
- 42 percent express interest in upskilling or say that they are currently looking for upskilling opportunities.
- “Upskilling interest varies with age, with young workers particularly eager (63 percent of workers aged 18 to 24 and 53 percent of those aged 25 to 34).”
- Survey data reveal that workers’ motives for upskilling are: 1) improving their career prospects, and 2) personal interest in learning something new.
How to Build a Successful Upskilling Program
When thinking about how to create or evolve your upskilling efforts, consider that major barriers to employees gaining additional skills on their own is time and money: employees prefer that it is employer-provided, and within working hours. Leadership should encourage and promote training opportunities at every level.
Consider ways an upskilling strategy could boost your current workforce, meeting future demands. To learn more about efforts to upskill our region’s workforce, complete this form and one of our Business Consultants will reach out to you.
