Why Upskilling Your Employees is More Important Than Ever

The meaning of upskilling is relatively straightforward. It is the learning of new skills. But with the digital transformation of the economy, it has never been more important.  

Upskilling in the workplace is a process of ongoing learning. Companies provide training and other career growth opportunities to improve workers’ skills and provide the company’s expertise to operate and grow. 

As technology continues to advance rapidly, creating new types of jobs and business opportunities, upskilling has become essential for companies to fill these roles with people who have the requisite skills.  

There are a number of different reasons why upskilling has become so crucial: 

1. Job duties and requirements are changing faster than in the past. 
2. Employees want career growth and development opportunities. 
3. It helps companies maintain a competitive edge. 
4. It saves the time and cost of having to recruit new people. 
5. It helps to improve employee engagement and retention. 

Developing a Plan 

The first step in developing an upskilling plan is to determine exactly what kind of skills gaps exist at the company and what skills the company needs.  

Another aspect of upskilling the company needs to look at is the long-term value of the skills. It may be tempting to learn a skill to plug an immediate need, but that skill itself may quickly become outdated. The focus should be on the types of skills that will have more of a long-term impact.  

After determining where the skills gaps lie, the company can then decide what types of training programs are best suited to close the gaps. To do this, the company will need to look at whether a large-scale training effort would be better or a one-on-one approach. Another variable to look at is offering the training in-house or using some other organization to do the training. Also, the type of training needs to be determined, whether, for example, a mentoring program is best, or online learning, or classroom learning, or some type of hands-on training.  

When offering the training, companies also need to take into account the background of each employee, what their current skill sets are, what their aptitudes and interests are.  

Partner with the Recruiting Experts

Working with a recruiting agency can make the hiring process easier and more efficient. The agency will send you candidates that have already been prescreened to meet the job requirements, so you spend less time searching for candidates. Contact our experts at G.A. Rogers today!