The world of work is rapidly changing. The landscape, once familiar, is becoming far more uncharted, sophisticated, and nuanced. Employers are scrambling to make their workforce the best, most efficient force there is. Unfortunately, for most organizations, this remains a pipe dream. A clear understanding of the unique abilities and traits that each individual within the workforce carries can help turn those dreams into reality. Due to continuous and dramatic shifts in the workplace scenarios, roles are changing and transforming completely, so it becomes essential that the workforce evolves and is nurtured along with it.
A World Economic Forum study states that approximately 85 million jobs will potentially be displaced by the division of labor between humans and machines. In addition, 94 million novel roles will surface that are in tune with this evolved nature of the workforce. The resulting skill gaps are inevitable as employees move from one role to another in accordance with emerging business needs and technological advancements. So what can organizations do to tackle these skill gaps? Talent mobility strategies such as upskilling and reskilling could hold answers.
The Difference Between Reskilling and Upskilling
Upskilling is defined as providing existing employees with new skills. Manager Onboarding is an illustration of this concept. A manager possesses the necessary skills needed to do their job most efficiently and correctly, but there are additional skills that they need to practically learn, such as budgeting and scheduling, that are not typically taught in management courses.
Another example could be internships. This is where individuals progress from the theoretical to the practical and comprise of learning a wide array of skills that are not necessarily taught in university programs. The internship programs usually consist of building new skills, bridging skill gaps, and linking the concepts learned with new, more advanced skills.
In psychology and the medical sciences, upskilling could look like getting more advanced certifications and enrolling in training programs to learn additional skills that could help complement their work.
Reskilling is defined as teaching an employee an entirely new skill set for a job that they might have in the near future and one that is dramatically different from the job they currently hold. Due to the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, a lot of organizations had to reskill their employees for jobs that were dramatically different than their routine ones to fill necessary gaps.
This concept could be illustrated by how companies began to train their employees to work remotely during the Covid19 pandemic. In-store customer service agents began to work as remote sales agents that required mastering an entirely new skill set that involved digitalization and other technical skills.
The Importance of Reskilling and Upskilling the Workforce
The employee and employer relationship has changed radically over the last decade, with employees expecting more so than ever before. Employees no longer want to feel stagnant within organizations with little to no development opportunities. In this rapidly evolving era, organizations need to accept that continuous learning and development are a part of life and, as such, should be a part of every job.
There is always room for improvement, for being better than yesterday, for exceeding expectations, both your very own and those of your employers. How would employees ever break these boundaries if there is nothing pushing them forward?
Additionally, the process of recruitment costs far more than reskilling and upskilling your existing workforce. Working on the personal and professional development of someone already within the organization would save valuable time, money, and resources for the organization. They are familiar; they have prior experience and knowledge of how the company operates and have already established excellent rapport within the organization.
This cycle of continuous learning within the organization has the potential to make the employees feel more confident in their own abilities. It departs faith and trust, and these two should be amongst the building blocks of any organization.
How can Organizations Make a Difference?
The first step would be to allocate adequate resources for learning and development. Resources cost money. It does not have to be extravagant learning programs that cost millions. A little goes a long way.
Starting small by incorporating training programs, conferences and seminars would help jumpstart the process. Furthermore, learning also has time costs associated with it. The employees need to be away from their duty stations whilst that takes place, so companies need to make sure that they incorporate learning into their time and financial budgets.
Additionally, it is pertinent that the company knows where its current employees stand. Organizations can use a classic gap analysis to identify the gap between their current and desired state. This can help determine the targets of their efforts. Technology systems such as a learning experience platform (LXP) or a learning management system (LMS) can be efficient tools in helping identify where the employees are and help them identify the paths they need to take to help accelerate their journey of growth and development.
Furthermore, different assessments such as personality, interpersonal skills, and cognitive assessments can help identify an individual’s level of competence and trainability. This sketches a clear picture in regards to the potential of an employee and whether or not they need to be upskilled or reskilled.
In Conclusion
The key to organizational success ultimately lies in the workforce, for they are the most valuable asset. Understanding and knowing the employees can save companies significant time, resources, and money that comes with the process of recruitment. By embracing the concept of learning, growing, and evolving through upskilling and reskilling, the company is wholeheartedly embracing its employees and sending out a message of hope. In most cases, this pays long term dividends for the company culture and overall health.
