How to Improve Employee Skills for a Happy Workplace and Higher Retention
According to Harris Poll, 70% of workers say they are relatively inclined to quit their present employer to work for one who puts money into training and development. How can you prevent your top workers from going on the road? Support them in their efforts to develop professionally and learn new things. Create an upskilling program to keep them interested, retain them, and demonstrate that you value their professional achievement just as much as they do.
What does "upskilling" mean?
Employees may advance their careers through upskilling and broadening their skill set. This can imply developing current abilities or picking up whole new ones.
These initiatives become an upskilling program when organizations regulate and standardize them. While employee development is the main objective of upskilling programs, the learning process itself may be extremely flexible. It might contain:
Courses (online or in-person)
Demonstrations
Job shadowing
Mentoring
Seminars and presentations
Tuition reimbursement or professional development stipends
What advantages does a program to upgrade your skills have?
An upskilling program involves work to develop and implement, but it has several advantages for both businesses and people, including:
Simpler Hiring
Programs to improve one's skills are very helpful for employment. Because there is less employee turnover, businesses need to hire fewer individuals. Additionally, they develop a rich internal talent pool for job advancement and new opportunities. Learning and development are also fantastic perks to highlight in employer marketing materials.
Less Gaps in Skills
According to data from McKinsey & Company, 87% of businesses globally are aware that they either already have or will soon have a skills gap. Companies may find these present and upcoming skills shortages by using upskilling programs, which also serve to improve the abilities of current employees.
Improved Retention of Employees
61% of employees see an upskilling program as "incredibly" or "very" vital when assessing the option to stay at their present workplace, according to the American Upskilling Study conducted by Amazon and Gallup. The fact that 71 percent of workers believe that on-the-job training and development increases their job satisfaction gives them even more motivation to remain around.
5 STEPS:
To create a top-notch upskilling program
Clearly, upskilling programs have benefits. And regardless of the size of your business, you may design an efficient (and even customized) upskilling program. Here's how.
Set Objectives for your Upskilling Program.
Starting with a goal is beneficial for every startup company. First and foremost, why do you wish to start an upskilling program? Perhaps you want to raise internal promotions, enhance staff retention, and raise employee satisfaction levels. Create a useful metric to track your progress and estimate the program's performance after determining why it is being implemented.
Investigate the Program's Requirements and Needs.
Ultimately, your upskilling program should satisfy a need. And the real magic happens when you meet the needs of your employees and your organization.
Once you know your focus:
Document responsibilities. What major functions or tasks is the company, department, or employee responsible for?
Relate responsibilities to skills. What skills are needed to complete those tasks?
Evaluate existing skills. Turn to performance reviews, feedback from managers, documented career paths, employee surveys (more on those next!), and more to get a grasp of existing skills. What’s missing to fulfill the responsibilities you’ve outlined?
Sort Out Your Upskilling Learning Initiatives
There are educational programs, like those on leadership and emotional intelligence, that will be relevant to almost every person in your firm. Others, however, will apply just to certain individuals or occupations. Both your software development team and your human resources staff won't need to develop their understanding of Java or onboarding best practices. To establish a well-rounded program for employees, offer a balanced mix of general and focused possibilities.
Recruit Experts
Although the HR staff may be starting the upskill program, it's unlikely that they will be familiar with the finest resources to support a wide range of talents. Perhaps your software development manager is aware of a fantastic online course that you might include in your curriculum. Or maybe the person who could provide a course on utilizing data to create a content calendar is related to your head of content marketing. It's crucial to include team leads, department heads, and staff members who can provide concepts and resources for upskilling initiatives.
Start your Upskilling Program
Gather all of your materials in one place, including books, courses, presenters, job shadowing participants, videos, and more. Sort the items into groups according to the following criteria:
Skill (e.g., Python)
Job role (e.g., Junior Software Developer)
Team (e.g., Software Development)
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