Technology is advancing rapidly, pushing companies to consistently upgrade their technical expertise and skillsets to keep with it.
This urgent need to shift to adapt new technical knowledge and abilities has become imperative, which means companies talent management teams must prioritize continuous learning practices into their workforce to tighten the widening technical skills gap.
On the other hand, we see key players across industries, including Amazon and Microsoft, splurge investments in upskilling initiatives to ensure employees feel more secure in the new roles and adapt to the ongoing changes the world experiences.
As we dive into the new normal of the hyper-digital world, enterprises talent management teams must consider investing in reskilling and upskilling programs to bring significant returns and an edge over their peers.
The Imperatives of Upskilling Your Organization
Upskilling is a win-win situation to both employers & employees. Below, we have jotted down a few of these benefits at a very high level.
Upskilling can bolster retention rates
The cost of employee turnover and recruitment can be expensive, especially in an unprecedented pandemic era. The problem exists across industries, from interns and marketing managers to web developers and C-suite executives.
Research studies indicate that about a third of job seekers are willing to sacrifice salary in exchange for skill-building opportunities.
The growing reliance of employers and potential recruits on initiatives like upskilling can be leveraged as a talent strategy lever. A move like this can boost employee-employer engagement and reduce the soaring attrition rate in the post-pandemic workplace.
Upskilling improves employee morale
A second reason for workforce upskilling is that it improves employee morale and overall organizational morale. Case in point, more than 60% of employees remark that organization-led skill upgrade initiatives are crucial to their job satisfaction, thus playing a critical role in boosting employee morale.
Upskilling assists current employees and potential hires identify a clear path to career advancement while also showing what the future holds for them in the organization.
A robust, meticulously planned training culture is also seen by employees as an investment from the company in preparing the workforce for a digitally dominated era.
Upskilling as a tool for internal mobility
Internal mobility has always been a topic of conversation in recruiting circles, specifically in large organizations.
During the pandemic, several mid-to-large size organizations with upskilling initiatives in place let their existing employees move into adjacent teams or in-demand positions. This makes internal mobility crucial in making organizations thrive even amidst times of crisis.
A future-ready workforce within the company has benefits aplenty, including immediately promoting and reassigning employees to emerging roles whenever the need arises.
Since upskilling is at the core of achieving internal mobility, employees are allowed to learn things outside of their fields. This entire process becomes engaging to the employees waiting to discover different facets of the company.
As the need for further learning becomes paramount, initiatives like reskilling and upskilling take center stage. Organizations failing to upskill their existing workforce may experience exorbitant loss in economic growth.
And as talent management teams from companies across industries seek problem-solvers, AI-powered talent intelligence platforms like Draup enter the scene with critical data-backed insights to fix the tech skills gap.
Draup identifies skillsets and maps them with the existing list of courses and programs in its database using 100+ machine learning models to support organizations talent management teams in developing upskilling initiatives and prepare the talent force for the new future of work.
