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 strategic 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, strategic 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 for Strategic Talent Management

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.

Strategic talent management can help address this, as research shows about a third of job seekers are willing to sacrifice salary 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 health. Case in point: over 60% of employees say organization-led skill upgrade initiatives are crucial to their job satisfaction, playing a key role in boosting morale.

Strategic talent management helps current employees and potential hires identify clear paths to career advancement while showing them their future within the organization.

A robust, well-planned training culture is also seen as a company’s investment 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 enabled employees to move into adjacent teams or in-demand positions. This highlights how strategic talent management makes internal mobility crucial for organizational resilience.

A future-ready workforce offers key benefits, including the ability to quickly promote or reassign employees to emerging roles as needed.

Since upskilling is at the core of achieving internal mobility, employees are encouraged to learn beyond their current roles. This process becomes engaging for those eager to explore different facets of the company.

As the need for continuous learning grows, initiatives like reskilling and upskilling take center stage. Strategic talent management is essential, organizations that fail to upskill their workforce risk significant losses in economic growth.

And as strategic 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 strategic talent management teams in developing upskilling initiatives and prepare the talent force for the new future of work.

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