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The importance of upskilling and reskilling in building a future-ready workforce

Talent Assessment | 8 Min Read

Upskilling & reskilling: Building a future-ready workforce

Introduction

With a rapidly changing job landscape and accelerated pace of tech innovation and automation, HR managers have placed a high premium on upskilling and reskilling to understand the critical needs of the workforce. World Economic Forum’s research predicts that 50% of all employees will need reskilling by 2025. Furthermore, according to a ManpowerGroup report, 77% of employers report difficulty in filling roles. This data underpins the need for reskilling and upskilling to prepare employees for future roles.

However, how can organizations bridge these gaps efficiently and attune their workforce to evolving jobs and business needs?

The answer lies in a talent mobility strategy focusing on upskilling and reskilling employee.

 


What is upskilling and reskilling?

Upskilling enhances employees’ skills, enabling them to acquire new skills within their current job function to improve performance. Upskilling helps employees bridge the skills gaps through continuous professional development. It is crucial as it allows employees to stay abreast of emerging business trends and practices, thus helping organizations stay competitive in the market.

Reskilling, on the other hand, is the process of acquiring new skills required to perform a different job role. Reskilling ensures that employees stay engaged, motivated, and eager to develop new skills and obtain expertise that will benefit the individual as well as the organization.

 


The importance of upskilling and reskilling for organizational growth

Businesses should administer employee upskilling and reskilling programs to keep them aligned with the ongoing trends; also, employees are more likely to showcase their best work in a company that attends to their development needs.

The employee upskilling or reskilling process involves imparting new skills and increasing employee competency and efficiency. The more skilled the workforce is, the easier it is for an organization to achieve desired outcomes and stand competitive in the market.

Some crucial points stating upskilling and reskilling importance have been outlined below:

 

Infographic 1

1. Minimizes cost and saves time

Considering the efforts and investments involved, recruiting qualified applicants to fill vacant positions is arduous. However, by upskilling existing employees, an organization will engender loyalty and instill multitasking skills by broadening employees' horizons at work.

2. Helps curtail turnover rates

According to LinkedIn’s 2023 Workplace Learning Report, 93% of organizations are concerned about employee retention. For most of them, providing learning opportunities remains the top way to improve retention. Upskilling carves a learning culture that inspires employees to associate with their organization for a long time, significantly contributing to higher employee retention rates.

3. Improves performance

Upskilling fosters skills improvement, enabling employees to explore the pathway to new skills and career progression. This empowerment leads employees to master their current roles and helps the organization accommodate evolving business needs.

4. Helps develop self-awareness

Employee upskilling programs can help uncover strengths and limitations, which comes in handy in understanding new skills they should learn to improve their capabilities. In addition, such programs enable employees to track their development regularly.

5. Improves efficiency levels

Every organization aims to attain higher-than-usual productivity. Upskilling the workforce will help them anticipate the diverse needs of different clients and accordingly deliver the right solutions.

6. Provides growth avenues

A growth-centric environment that supports upskilling can foster employee satisfaction and boost productivity in the workplace. It also generates goodwill among employees and helps the organization become an employer of choice for job seekers.

 


Upskilling vs. reskilling

While upskilling and reskilling are often interchangeable as they pertain to skills acquisition at large, they have subtle differences, as listed below:

Upskilling Reskilling
It refers to teaching advanced skills to employees to maximize their efficiency in their current jobs. It refers to imparting new skills required for a new role.
It focuses on imparting learning in improving knowledge and performance in a current role so employees can adapt to evolving market conditions. It focuses on equipping employees with new skills so they can transition to a different role within the organization or another company.
It aims to increase employees' value by skilling them to be future-ready. It aims to reskill those with an aptitude for transition.
It does not necessitate changing the career path of upskilled employees. It mandates the learning of new skills for a new career path.
It enables employees to improve their performance with their current job responsibilities in their current role. It enables employees to adjust to significant changes in their new roles.

 


Best practices for upskilling and reskilling employees

1. Optimize learning programs

Most organizations already have in place several learning assets/programs. These assets must be reviewed to ensure they meet the organization’s existing and future skills requirements. While reviewing the learning programs, the organization should consider the following:

  • What more can be integrated into these programs to deliver an enriched learning experience?
  • Are programs available in variegated forms, such as online, self-training, peer-to-peer, micro-learning, etc.?
  • Are the learning programs aligned with employees’ needs?

2. Work with the talent acquisition (TA) team

The success of any upskilling and reskilling strategy is determined by how well the HR teams are aligned with the TA department. They must analyze which candidates they are looking for and which skills are critical for new hires. The L&D in charge can garner vital insights and leverage them to refine L&D programs.

3. Leverage automation software solutions

The modern human resource and L&D processes are becoming much more streamlined with technology. These tools can help employers collect, store, and analyze valuable data to identify skills gaps and create a targeted plan for the right set of people.

The HR tech landscape is brimming with advanced software solutions to help organizations analyze skills gaps, conduct training needs assessments, and upskill and reskill their workforce.

4. Keep a feedback channel open

Employees undertaking an upskilling or reskilling program must be kept abreast of the latest developments with regular feedback on their progress. These standard feedback loops will help organizations find top performers and improve opportunities in the training and development programs early on. 

5. Introduce skill assessments in the process

Skill assessments help in identifying employees closest to the desired skill set. In addition, they enable organizations to understand skills gaps in their workforce. With these assessments, managers can assess the level of learning through upskilling/reskilling programs.

 


How Mercer | Mettl can help devise an up-to-date upskilling and reskilling strategy

Mercer | Mettl empowers organizations to execute an end-to-end upskilling and reskilling strategy in simple steps. Mercer | Mettl Skills Gap Analysis helps businesses understand the training requirements to identify the current skills gaps and skills required through structured assessments. This is done through its robust and technologically advanced tools. The holistic assessment tools accurately and scientifically measure domain skills, coding skills, personality traits, cognitive ability and communication skills.

Some Mercer | Mettl tools that organizations can exclusively use for their upskilling and reskilling programs are:

 

1. Virtual Assessment and Development Centers (VADCs) 

 

Mercer | Mettl’s Virtual Assessment and Development Centers (VADCs) can help gauge candidates’ skills, fitment, and developmental needs in a company. VADCs automate the process using digital tools, helping organizations find high-potential workers, plan strategic employee development, and analyze training needs.

 

2. 360-Degree Feedback Tool

 

Mercer | Mettl’s 360-Degree Feedback Tool differs from conventional assessment software as it uses a multi-rater approach. The tool collects ratings from multiple sources, like peers, managers, and clients. Apart from making the performance evaluation seamless, the 360-Degree Feedback Tool also helps:

  • Identify gaps in skills as perceived by other stakeholders
  • Identify high-potential (HI-PO) employees
  • Get a holistic overview of an employee’s performance

 

3. Training Needs Analysis

 

Mercer | Mettl’s Training Needs Analysis enable organizations to identify their training and skills requirements. It also helps design an effective training program that meets the business’s needs. The tool works in three simple steps:

  • Identifying what to train in
  • Selecting agile learners who can be quickly trained
  • Measuring the effectiveness of the training programs.

 


Conclusion

As the business landscape continues to change, organizations need to understand the importance of upskilling and reskilling programs. Such programs can help organizations thrive despite economic uncertainties and pivot with changing demands.

 


FAQs

Why are reskilling and upskilling important in the working environment?

What are the benefits of upskilling and reskilling?

Originally published April 15 2022, Updated June 13 2023

Written by

Abhilash works with the Content Marketing team of Mercer|Mettl. He has been contributing his bit to the world of online business for some years now. Abhilash is experienced in content marketing, along with SEO. He’s fond of writing useful posts, helping people, traveling, and savoring delicacies.

Upskilling and Reskilling

Importance of upskilling and reskilling

Whether you want to upskill or reskill employees, it is a go-to strategy for ensuring your people are prepared for the future.

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