Upskilling and reskilling have become more important than ever in ensuring the success of your career and your company, and here's why.
Remember the days of CDs and VHS tapes? While it's fun to get nostalgic, this memory is a perfect example of how quickly technology — and in turn, social habits — can change.
These changes, whether influenced by innovation or other aspects we can’t control such as a global pandemic, can impact many facets of our lives including how we work, what sectors soar with increased demand, and what skills are needed to do certain jobs effectively. The skills required to do many jobs in the 1990s or even the early 2000s are different from the skills needed to do that same job today.
To keep up to date with these changes, upskilling and reskilling are common practices within many companies in order to help keep employees well-versed in the latest skills needed to do their job effectively. Whether this practice is common within your organization or you’re thinking of starting it, here's why both upskilling and reskilling are vital to the future success of your team!
What is Upskilling and Reskilling?
While the two may sound similar, there is a distinct difference between upskilling and reskilling, and which approach you take will be dependent upon the employee and the skills required for them to do their job.
Upskilling
Upskilling is the process of helping an employee acquire additional skills related to their existing job, with the goal of being able to take on different and/or larger projects. This is often done through training or external courses.
For example: Providing resources to help a web developer learn new coding languages, or funding a course that could assist them learn a new skill relevant to their job, such as UX Design.
Reskilling
Reskilling is when employees learn entirely new skill sets unrelated to their current position, with the goal of a career change.
For example: Training an employee for a new role within the same organization, or the employee independently learning a new skill set to obtain an entirely new position at another company.
Why are Upskilling and Reskilling Important?
Now that we've established the difference between upskilling and reskilling, why are these practices important for organizations to implement? The reasons are plenty, but here are a few of the most prevalent reasons companies practice upskilling and reskilling:
Improve Employee Loyalty and Retention
Employees are eager to learn and providing them with the chance to do so can create a happy workforce. A recent study by Deloitte demonstrated that employees rated “the opportunity to learn” as one of the top reasons for taking a job and 94% were more likely to stay in their job if the company helped them develop.
Developing your own employees’ skill sets is not only an essential part of creating a loyal workforce, but it can also save your organization money. According to Gallup, it can cost as much as 150% of an annual salary to replace an employee! This means that upskilling and reskilling your existing workforce could be a good monetary investment, in addition to saving the time that goes into hiring and training new employees.
The COVID Factor
With the economy just in the early stages of recovery from the impacts of the COVID pandemic, a global labour shortage is impacting the way companies operate, with many workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic opting to reskill and switch sectors completely.
To keep employees within the organization, McKinsey and Company suggests companies should start looking to reskill their workers now before their employees consider other options outside of the company. The World Economic Forum has found that over half of global employees will need to upskill or reskill by 2025 to stay competitive in the global marketplace.
Translation: wait to upskill or reskill, and expect to lose a portion of your workforce.
Technology Changes
Some jobs that were performed by employees only 5 years ago have now been phased out due to automation. These changes to technology require employees to be reskilled so they can be placed in other positions within the company.
Other changes to technology, such as the introduction of new software programs, require upskilling so that employees can effectively carry out the tasks related to their jobs. A lack of upskilling in these instances can cause confusion and frustration in a workforce that's left trying to train themselves.
How Can You Support Your Employees in Upskilling and Reskilling?
Provide Corporate Training
The easiest way to both upskill and reskill your workforce is to provide corporate training options to all of your employees. Providing tuition assistance or funds for additional training has been proven to boost employee retention while also closing the skills gap. There are even some government programs such as the Canada-Ontario Job Grant that help employers invest in training for their workers.
Many colleges offer corporate training options specifically aimed at companies looking to upskill and improve retention. Juno College’s Corporate Training program is one example that provides flexible options for employers and employees aiming to upskill.
Share Knowledge Internally
Many larger corporations offer internal platforms that serve as an internal knowledge base. These allow employees to access resources related to specific tasks or positions at the company itself. Mentorship programs as well as job shadowing also provide an opportunity for employees to learn from one another and ask questions to broaden their knowledge base.
Build It Into Career Development Plans
Yearly performance reviews are a great way to bring up the topic of upskilling or reskilling with your employees. Building courses or training into their long-term development plan can help workers upskill and reskill while feeling like they’re working towards achieving a longer term goal.
Ready to Upskill or Reskill?
We offer continuing education courses for those looking to advance their careers, and Bootcamps for those looking to kickstart a whole new one — explore our programs below: