Why re-skilling employees matters
Grooming internal talent helps companies save costs and sustain attrition rates
Change is the only constant in life and the saying holds true for employees and organisations in India too. With changing market dynamics and increasing competition across sectors, companies today need more than just employees with basic skills. Instead of hiring new talent to boost their businesses, organisations are increasingly focusing on building a re-skilled workforce. This not only saves costs, it also helps sustain attrition rates.
How are organisations preparing themselves and their employees for a skills upgrade? The idea of re-skilling works very well in maintaining business momentum and helps employees stay abreast with the latest skill sets, says Richard Lobo, senior VP and head-HR, Infosys Ltd.
“New tools, technologies and platforms require niche skills which are not always found at the junior level. This is where skill development plays a key role. We are investing in training and re-skilling our employees to meet the changing demands. We partner with educational institutions and leading global research universities in areas like massively parallel databases, big data and storage management. One of our training programmes helps create a strong corporate ground for engineering and MCA graduates specialising in software engineering and computer science,” he says.
With cloud computing, big data, analytics, and allied areas redefining workplaces and businesses, there is a stronger need for employee re-skilling to boost productivity and innovation. Studies also show an increasing number of companies going in for re-skilling. In order to fill vacancies, companies need not always hire new candidates. They can instead consider reskilling and up-skilling the current workforce, says the Randstad India’s HR Game Changers Report 2016.
Strategic initiatives to train and groom internal talent to take on senior leadership roles will ensure long-term success for companies, says the report. There are several benefits of grooming internal talent – employees understand organisational culture and values better than outsiders and are also aware of the strengths of different individuals and teams within the organisation, says the report.
Vishalli Dongrie, partner and head, people and change advisory, KPMG in India, says, “Re-skilling your workforce is the only way to ensure a competitive edge in the long run. Employees are now more connected (social media, 24x7 workplaces, cloud), have more data to work with (big data, analytics) and have better technology at their disposal (automations, robotics, Internet of Things) – all of these innovations are disrupting the way organisations work. In recent years, we have seen so many companies, which were once considered the stalwarts in their fields, fail by waiting for change to happen to them instead of planning for it. Traditional skills are getting replaced by new ones and firms need to keep up or perish.”
According to KPMG’s Global Transformation Study, organisations with data and analytics integrated into their operating models can respond more quickly to constantly evolving marketplace dynamics. Hence, senior executives must formalise ways to train employees through tech innovations. Millennials are aware that moving up the ladder is impossible without upgrading one’s skill sets. On-the-job experiences, social learning and formal training programmes can be used for re-skilling employees. Through re-skilling, companies can ensure that they have people in the wings ready to fill positions that open up, says Jagjit Singh, chief people officer, PwC India.