UPSKILLING
Increase your career potential, prospects
As the world is moving past the worst of the pandemic, a workplace term that has become popular is upskilling. It’s hot new jargon, according to workforce consulting company LHH (online at www.lhh.com).
Learning new skills has always been critical in furthering careers. Following a major shakeup in the workplace largely because of the pandemic — which dictates whether you work virtually or return to the office — keeping your skills razor sharp has never been more important.
Upskilling or reskilling is not just staying current, keeping up with the newest technology or fine-tuning your skills; it’s increasing your career potential and prospects so that you’re more efficient and productive. When you consider that less than five years is the average shelf life of a skill, upskilling means far more than helping to boost your company’s bottom line; it also means greatly improving your retention prospects. From your employer’s vantage point, it’s a lot more cost-efficient than hiring and training new workers. The pivotal word for both worker and employer is value.
Employers have discovered that reskilling creates a more dynamic and well-rounded workforce.
To management, it means engagement and a long-term incentive for motivating their employees.
Far more than a sexy new workplace term, upskilling not only applies to the way we work, but also embraces constant change for career builders and the organization that employs them.
Career pundits make a big point of advising career builders to stay current and constantly hone their skills. But upskilling does not just embracing the present; more important, it is about thriving in tomorrow’s economy and workforce.
Following are three important points from LHH:
1. Shifting from a replaceable to a renewable workforce means believing in the infinite power and potential of everyone to grow and reinvent themselves throughout their careers.
2. Only 20% of employees have the skills needed for both their current role and their future career.
3. Fully 87% of executives say their organizations are already experiencing skill gaps or expect to face them within a few years.
Christina Gialleli, director of People Operations at learning-technology company Epignosis (online at www.epignosishq.com), said: “Digitalization has created a demand for new skills, in addition to new job opportunities that weren’t around a decade ago. In the past, upskilling allowed employees to stand out from the crowd, but now it’s more important than ever in order to stay relevant and with the times.”
Upskilling and learning/development training programs are in high demand from employees, she said, adding that in fact, “it’s become one of the top benefits that are sought after from their current and future employers.”
More than half of HR leaders surveyed in a TalentLMS/SHRM (at www.talentlms.com) said they will provide their employees with upskilling (59%) and reskilling (55%) training in 2022, while more than a third already have both in place.
And a recent survey by TalentLMS and Workable (at www.workable.com) on the “Great Resignation” among tech employees found that skills development is one of the top factors for attracting candidates and retaining employees. Besides salary and benefits, skills development was the No. 1 criterion when tech employees select a company to work for.