In a recent survey, 59% of businesses named upskilling as their top priority in 2021 and beyond. So, what is upskilling in the workplace? And what are the different benefits it can offer to your business?


WHAT IS UPSKILLING?


Upskilling is the practice of offering existing employees the opportunity to learn new skills and advance their capabilities. This may be through additional training, mentoring or peer coaching.
As the UK skills gap continues to grow, it has become increasingly difficult for businesses to recruit and retain the right people who are guaranteed to impact their operations.

This means it’s more important than ever for companies to embrace upskilling to remain competitive and strengthen their service offerings.

We’re now living in a digitally-driven world. Therefore, many upskilling initiatives are currently focused on supporting employees in learning digitally-driven skills. For example, as more consumers turn to social media to browse products and services, employees must have the necessary skills to manage social media platforms and stay connected. 

Although upskilling is vital for overcoming the UK skills gap, it can also offer many other business benefits and opportunities to those who execute it properly.

 

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF UPSKILLING YOUR EMPLOYEES?

IMPROVED EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION AND RETENTION

Around 93% of Millenials and Gen-Z workers expect employers to provide learning opportunities in their job roles. These are some pretty staggering statistics that prove upskilling isn’t just a nice to have — but a must-have.

Upskilling your employees will increase satisfaction because it makes them feel valued in their role. It shows your business is dedicated to employee development and willing to invest the resources to make it happen.

This will have a positive impact on your retention rates, too. Employees will enjoy their work better and naturally strive to achieve more. A win-win for everybody, right?

 

A HIGHLY SKILLED WORKFORCE

Plugging the skill gaps in your business is essential for future success. An upskilling programme is one the most effective ways to make it happen.

An upskilling programme will cover a wide range of areas. From planning a strategy through to execution, your employees will learn everything there is to know to offer optimum value in their role.

As your employees will return to the office with a wide variety of skill sets, they can start to take on more responsibilities and produce higher quality work as well. This will boost their satisfaction and the satisfaction of your customers.

 

HIRE THE BEST TALENT

More than half of job seekers apply to businesses recommended by others and associated with happy employees and candidates when looking for employment.

A satisfied employee is one of the best ambassadors for your business. When you leverage your employees’ networks and the power of word of mouth, you’ll reach more potential recruits in less time and for less money.

As we mentioned earlier, most employees now expect training opportunities to be a given when they start a new job. This means they’ll be more inclined to work with a company that embraces upskilling than one that doesn’t.

 

BETTER PREPARE FOR CHANGE

The digital age forces businesses to adapt and change their service offerings quickly. They need to learn about new technologies and keep up with consumer trends.

By upskilling your employees, you’re offering an opportunity for them to improve their knowledge. There are specific upskilling programmes that focus on digital and provide guidance on embracing new technologies.

Once your employees are confident using these types of technology, they’ll be more inclined to continue trying out new ones and also be better prepared to step up and make a difference when your business needs to pivot in the future.


CREATE A CULTURE OF LEARNING

A productive learning culture enables upskilling to meet the increasing demand for more skills. It’s also one of the key elements to building a motivated and productive workforce.

An upskilling programme provides the opportunity for your employees to acquire, assimilate and transfer new knowledge to create value. Those who participate in an upskilling programme will return to your business as thought leaders. 

They’ll have the extensive knowledge they can share with other members of the workforce, ultimately allowing you to build a culture of learning where everyone can grow and enjoy their work in harmony.

 

HOW TO CREATE A LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT CULTURE


There are many ways your business can start embracing upskilling and building a culture of learning. However, one of the most effective ways to do this is by investing in external training.

An external trainer can deliver the highest quality professional learning and development programmes catered to meet the needs of your business and employees.

Let’s say your business is looking to become more digitally savvy. By working with an external trainer, you can enrol your employees on a programme that provides them with the knowledge, technical and practical skills needed to flourish in their role.

We’ve created a digital marketing brochure to give you a little more insight into our digital marketing programme, what it covers and the benefits it will offer to your business and your employees.

Download your copy and start taking the first steps to embrace the power of upskilling your employees via the link below.

Digital Marketing Programme

Oliver Simpson

Written by Oliver Simpson