The Importance of Upskilling and Reskilling Employees to Navigate Business Change

Staying rigid and resisting change in the business world today is not an option. Companies may need to reskill and upskill their employees to remain competitive.

The world and technology are growing every day, creating changes in roles and demands in the workforce. In the face of these challenges, talented employees are necessary to keep businesses running properly. 

This is why upskilling and reskilling your workforce is essential. With upskilling and reskilling, you can bridge the workforce gap that you may think isn't there.

Read on to find out about the importance of upskilling and reskilling your workforce.

Difference between Upskilling and Reskilling

Both upskilling and reskilling help companies adapt to current changes. However, they are not the same thing. Upskilling an employee won't move them into a different, new role. Upskilling is about improving one's skill set and expanding their experience and ability. With this additional knowledge, employees can boost their performance and advance their careers.

On the other hand, reskilling prepares an employee to move into an entirely new and different position. Reskilling involves learning information and knowledge that is different from existing skills. Similar to upskilling, reskilling is also a way for employees to advance in their careers, but on an entirely new path.

Upskilling and Reskilling Challenges

While investing in your workforce is beneficial, it is not without challenges. For instance, sometimes companies and their employees have trouble identifying which skill they need and how to upskill or re-skill it. In fact, a Prudential survey showed that only 46% of American workers believe they already have the skills to compete 10 years from now.

Insufficient budgets are another common challenge. PluralSight survey showed that 30% of HR/L&D directors said not having enough budgets is their tech companies' biggest challenge. Yet 13% of tech executives in these companies also said that upskilling isn't in their employers' interest. This makes it difficult to allocate budget for upskilling or reskilling purposes.

The Training Industry suggested a comprehensive analysis of needs and performance mapping to address some of these challenges. Because even with the finest training program, efforts might go to waste if companies don’t recognize their performance challenges. Careful performance mapping also provides a methodical approach to budgeting, allowing only the necessary spending.

The Benefit of Upskilling

Upskilling is beneficial for both employers and employees. For instance, upskilling your employees means building a more resilient team for your company. Employees with a broad range of skills are better prepared when faced with problems. Compared to underskilled employees, they can be more creative in finding solutions, and maybe even come up with better problem-solving.

Furthermore, upskilling shows that the company supports employees' career growth. Because upskilling will help employees achieve career progression goals faster. This way, employees will feel valued. Next, employee morale, job satisfaction, and improved job performance are expected to follow.

The Benefit of Reskilling

As technology advances, some roles will be irrelevant, and demand for other roles will appear. In this case, it's often better to reskill your current employees rather than hire a replacement. This way, you can reduce onboarding expenses and save from the hassle of familiarizing new hires with the company's valuable information. This can take months, and even years to do.

Furthermore, reskilling and retaining your current employees provides a sense of job security. Similar to upskilling, it shows that the company values current employees and is willing to invest in them. Developing your employees' skills will help them grow as individuals and generate better feedback for your company over time. 

The conclusion is that the world is changing fast, and businesses need to adapt to follow market demands. Moreover, with AI evolution changing the dynamic shifting in job roles, upskilling and reskilling are only two of the many ways to stay current and competitive.

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