Learning and development (L&D) is a key element of a successful business. A McKinsey report said that 90% of managers/executives believe their organizations either already faced a skills gap or expected gaps by 2024 — this is why employee reskilling is key to creating a nurturing workplace.
When you reskill someone, you usually teach them new skills or share subject matter expertise on a completely different topic. This may be relevant when hiring new employees to fill in-demand positions that have opened up or were recently created at your company.
In a study, 34% of employees left their previous employers because they were seeking better career development opportunities. So, one of the best ways to ensure that your employees stay on top of their game is to provide continuous learning opportunities and ensure they can learn new skills — or brush up on old ones — as needed. In fact, reskilling employees can help companies improve their products, services, and processes by attracting new talent and keeping existing employees engaged. A study by the Association for Talent Development (ATD) revealed that companies have seen a 218% higher income per employee when offering comprehensive training programs than companies without training.
Let’s take a look at five benefits to reskilling employees in today’s business world.
1. Adapting to change.
Digital innovation is one of the main drivers of change. Businesses continue to adopt new tools that require employees to continuously learn new workflows and systems. On one hand, these tools can expand an organization’s capabilities and improve performance. But they also can cause digital skill gaps, which can be challenging to fill.
McKinsey Global Institute estimates that almost 375 million workers globally would be required to master fresh skills as their current roles evolve with the rise of automation. With this being the optics, organizations need to prioritize reskilling their existing employees.
It is a great way to ensure that they are kept up to date and engaged in their jobs and improve morale. It also ensures that employees are equipped with future skills and can assume new roles across the company as needed.
Due to a lack of talent, many organizations are struggling to remain innovative and productive in the digital age. It’s critical to invest in continuous learning opportunities for employees if you want to close skill gaps and assist workers in adjusting to a changing workplace.
Bridging this gap would require solutions catering to accessibility, affordability, and digital skills touching social infrastructure, technology, and economics.
A significant competitive advantage to reskilling is having a workforce that values learning and is adept at quick implementation. Industries, customer expectations, and technology will all continue to change, forcing businesses to adapt quickly.
Your employees’ loyalty, satisfaction, and engagement may all rise as a result of helping them adapt to changing business needs through upskilling and reskilling.
2. Boost employee productivity.
Happy employees are more likely to be productive, loyal, and creative. They’re also more likely to recommend your company to others — so it stands to reason that if you want a happy workforce, you need to make sure they have opportunities for growth and development.
Profitability depends on productivity. And one of the simplest ways for businesses to boost their output is by providing training. Time-consuming tasks can be greatly reduced by learning new technologies or tools, such as artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools. Simplified procedures and less time wasted are additional advantages of training employees on soft skills like communication and delegation.
3. Decreased turnover and increased retention.
Reskilling employees is a great way to reduce turnover because it can help them stay engaged and motivated at work. After all, the cost of hiring someone new and training them to replace an employee is much higher. In fact, studies have shown that the replacement of a salaried employee costs an average of six to nine months’ salary. So, reskilling your current talent pool instead of hiring new talent, can save the business money in the long run.
Employee retention is one of the biggest factors that can contribute to employee satisfaction. A company with a high retention rate is more than likely to have happy employees. This means that companies with a high retention rate are more likely to have higher productivity levels because they can rely on their workforce long term.
Employee reskilling can also be a simple and efficient way to lower turnover. Employees that feel insufficient in their roles are 10 times more likely to look for a new job. Combine this with the fact that 94% of workers say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their development and you’ll realize the value of reskilling employees.
4. Ensured compliance with industry regulations.
The compliance landscape is constantly shifting. What was once a simple set of rules to follow has become an ever-expanding complex web of regulations that sometimes overlap with each other. As the workforce continues to evolve with technology advancements and time, newer compliances are likely to be introduced across a sphere of areas. Reskilling can help employees navigate these areas better.
One common area of compliance, no matter the industry, is to do with data security and privacy. As technology has advanced, the risks associated with protecting private information have increased dramatically. It’s crucial that you have employees who understand the basics of how to protect sensitive data, how it’s stored and deleted. Employees could have re-skilling sessions around encryption, password security, and phishing scams as part of industry-mandated compliance training.
Reskilling can also empower employees to seek more roles other than their existing one. For example, having a concrete skill set in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) can make all the difference in a data analysis role or smart factory setting where such skills are not only in demand but are compliance-focused too.
Hence, providing clear and easy-to-access compliance training resources is a smart move for any business that wants its workforce to have access to up-to-date methodology and mandates.
5. Enhanced competitiveness.
Achieving higher performance levels through improved training programs also means increased profitability for businesses. This is because companies with skilled employees can perform better than those without them — and if you want your company to succeed, investing in improving employee competencies should a top priority. If you have a good team, then you can use their skills to run your business more efficiently, which can allow you to stay ahead of the competition.
Conclusion
By 2030, more than 1 billion employees will need significant reskilling and upskilling, according to the World Economic Forum. Companies are facing a number of challenges, including inflation, employee engagement and significant disruptions to the world supply chain.
However, it’s crucial that companies understand the value of employee training despite the deluge of competing priorities. The challenges of today and tomorrow will be addressed by organizations that comprehend the value of ongoing learning and deliver it across the organization.
