Workplace evolution is natural. In its time, the digital workplace of the late 20th century was revolutionary. But that era has come and gone. And as time passes, digital innovation is moving forward faster and faster. No wonder today’s employees are concerned about how they can reskill for the future.
According to a recent Workplace Intelligence survey, 78% of U.S. workers think they don’t have sufficient skills to advance in their careers. What’s more, 70% feel unprepared for the future of work. This is particularly frustrating for people from younger generations. As a result, they’re looking for career development opportunities that will keep them from falling behind as today’s digital business continues to evolve.
In fact, 74% of Millennials and Gen Z employees told McKinsey they plan to quit their jobs within the next year due to a lack of skills development. But why let talent slip away from a lack of learning opportunities? Instead, you can upskill and reskill your workforce to meet your organization’s changing needs.
Why Smart Employers Care About Reskilling
A commitment to reskilling employees is better for your company because you’ll always have a team ready to take on new challenges. Plus, it’s a strategy that drives engagement and retention. A Pew Research Center study found that a lack of advancement opportunities was one of the most common reasons why people quit their jobs in 2021 at the height of the Great Resignation.
What we’ve been facing for some time — is a skills shortage. And demand for qualified talent is only likely to increase, as disruptive technologies like AI and automation continue to radically redefine jobs in every industry.
This is why employers can no longer afford to delay reskilling and upskilling initiatives. By providing existing employees with the right pathways and resources to redevelop their skill sets, you can prepare your organization to address ever-changing business challenges.
But what exactly should a reskilling strategy look like? Here are several tips to consider as you reskill employees now for the future of work:
4 Tips to Reskill Your Workforce
1. Understand Your Team’s Work Styles
One of the biggest challenges of reskilling or upskilling is that every individual has unique learning preferences. In-person training might work for those who prefer participating in traditional lecture settings, where everyone focuses simultaneously on the same material. But with the rise of various online and blended learning methods, many people are gravitating to more personalized learning in the flow of work.
So before introducing reskilling materials, consider analyzing your team’s work styles. As Deloitte illustrates in its Business Chemistry Framework, most workers fit into one or more of these four work style categories :
- Pioneers
- Drivers
- Guardians
- Integrators
Familiarity with these categories can help you better understand individuals’ strengths, motivations, challenges, and weaknesses. For instance, people who operate primarily as “Pioneers” are likely to take more risks, adapt more easily to new challenges, and lead more confidently. On the other hand, “Drivers” tend to keep their heads down, focus on the task at hand, and rely less frequently on collaboration.
When you understand the various work styles represented across your organization, you can build teams that work together more effectively. You can also build development paths that make the most of each team member’s mindset.
For example, when diverse contributors work together toward common goals, they can combine their various strengths to work in concert more productively. At the same time, team members can share their distinct knowledge and skills to help others learn and grow.
2. Focus on the Difference Between Training and Coaching
To reskill teams effectively, training is vital. But don’t forget about the value of coaching. Coaching and training sound similar, but in practice, they differ. Coaching is more personalized and involves more one-on-one interaction than training.
For instance, consider the difference between sales training and sales coaching. Sales training might look like group sessions where someone reviews general sales trends and unpacks ideas for the upcoming quarter. Training might involve presentations or hands-on activities, but it’s unlikely to be tailored to individual needs.
However, sales coaching takes a more individualized approach. Sales coaching might look like a one-on-one meeting between a sales representative and a manager, where they discuss key areas for improvement. This focuses more on personalized learning tasks to improve performance, rather than general advice and assignments.
The process is iterative. It develops over time, as more personalized performance data becomes available. As an employee’s progress unfolds, the manager can rely on data to help shape next-steps and long-term objectives.
The power of this individualized approach goes back to the fact that everyone learns and grows differently. With this more individualized approach, salespeople become leaders in their own right, learning from one another and teaching new salespeople as they join the team.
This kind of coaching not only improves individual performance, but also improves overall sales results. At the same time, it can improve employee engagement and satisfaction.
3. Automate Where You Can
Let’s stay focused on sales for a moment. According to a Salesforce survey, sales professionals spend only 28% of their week connecting with potential customers. They actually spend more time on tasks they could automate, like data management, lead generation, and administrative duties. The result is little downtime and little time to focus on skill development.
Today’s digital landscape poses many challenges, like the need to upskill frequently. However, this rapidly changing digital world also offers opportunities. For example, you can free up time in your sales team’s schedule by automating repetitive tasks. By helping employees embrace automation, you redeem precious time so they can spend more of their working hours on more important business priorities. This also gives them more time to develop next-level skills.
In addition, by implementing recruitment automation software and other HR automation platforms, you can streamline numerous people-focused processes. This frees up even more time and resources that your organization can dedicate to strategic workforce planning and reskilling.
4. Lead With Hands-On Learning
Although everyone has unique learning preferences, it’s smart to keep one general guideline in mind for training. Most people tend to learn effectively when they’re able to participate in hands-on learning experiences.
“Practice makes perfect” may be an old saying that is a bit cliché. But the point is valid. When employees engage in hands-on training, they’re more likely to master skills, learn faster, and build confidence in their ability to apply those skills.
Here’s why: Learning about a skill may be interesting. It can add theoretical depth and context. But putting a skill into action takes it to a whole new level. Hands-on learning makes any skill much easier to understand, develop, and remember.
Of course, employees don’t have limited time for skill development. So it’s essential to use that time wisely. With hands-on training, you can more quickly and efficiently expand an employee’s skill set and make them feel more comfortable putting those skills to work each day.
Don’t Wait to Reskill and Upskill for Tomorrow
In many ways, the “future of work” is already here. Today’s workforce is already experiencing a skills gap, where many employees feel ill-prepared to perform their best in this rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Employers that want to build a stronger, future-ready team recognize it’s time to be proactive and develop a strategy to reskill and upskill people on an ongoing basis. The business benefits of this approach are significant. With training and coaching working in harmony you can reduce costly skills gaps in your organization, while offering employees a path to long-term growth. You’ll create a more adaptable workforce that is able and willing to help you stay ahead of competitors. And with a culture of continuous learning, you have the potential to elevate employee engagement, talent mobility and workforce retention.
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