Closing the skills gap is a global-wide concern. In the rise of the digital era, there is a vast disparity in tech talent. What do we do about our workforce? Is upskilling the way to go?
Essentially, upskilling means adding new skills to a worker’s capabilities through learning methods like university courses, mentoring, or apprenticeship programs. Technological advancement pushed businesses to change their business model to cater to new customer demands and employee expectations regardless of geographical factors. With digitalisation, the element of e-learning comes into the picture, and everything is done virtually. To maintain your global competitiveness as an employer, you ought to keep your transformation a top priority. To do that, you need to be equipped with the right team to keep morale and productivity high, and for that, you need to ensure your team is also progressing with time and sustaining their skillset with new ones. This is why we think upskilling outweigh external hires.
Money is the ultimate mover and shaker in any space, especially one that encompasses the tech space. With upskilling initiatives, corporations and SMEs could benefit from upskilling as it is a cost-effective way to nurture talents. The cost comes with lost revenues due to understaffing, and the hiring process includes job advertisements, recruitment and onboarding; companies are slammed with hefty expenses.
There’s no way to know how a new hire will perform until they’re on your payroll. Hiring an outside employee comes with risks. It is valuable time for new employees to learn your business's people, processes, and systems before they can begin working efficiently. Instead, upskilling existing talent would enhance their ability to take on challenges. They also become a better contender for promotions; from the organisation's point of view, the retention of employees will also go up as an engaged employee is a productive employee.
Moreover, upskilling programs make it attractive to others outside the company to apply to the company. When an organisation is known to invest its employees in training and development, talented people will naturally be drawn to seek employment. Sometimes, big corporations have their in-house tech academy to teach skills or even partner up with education and training companies like Simplifyed, to provide you with the infrastructure and expertise to empower your workforce with various development programs.
Empowering employees through training allows them to see that the organisation acknowledges their worth and appreciates their challenges in the workspace. Also, your investment in upskilling efforts and promoting from within exhibits your appreciation to your employees for their contributions. Employees will appreciate your efforts to invest in their growth, resulting in company-wide employee morale. Additionally, upskilling within the organisation will create a learning culture that can go a long way in innovation and creativity. Current employees are more in tune with the organisation's vision, mission, and culture and are more likely to adapt to changes. Upskilling also cultivates a culture of achievement and healthy competition.
