Evolution is the key to success and growth. As modernisation and automation become necessary for technical development, the same stands true for the workforce. This is an inherent part of any industry and can be fulfilled by upskilling
Upskilling your workforce should not be taken as your cost bearing rather it serves as an investment that would give you higher returns.
Not only the companies but also the employees are driven by upskilling. People very often switch to other jobs owing to a lack of personal growth in the current company.
Upskilling is beneficial for both the companies and the workforce as well.
It is a win-win situation where on one hand the companies retain their workforce and make them more compatible and on the other hand it gives the employee an addition to their resume.
Here are some tips for upskilling your workforce:
Bottom-up approach:
Many times what is perceived to be beneficial doesn’t hold true in reality. If we break down the meaning of the word upskilling it can be understood as providing the solutions to the existing glitches through an advanced medium.
These glitches can be identified by the one who is working on the ground level and that is the workforce. So before taking a stand on what kind of upskilling you are planning to provide it is advisable to consult the workforce as well.
This way you can get a better understanding of the existing requirement and then act accordingly to a compatible skillset.
Engagement:
It is very necessary to keep the workforce engaged throughout the journey. While involving them in deciding upon the skillset is one stage where you seek their engagement but this should not end here.
Instead of making it a ‘tick box exercise’, try to make it more interactive. The more lively the process would be, the more enhanced would be the results.
Learning is never a one-way process thus it is necessary to involve the workforce in that learning management system. Their involvement could be ensured through various means such as discussion, quizzes etc.
Identifying the gaps
The workforce in any company is a ‘salad bowl’ and not a ‘melting pot’. This means that not everyone is at the same level. As different teams and the department would require a different set of skills, similarly different employees require a different level of upskilling.
For example, the one who has onboarded recently would need a strong foundation, whereas one who has been an asset to the company for a long time would need advanced upskilling.
Through a survey and feedback mechanism, you can easily identify the existing skill deficiency and then work upon it. This gives specialisation and would cater to the specific issue.
Adopt new methods
Learning and upskilling should be interactive and not a tedious job to be done. Though the traditional methods are tried and tested, the new online process would give an extra edge.
Online learning would give enough time and space to gain competence. This gives them the flexibility to incorporate things into them at their own pace according to their capabilities.
Not everyone has the same mental intellect to grasp things. Thus the online learning management system (LMS) gives them the opportunity to align themselves accordingly.
It is natural to be afraid of certain things in online learning such as, whether the employees would comprehend it properly or not, whether they would be learning properly or not, but these should not be bothering you now.
Now within online learning, you not only get to upskill your workforce but you can also keep a track of their progress and performance. Not only this you can also meteor them from time to time.
With this, you can focus on upskilling your workforce whenever and wherever required. Along with these, you can also look at the implementation part of it. It is not only necessary to upskill the workforce but is also necessary to check its implementation.
If the provided skills are not used in the given direction then it would not give the desired results and this whole upskilling would become futile.
Therefore it is important to keep a check on the implementation part of it. It is to be ensured that the given skills are being used in the right and adequate manner. This can be done through a task or action-based approach. With this, it would be visible and known to what extent the skills have been incorporated and their bearing on productivity.
Upskilling would always give you advancement and enhancement if implemented properly. Make sure you do implement the compatible one.
