In an era of digital transformation, where there is a constant demand of new capabilities, it is imperative for organisations to have an effective career pathing strategy that incorporates Reskilling and Upskilling to remain competitive.
Upskilling and Reskilling – Although the two terms have a similar pronunciation, they differ in several ways. Reskilling is about preparing people to switch lanes and move into new jobs within your organisation, while Upskilling is about assisting individuals in becoming more knowledgeable and developing new competencies that pertain to their existing position.
Why it is more important now?
The way we work is changing as a result of breakthroughs in automation and artificial intelligence, which are sometimes referred to as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
Upskilling and Reskilling are suggested as requirements for success by studies. According to the World Economic Forum, if technology is adopted more widely, 50% of all workers will require retraining by 2025. The advent of automation and AI won’t drive workers out of the workforce, as some had feared, but The World Economic Forum projects that it will lead to the creation of up to 133 million new jobs. And while that’s excellent news, these occupations will demand new sets of expertise, which is why there is a greater need for upskilling and reskilling.
Ways to address.
Here are the few ways that can be addressed to advance in this direction.
- Focusing on Skills: Recent times claim that “skills are the language of business.” A “skills revolution” is currently underway. The Degreed approach to HR strategy is a continuous process of skill development that yields favourable results.A skill-building strategy is advantageous to the organisation while also:
- Shows dedication to staff.
- Embraces diversity and embraces social responsibility.
- Addressing skill shortages has a favourable impact on a variety of industries.
- Employs data-driven solutions, which leads to the ongoing improvement of employee performance.
- Sharing Knowledge: According to Deloitte Insights, “employees identify the ‘opportunity to learn’ as one of their top reasons for joining a job,” and “94 percent said they would stay in a company if it encouraged them to improve,” but only 15% can access learning that is specifically connected to their professions.
For example, Jeremiah Fern, Senior Director for Sales and Channel Enablement at cybersecurity company Tenable, redesigned the sales training to address the requirement for ongoing learning and knowledge sharing.
Fern’s approach is distinctive in that it adapts instruction to the preferences of each learner while also making the material more available in a number of settings and forms. Microlearning resources are made available at the precise moment that they are needed; they can be pulled by users rather than pushed to the learners, and they are accessible from desktop and mobile devices.
- Offering Apprenticeships: Apprenticeships give businesses access to a wide pool of unconventional personnel who develop into devoted workers with specialised skills.
The Department of Labour states that apprenticeships “combine paid on-the-job training with classroom teaching to prepare individuals for highly skilled employment.” “Apprenticeships give workers a skills-based education that equips them for well-paying jobs. Apprenticeship programmes assist organisations in finding, developing, and keeping highly trained employees.
- Partnering with Campuses: Partnerships between businesses, institutions of higher learning, and students are another rising method for hiring people with in-demand talents.
There is a positive association between business and education. When educational institutions engage with businesses for student employment, the connection equips students with the necessary life skills to become successful future workers.
One can nevertheless accomplish ambitious goals with a smaller staff by providing individualised and collaborative learning opportunities, readily available cross-training, and mobile learning. Those that choose to maintain the status quo will be at a disadvantage when competing with companies whose workforces underwent a planned path of skilling transformation.
