June 5th 2022
Businesses in recent decades have had to adapt to a multitude of new ways of working, technologies, industry changes and advancements. With the advent of these, some business strategies no longer become relevant. As the saying goes, as a business owner you’ll be required to change with the times. This can offer up it’s own challenges however, as your current employees need to adapt too. This is where upskilling and reskilling your employees needs to become a vital part of your business, no matter which industry you operate in.
In this article, we’re going to outline not only what upskilling and reskilling can do for your business as a whole, but how you can then implement policies and strategies to give your workforce the necessary fuel to do their jobs better than ever by expanding their capabilities.
The Benefits of Upskilling and Reskilling
Adapting to new ways of working is important in business. Your employees will need to be upskilled and reskilled depending on a variety of factors, but it’s up to you as the employer to ensure they are as up to date as possible in their abilities.
Some of the benefits of upskilling and reskilling the workforce are:
Your Employees
Over time, your employees may need to adapt to many new things that the business world throws their way. By upskilling them, you ensure employee retention rates, allowing them to naturally seek growth opportunities within the business as their skills develop.
This helps to create confidence in the work they produce, as well as boosting overall team morale across multiple sectors. It also helps to maintain a higher rate of work, as they have all the necessary tools they need to go above and beyond.
Quality of Work
As well as a higher rate of work, the quality of work will be naturally higher too. By upskilling, they are able to take on more difficult tasks, and complete them to a better standard than they could before.
By reskilling your employees, you enable them to take on tasks that they could not have completed beforehand. This can then lead to better client relations and retention, as their newfound confidence in their abilities will show to those clients.
Costs & Savings
By upskilling and reskilling your workforce, you are saving both time and money spent finding new workers. By sending employees on training courses and classes, you ensure that their skills are exactly what you need, which means less time spent in interviews finding someone else who already has that particular skill.
The savings to your business by upskilling and reskilling can be huge, as your workforce expands its capabilities overall, allowing them to take on more difficult tasks. The cost of replacing an employee is far beyond what a reskill or upskill can cost.
With a workforce who have a constant stream of new skills, this can allow your business to stay at the forefront of your industry, ensuring products or services you provide are the best they can be, increasing customer satisfaction across the board.
How to Upskill the Workforce
So, now you know what the benefits are for your company, let’s discuss what you can do as a business owner to implement proper and effective processes to upskill and reskill your employees.
Identify Areas of Priority
Take a hard look at your business, and note which areas are developing. These should be your core focus when deciding to upskill or reskill employees. Are there new technologies that they must know? Are your current systems slowly falling out of date?
Talk to your employees and find out how they can do better, and what skills they might need to have in order to work more effectively. You can set up a schedule for training based on current employee work patterns to the lessen impact on the business.
Encourage Development for All Learning Styles
No two employees work in the exact same way. You’ll need to scope out how you can upskill them to the same level using different methods. Are some employees visual learners? Do some work better out of books? You’ll need to understand different working methods in order to effectively bring everyone up to the same level. This ensures that everyone is able to participate in your upskilling and reskilling program.
Set Regular Goals & Encourage Upskilling
Settings goals is as old as time, but it’s the best method of tracking progress across multiple employees. It will be best to have someone in charge of tracking this progress. Are the courses going to last a week? A month? Clearly define this before starting the program, so that you are able to measure their development along the way.
It’s also vital that you are encouraging upskilling and reskilling to your employees. Make them want to get involved and better themselves (and the business). In order to do this, you can allow them to choose their own path in how they want to reskill, with you providing all the necessary information and tools for them to do so. If they have the freedom to choose what to improve on, they’re more likely to complete the program.
Reward Programs
Alongside your upskilling and reskilling programs, you should be running a reward program. Give your employees the opportunity to earn benefits or bonuses for wanting to better themselves and their skills.
These incentives can be in the form of gifts, vouchers, trips, paid days off, monetary rewards, or anything your company is able to offer. If they’re able to work towards something, they will endeavour to do it to the best of their ability.
Upskilling and reskilling a workforce doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, it can be massively beneficial to your company as a whole. A well-skilled workforce can streamline the business and improve overall productivity.
Here at Click Offices we have many articles for you to read which can help give you more of an understanding of what you can do better as a business. Why not see how you can create a highly creative work environment, or take a look at some of our favourite business podcasts to listen to which can really get your business juices flowing!
If you’re looking for more office space to accommodate new employees or are simply looking for a change of scenery, head over and take a look at our serviced office spaces and managed offices today, and use our free office search tool to find great offices in your area.
