Upskilling your employees means upskilling your organization.
In 2021, employees are constantly looking for ways to improve and set themselves up for success. For your organization, it s in your best interest to help these employees and provide ways for them to learn new skills and develop. With this in mind, the number one way that employees can reach new heights is by upskilling. It s exactly what it sounds like – employers train their employees with skills relevant to helping their organization grow even further.
Employee training and development should be a top priority in your organization! According to the Huffington Post, companies who invest in training see 24% higher profit margins. Upskilling has become 2021 s most important form of training, and employees are looking for organizations that will support them and help them learn as many new skills as possible. After all – employees with an ever-growing set of skills only benefit you.
All of your employees can be upskilled in one way or another, resulting in your team members improving and growing. With that in mind, your organization is set to see record highs and incredible results simply by investing the time in their training. A LinkedIn survey found that when interviewing leadership and development professionals about the most important areas of focus in 2021, upskilling and reskilling topped the list.
Your employees deserve to work at a company that focuses and believes in their training and development. A company that believes in employee potential. Here at AirMason, we make it easy to communicate that to your employees by offering incredible employee handbooks. Focused on growing employee engagement and employee experience, an AirMason crafted handbook helps your employees see the value in working for your company!
There s no time to waste! In this article, we ll be taking a look at how to get started with upskilling your current employees, on top of learning about why upskilling is crucial to your organization.
Think about how upskilling can benefit your organization
As mentioned before in our statistics, upskilling is a very useful tool for an organization. Having your employees learn new skills that improve their work capabilities means a well-run and seamlessly flowing organization! Many companies have focused on upskilling since the start of the pandemic, with 42% stepping up their upskilling/reskilling efforts after the coronavirus outbreak.
Upskilling is an easy and great way to build up productivity at your company. In fact, 91% of companies and 81% of employees say upskilling/reskilling training has boosted productivity at work. This is a no-brainer! Employees with more skills and tools at their disposal will easily build on themselves to become top performers.
You just have to give them the resources necessary – then the results will speak for themselves.
While it s important to focus on upskilling and vertically scaling your employees’ skill levels, you first have to identify exactly what skills to focus on. Each employee has their own individualized skill set that sets them apart, so a one size fits all solution just isn t possible here!
How can you identify the best skills to focus on?
This is definitely easier said than done. It ll require you to take a deep dive into what s been working at your company and what hasn t. We get it – self-criticizing is a step no one is a fan of, but it s necessary.
Let s use an example to find out the best skills for you to focus on for your company. Let s say we re trying to upskill your sales team. While all of your sales team may be experienced in sales tactics, cold calling, negotiating, and other traditional sales-oriented skills – what s an area that s less touched on that would benefit them the most?
One thought that might come into your mind is marketing! Teaching your sales team some marketing tactics – such as how to leverage social media or helping identify different elements of branding – would add a new and exciting skill set. For your engineers, it might be learning how to program and code in a different language. For customer service, potentially focusing on upselling or sales tactics to lower churn. The examples are endless!
Right now, upskilling is considered the most important and crucial to companies it’s ever been. Take the time to plan out these useful skills and watch how your organization will benefit from the results. Top companies like Microsoft and Mastercard are spending billions on upskilling – don t waste another minute!
How exactly do you start upskilling?
Now it s time to actually focus on upskilling and improving your employees! This can be done in several different ways, and each situation is unique.
One of the more traditional ways of upskilling and teaching new skills in your company, in general, is by providing employees with access to courses and certifications. For many companies, this is a useful tool as it allows for education and upskilling outside of traditional work hours yet brings in many benefits to an organization. If you re curious about this option, consider taking a look into both local programs, and also online courses available with various different certifications. Your employees will appreciate you taking the time to look into benefitting their futures in your company.
However, upskilling doesn t always need to be done in traditional ways. In fact, there are many strategies and tools you can use within your organization. One example includes focusing on peer learning, where certain team members teach others the skills that would benefit them. For example, know one salesperson who has an incredible closing rate? Have them upskill your sales staff and benefit the entire team! Sometimes opportunities can be found within your company.
As mentioned, there are several different strategies you can use, but finding the best fit is up to you! Consider taking a look at your team and their strengths to see if you can draw out the best plan for your organization.
Creating a culture of upskilling
It s fantastic that you re thinking about upskilling your employees – we love it. Your company’s profit will love it. And most importantly – your employees will love it.
Employees love knowing that their organization is focused on providing them with learning opportunities – you re not really surprised, are you? We ve touched on just how important this is before. Believe us when we say that employees who feel as though their employers train and improve them are much more likely to stay and grow at their current company. Make your love for your employee development known. Invest in your employees now for the long run.
It s especially important to label this within your company culture, as future hires will want to know that you re a company that cares about its employees. Here at AirMason, we can help you do that easily. We help build incredible culture books and employee handbooks for employers looking to expand their company culture. Our software lets you design incredible books that your employees will love reading! If you re curious about the positive impact of a culture book, here s what you need to know!
Your upskilled employees will thank you
We re so excited to see the impact that upskilling will bring to your team! Spoiler alert – it s going to skyrocket your productivity and have things running even smoother. You re all set on your way to building employee growth and expanding your team! Except for one last part
AirMason s employee handbooks. We re industry leaders when it comes to onboarding you know. Not just that – but also employee engagement and employee experience. We kind of do it all. We know what s needed when it comes to helping organizations create employee handbooks that captivate employees the second they re hired. Curious? Let s book a free demo sometime soon and show you all the ways that AirMason can help!
