Clarissa Windham-Bradstock is CEO/Chief People Officer of Any Lab Test Now, a leading national retail healthcare and lab testing franchise.
getty
Jeff Bezos is quoted as saying, “In business, what’s dangerous is not to evolve.” Seems pretty spot-on for the founder of a $1.2 trillion company that is constantly evolving and innovating.
True, there’s only one Amazon, but it doesn’t mean your company can’t evolve. In fact, you have to in order to survive—and, dare I say, thrive. This is a whole new world. The pandemic has delivered a one-two punch to the global economy. Now into the third year of the virus, we are picking up the pieces and assessing what we’ve got to work with.
The workforce is a bit worse for wear, and that’s your starting point. There have been job losses both from layoffs and the Great Resignation—you’ve had to punt or pivot to get through. Hiring freezes have meant you must work with the talent in-house, but data according to Gartner, Inc. shows that nearly 60% of the workforce needs new skills to do their jobs right.
To stay current, the key is upskilling. This is the capacity you have as a company to train and develop your employees. Put it on the “must-do” list. Why? Competition. You’ve got to stay competitive in the marketplace. Because we are bombarded with constant and significant technological innovations and artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace, expanding your staff’s skill sets is a win-win.
Upskilling is a priority for 62% of CEOs surveyed recently by LinkedIn. Educating, training and developing your workforce personally and professionally has two main objectives. First, it shows your employees you value them and want to retain them. Secondly, keeping them relevant keeps the company relevant. Improved performance is improved growth.
There are a couple of terms floating around related to upward movement:
• Upskilling is training your employees about new technologies or improved systems to help them advance in their current position.
• Reskilling is training employees in a different job.
Both are important, but upskilling allows you to keep pace, retain workers and attract qualified new ones.
Helping your employees develop new skills is definitely a selling point for your company to attract new talent. When workers feel valued and appreciated, they are engaged. Based on a Gallup poll, employee engagement increases profitability by 21%.
Conversely, your staff gets it. Their eyes are wide open. They see changing technology, and they don’t want to be forgotten. When they wrote “lifelong learner” on their résumé, they knew they would have to put their money where their mouth is. Nearly 90% of Americans see the significance of ongoing training—and are hungry for it.
Will some industrious self-starters head out to the community college and attend night or weekend classes to be up on the latest software programs or marketing trends? Sure, some. But to ensure standards, it’s up to you to sponsor training.
Step 1. Evaluate
Get buy-in from your leadership team. Assess the across-the-board skill sets. Figure out what you are working with, where the gaps are, and see if there is a standard. It’s a good idea to survey your employees and see where they feel they are lacking and what improvements they’d like to make. Remember, you’re an employee as well. Leadership needs to set an example. Let staff see that you are rolling up your sleeves and learning new things right along with them.
It's important to note that employees may have the desire to learn, but they may not be aware of what they need. For example, showing them what the current qualifications for their job would be if they were to apply now can be eye-opening. This will clarify their need for upskilling to maintain their current position and perhaps seek further promotion.
Step 2. Research Trends
Do your research. Stay ahead of the curve. Where will your industry be in the next few years or the next decade? Ask your team if you are currently equipped to get there. If not, what’s it going to take to make that journey and quite possibly surpass your adversaries in business?
Step 3. Set And Communicate Competitive Goals
Set reasonable yet competitive goals and communicate those goals clearly to staff. Let them know you are investing in them and the growth of the company. This is career advancement for them, which gives them a sense of security. If a company is willing to invest in an employee, it creates confidence.
Step 4. Execute The Plan
Now for the fun part. How are you going to do this? Is learning and development in charge? Is management taking the lead? Will you bring in experts?
The answer is: Listen to your employees.
While there may be some across-the-board development needed, odds are, different staff members and different departments will require specific ongoing training to develop improved skills. If they are communicating what they need, it’s up to you to deliver.
Look closely at what you can really offer. Maybe you have the expertise in-house to conduct this training. Maybe mentorship will be effective in some cases; perhaps peer education is the way to go or you need to bring in experts. This is not a one-size-fits-all scenario. Customize your upskilling.
Step 5. Evaluate Again
There is an opportunity here for your employees to take ownership and it can be very empowering. For best results, monitor your staff’s progress and set evaluations. Hold open discussions about the effectiveness of the educational components.
You may have to do some tweaking along the way, but this is growth—remember, visualize up. It’s a whole new ballgame out there, and flexibility is the name of the game. Your playbook may just need some adjustments.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
