In our last article, we talked about the necessity to upskill your workforce. There are many benefits and ways to go about this. The best approach depends on the specific needs of your company and employees.
There are many different ways to begin upskilling your employees. The best way to derermine which method is right for your organization is through trial and error, or experimentation. Here are five tips on how to get started upskilling your team:
- Many virtual training solutions are available, from companies like Jigsaw Interactive. This solution provides engaging ways to train your teams virtually. This is an excellent option if you want to target specific skills of current employees. Udemy, or Khan Academy can provide the more on-demand or webinar approach to training.
- Seminars or conferences is a great way to expose employees to new ideas and inspire them to learn more. It helps them build professional relationships which furthers their insight, ideas and growth.
- Employee shadowing can give insight into how different areas of the business work. Employees feel more comfortable questioning and trying new things once when they have time with their peers to understand the what’s, why’s and how’s.
- Having a program that encourages education/training outside the organization reaps many benefits. Many companies will pay all or a portion of these types of programs and they are a great way to keep them engaged and invested.
- Mentoring programs can inspire your employees and teach, helping them understand the bigger corporate picture. Mentoring programs are also a powerful tool in building stronger teams to ensure everyone is focused on the right goals
Consider what skills are needed now and in the future before putting an upskilling program in place. With the rapid changes in technology, companies have to adapt and keep up with the latest trends. Because employees are from different generations, have different perspectives and comfort levels with communication and technology, it’s essential to understand the variety of experiences and needs to build an effective upskilling strategy.The cost of training vs. the cost of staff turnove,r or the cost of unengaged employees is significant. Implementing a virtual training program can address many of the “cost factors” while providing an easier and more timely way of getting your teams trained. The critical part of considering virtual training is ensuring the solution you use is designed for training and learning vs. designed to be a webinar system. Learning is doing and learning is what you’re after.
