Upskilling is a critical strategic priority for organizational leaders. To remain competitive and achieve their goals, organizations must empower their workforce with the skills needed to perform effectively in evolving roles.
Furthermore, employees want to upskill. When employees are given opportunities to learn and grow, they feel valued and motivated, leading to increased job satisfaction and a stronger commitment to the company.
However, not all training programs are effective. Research highlights the importance of a supportive organizational culture that allows employees to utilize their newly acquired skills and provides a psychologically safe environment for them to thrive.
If you’re hoping to successfully upskill your workforce, here’s an overview of several strategies for doing so.
The Importance of Upskilling
It’s no surprise that upskilling is incredibly important.
Rapid technological advancements—particularly in AI and machine learning—are dramatically reshaping the skills needed to succeed in today’s workforce.
Research from the World Economic Forum estimates that approximately 44% of skills will be disrupted within five years. Additional research from Gartner reveals that 23% of employees are worried their roles could be replaced with AI in the future.
Upskilling isn’t just important for your organization’s overall success, it’s also important for employees’ individual career development.
Investing in upskilling demonstrates a commitment to employee growth, fostering loyalty while helping ensure their success both within and beyond the organization.
Research from Gallup and Amazon reveals employees’ strong desire for upskilling, with 57% expressing significant interest in training programs. This figure jumps to 71% when training is provided at no cost to employees—such as during work hours.
Despite the high demand for upskilling, PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears 2024 survey, encompassing over 56,000 employees, reveals that less than half feel their employers offer sufficient opportunities for skill development.
So how can you upskill your workforce? Learn six strategies below.
6 Tips For Upskilling Your Workforce
To effectively upskill your workforce, it’s important to understand upskilling as a continuous process rather than a one-time investment. This requires promoting a culture of learning and improvement.
If you’re hoping to upskill your team, here are six strategies.
1. Assess Your Team’s Current Skills
To effectively upskill your team, it’s a good idea to start by assessing your organization’s current capabilities and identifying gaps between your team’s skills and those in high demand.
The World Economic Forum estimates that the following skills are the most important to develop over the next five years:
- Analytical thinking
- Creative thinking
- AI and big data utilization
- Leadership and social influence
- Resilience, flexibility, and agility
- Curiosity and lifelong learning
Consider auditing your team’s capabilities and determining which skills your team currently lacks and which they possess. This can help you determine where to focus your efforts.
It’s important to keep in mind, however, that even if your team is highly skilled in these areas doesn’t mean there isn’t room for growth.
2. Understand Your Industry
Make sure you’re aware of which skills are becoming more important in your current industry. For this, a thorough industry knowledge is crucial.
For example, what skills are competitors seeking? What’s trending in your field? What skills do experts say will be required over the next several years?
This can help you determine whether there’s currently a skills gap in your organization, and which skills are most important to prioritize.
In addition, industry knowledge is important to maintain a competitive advantage and grow your business.
3. Leverage Internal Resources
You likely currently have a significant source of knowledge in your organization.
Mentorship and role-modeling is a great way to promote effective leadership development.
Consider reviewing your internal talent and potentially establishing a mentorship program. Not only can this help your team learn more skills, but also enhance team connection.
Encourage your employees to reach out to other team members or managers with questions such as:
- What skills helped you in your career journey?
- Do you have any advice for me to help advance my career?
- How did you land your current role?
This can help your team learn while developing their internal network.
4. Leverage External Resources
Learning from others is a great way to build your team’s skill set.
Consider engaging an external speaker or trainer to lead workshops that address specific skills gaps within your team, boosting proficiency in areas where they may lack expertise.
It’s important to ensure that these workshops are engaging. A recent Harvard Business Review (HBR) article highlighted that when learning is boring, it doesn’t tend to stick as effectively as engaging and entertaining learning.
To maximize the value of these external perspectives, it’s important to ensure that they’re entertaining as well as instructive.
5. Prioritize Team Learning
Individual upskilling is important, but it’s also critical to ensure that your team learns how to effectively work together.
That’s where team learning comes in.
An effective team learning initiative helps employees develop individual skills while helping the team learn how to implement them in a collaborative setting. This promotes effective collaboration and team efficiency.
McKinsey reports that this type of learning is essential for effective collaboration and collective decision-making.
6. Take Advantage of Cohort-Based Live Learning
To get the most out of your learning initiatives, prioritize live, cohort-based team learning over pre-recorded video content. Engaging a live host allows for interactive learning, fostering skill development through real-time question answering and direct interaction with your team.
According to HBR, when your team is coached as a singular unit, allowing them to learn from one another and as a group, learning is much more effective.
Teamraderie’s expert-led, cohort-based, and live learning experiences offer a powerful solution for equipping your team with essential skills while fostering connection and collaboration.
Upskilling With Teamraderie
Teamraderie’s live, virtual workshops are the perfect solution for team leaders hoping to upskill their workforce.
These experiences can help your team learn important skills such as critical thinking, emotional intelligence, collaboration, and effectively leveraging AI.
If this sounds interesting, consider checking out our experience finder to find an experience that aligns with the skills you’re hoping to cultivate in your team.
