How Upskilling Can Help Meet Growing Demands for Labor

Employers in our region across every major industry are struggling to build and grow their workforces amidst massive talent gaps. Companies across oil and gas, manufacturing, petrochemical, healthcare, construction, utilities, and port and maritime industries are just some of the employers who are reporting widening gaps between the experience and skills they need to keep pace with ever changing and growing demands, and their ability to find qualified candidates to fulfill their needs.

As the Great Resignation has morphed into the Great Attrition and on to the Great Attraction, many employers have become hyper-focused on how they can gain the upper hand on attracting top talent. While tactics such as training, better benefits and flexibility are increasingly being leveraged to help employers entice high-quality candidates to join and remain with their organizations, there is another powerful tactic that can assist you in building a workforce that meets your growing and evolving needs – upskilling your current workforce.

This tactic focuses exclusively on expanding the abilities of your existing employees to fulfill the strategic needs of your business, thus reducing the need to find and hire new ones. When employees’ skills are continuously being leveled up, you are assured a qualified pool of successors within the company as others leave or your business grows. It also ensures your employees’ skills keep pace with shifting business needs so they are able to add more value as the nature of your work evolves. This approach can be especially useful in industries impacted by the advent of AI and automation.

To determine how you can leverage upskilling as a business strategy, first begin by assessing the skills you have today and identifying any skills gaps you will have in the next three to five years. Budget enough time and money for training programs including identifying internal and/or external training partners as well as gain employee support. Develop a measurement system that tracks progress and allows you to optimize along the way. Upskilling courses can be as simple as training on soft skills or can lean toward building technical and digital capabilities such as providing employees with coding workshops to build programming knowledge or attend conferences on digital trends.

How Upskilling Helps Meet Talent Demands

Reduces Recruitment Costs – It’s no secret that the costs of hiring go beyond employees’ hourly wages or salary. Total costs include recruitment, benefits, training and integration into the company. In fact, Gallup estimates the cost to replace an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary. By investing in the training of existing employees, you are likely to keep them on board longer, reducing costs associated with finding new ones.

Increases Loyalty and Retention – Employees who feel valued, invested in, and that they are on a path to advance in their jobs are more likely to be happier. They tend to have a brighter outlook on their future and about the company. To boot, it is well known that happy employees make happy customers. By ensuring employees are happy, they will do a better job which impacts their productivity, output and the experience they deliver to customers.

Boost Company Reputation – Companies that offer upskilling, training and development signal to prospective and current employees that they care about their job satisfaction and growth ambitions. This will make your company more attractive to candidates, improve your brand image and serve as a competitive advantage. This is especially important for Millennial and Gen Z workers who want to grow quickly, contribute to a higher purpose, and add value.

How to Build a Successful Upskilling Program

When thinking about how to create or evolve your upskilling efforts, consider that major barriers to employees gaining additional skills on their own is time and money. Employees prefer that it is employer-provided, meaning paid for by employers, and within working hours. This can be achieved through microlearning, flexible hours, paid time off, or other creative means. Leadership should encourage and promote training and development opportunities at every level and managers and human resources teams can incorporate it into performance reviews or as part of career growth aspiration conversations.

Consider ways upskilling your current workforce can help you meet the demand for skills and roles of the future. To learn more about efforts to upskill our region’s workforce, please complete the form below and one of our Business Consultants will contact you.