UPSKILLING & RESKILLING
What is the difference between upskilling and reskilling?
Upskilling looks at skills that already exist and builds on them whereas reskilling trains employees on completely new skills.
Reskilling normally occurs when the initial skill of an employee has been made redundant.
Upskilling Example
When we first started dispatching our goods back in 2006 all our airway bills were handwritten on a form that had 3 carbon copies attached. That was until we discovered an easier method with a dot matrix printer! This took hours of manual labour. With IT technology rapidly evolving the creation of airway bills soon became digital. This meant that the carbon copy bills, and dot matrix printers became obsolete, and staff needed to quickly learn new computer skills, and adapt to an online and digital process. This was part of the upskilling process. They had to advance their skills in their current position to get those parcels out.
Reskilling Example
Going digital also meant our business was becoming more efficient and more cost effective in specific areas. Some of our staff were now no longer needed in the dispatch area. Knowing the importance of retaining good employees and with the business growing, we quickly reskilled them and placed them in positions within the company that needed support. Customer service was just one of them.
Why upskilling & reskilling is important
Upskilling can include both hard and soft skills. Simply put, it is valuable both to the employer and employee. In fact, I worked with our employees over the years and upskilled them constantly in their technical skills and filled the gaps that were occurring as the business was evolving. This was a major part of business growth and key to future proofing our business.
Hiring more staff for specific skills can quickly become an expense that the business cannot take on. Upskilling not only saved us thousands of dollars in wages but also helped us stay ahead of our competition. With the great resignation upon us post covid, coupled with the quiet quitters and a very fragile labour market, it was incredibly important to have the ability and capacity to upskill our staff. It was equally important (or dare I say more important) for our staff.
Through effective leadership and communication, they understood that upskilling was beneficial both to the business and themselves and they embraced it wholeheartedly.
What is the best way to upskill?
The first and simplest way for me was to rotate my staff so they would learn each other’s skills. I was moving them around in my organisation and they were gaining knowledge and specific skills of the other jobs that were around them. This was also beneficial and a part of risk management.
The second way was simply giving them more to do, so that they could broaden their knowledge. It goes without saying that they would be renumerated for this process. Getting this part right is critical. The bigger picture is all about the process of upskilling and reskilling. If you do not actively acknowledge your employees for the work that they do and communicate this effectively, you can very quickly find yourself and your company dealing with what have recently emerged as the “quiet quitters”.
The third way is to offer your staff time during work to attend short courses or classes, or alternatively offer them a subsidy or an incentive to do them out of working hours. Figure out what your end goal is and identify the gaps you currently have. Depending on what you want your staff to do, there are a lot of certification courses that can be done online. Approximately 20 to 40 hours should be spent on a course when upskilling or reskilling. That’s about 3 – 6 days.
I remember when our business was growing at a rapid pace, and we went from a few boxes here and there in a garage to a massive warehouse with industrial shelfing that was accepting deliveries on pallets. I quickly had to reskill staff on their hard skills by means of training them to use a forklift. It was a few days of certified training during working hours that was needed for them to get their forklift license.
I understood the importance of learning and self-development at that point. When I asked who was willing to learn and who wanted to – they all put their hand up! That was all our staff who had the willingness and craving to learn new skills. As an employer I jumped at the opportunity to financially support and reskill all our staff. This formed part of my team building, which is the number one step in how to run a successful business as part of my 5-step guide.
To some employees the opportunity to upskill or reskill can be more important than a rise in their wages. Learning and development should never be underestimated as it provides a very different foundation to a simple wage increase. In fact, the power of learning and growing has a direct and positive effect on the success of any business.
