Developments in the field of artificial intelligence,
robotics, and other technologies are happening faster and faster.
On the other hand most of the education institutes are lagging behind in equipping people with
the practical and most in-demand skills to leverage these technologies.
This is commonly known as the digital skills gap.
In the field of Human Resources this gap is even more dramatic.
Not only, as any other business function, we need to tackle the problem for ourselves,
but we also need the ability to understand where the business lacks the skills necessary
to keep up with the pace of tech.
And we need to create platforms for other functions to bridge the gaps they are facing.
It is the daunting task of HR to take on this massive upskilling project.
But fear not, we’re here to help.
In today’s learning bite we’ll share 5 ways to upskill your workforce with you.
*MUSIC*
Hi there, my name is Neelie and today we will dive into one of the most relevant topics
for HR professionals today: upskilling your workforce.
But before we dive into upskilling and the different strategies to tackle it, remember
to subscribe to this channel, hit on the notification bell and like the video!
And now let’s dive in and go over the 5 best strategies for upskilling.
So let’s start with the first one:
1. Learning and development
Upskilling via learning and development or L&D programs
is probably the most obvious way to go.
The L&D programs, however, are the result of a larger learning and development strategy.
So every organization will go about training their employees differently.
Nevertheless, most organizations go through a similar process
when developing their training strategy.
There are typically four phases required:
An analysis of training needs (for instance through a skills gap analysis)
Determining learning objectives Designing the training content and method
Monitoring and evaluating
The analysis of training needs should be the starting point for each organization.
And based on its results, you can determine the best approach
for creating a training program.
Depending on the resources available, you’ll need to decide which skills you are going to train in-house,
for which to acquire training, and which skills to outsource completely.
In practice, this means that some organizations will choose to:
Create an “upskill track” on their own LMS.
Others will acquire access to platforms like Coursera or Linkedin Learning that provide
courses on any level for any function of the organization.
While others will prefer to collaborate with EdTech companies like ours to provide specific
training for a specialized area of the business.
2. Job rotation
Job rotation is a key technique in job redesign.
It is the practice of moving employees between jobs in an organization.
And it can be an excellent way to transfer specific skills, knowledge, and competencies.
These rotations are mostly lateral -
meaning that they take place between jobs on the same level.
They are also often temporary so people tend
to move back to their original job after a certain period.
For example, managers may need the experience in different departments before they’re
ready for a senior leadership position in which they need this experience.
Similarly, HR professionals sometimes lack business skills.
A good way to build these skills is by rotating them outside the HR department.
3. Job enrichment
Job enrichment is a process that is characterized by adding extra dimensions to existing jobs.
Examples include increasing skill variety, creating more autonomy, and giving feedback.
While the main goal of job enrichment is to make jobs more motivating, it can have the
‘bonus’ advantage of upskilling people at the same time; the simple fact of increasing
skill variety implies that employees will have to expand their abilities.
Oh, and by the way, If you want to find out more about Job enrichment or job rotation,
you can find a few in-depth articles in the description
4. Peer coaching & Peer mentoring
While peer coaching and peer mentoring certainly have similarities, they’re not the same thing.
With peer mentoring, a more experienced employee
teaches knowledge and skills to a less experienced worker.
The mentor also provides guidance.
Peer mentoring can be a valuable (and often underestimated) way of upskilling people.
A lot of the taken-for-granted knowledge of employees comes from their personal experience
and interactions with colleagues.
This kind of tacit knowledge is hard to transfer since it often isn’t recorded in a database,
standard operating procedure, or formal training program.
Peer coaching, on the other hand, exposes employees to a bigger range of workplace skills.
What’s attractive about this form of upskilling is that it has a more informal side to it:
people have a peer they can talk to directly, ask questions when they come up, and learn
from them, by watching their peers work.
If, for example, you pair up a marketeer with a content director, this will create mutual
opportunities for learning new skills
and increasing each other’s basic knowledge of their respective field of expertise.
5. Hire external experts (outsourcing)
Sometimes, you need to upskill people
but you don’t have the in-house capacity to do so.
Either because you need employees with certain skills as soon as possible
and training them would simply take too long.
Or perhaps because the skills you need are so new that you don’t have the knowledge
and experience to start upskilling people.
In the current context, this can, for instance, be the case regarding digital skills and technical
skills like programming and app development.
A solution might be to hire freelance specialists or contractors.
These people can bring the exact skills, competencies,
and experience you need to get started on a new project.
By teaming up these external experts with the right people from within the company,
you create an upskilling opportunity.
Ideally, by the time the project is done, you will have built the capability that was
previously lacking in-house or you would have developed
an L&D strategy that will do so in the not too distant future.
This concludes our brief introduction into the 5 methods of upskilling your workforce.
If you want to identify the biggest gaps in the skill set of your employees, you can follow
the step-by-step guide we have created for you!
You only need to click on the link in the description down below.
That’s it for today’s bite!
Have a great day, and remember to like, comment, and subscribe to the channel!
Bye!