How upskilling can drive employee and business growth
Jan 6, 2023, 13:40 IST
Several global megatrends are transforming work and skill demands, such as technology, climate change, demographic shifts, urbanisation, and global value chains.
People are no longer settling for unfulfilling and unhappy roles in the middle of ‘The Great Resignation.’ They desire learning, self-improvement, and knowledge growth instead. Applicants expect their employers to provide ongoing learning and development (L&D) opportunities.
With multiple advancements in modern technology, work practices need to evolve and keep pace, paving the way for continuous process improvement. Without a doubt, today, it is essential for the labour force to have skill sets on par with market trends. The development of skills contributes to structural transformation and employee productivity.
Rethinking upskilling
In light of this, Business Insider got candid with a few professional leaders. When asked how they needed to rethink their business to accommodate the next-generation workforce? Margaret D'Souza, Chief Human Resources Officer at Zeta, said, "Millennials and Gen Zers have been relatively evenly distributed in the workforce. They have experienced a career awakening, and work has not become the centre of their lives, but merely a part of it. Their primary concerns are, "how fast can I achieve my goals," "what is my life's purpose," and "is my passion aligned with what I am doing?" This has in turn accelerated how much they want to learn. This replaced long-term career development decisions with short-term ones. They now look for faster role growth and faster opportunities to use new skills.
“On the bright side, they have a thirst for doing more in less time thanks to the pandemic, which provided ample opportunities to pursue other passions and opened up their eyes to new perspectives on their careers,” she said.
It is agreeable, though that the current and next-generation workforce is
1. Self-motivated
2. Possess tech-savvy intelligence.
3. Desire to reinvest in oneself
4. Seek an advantage in cutting-edge technologies
“So, the responsibility falls on companies to learn to be agile and stay relevant to help employees upskill,” Ashish Kumar Singh, CHRO, Meesho opines.
Motivating the workforce
The big question now would be, How do we keep these go-getters interested, relevant and motivated to stay in a job and get things done? Geetika Hans, VP and Head of HR for Product and Global Functions and Diversity Leader at OYO Rooms, said, “This generation needs to be challenged with more responsibility than what you would normally give someone their age. They are aware that they are investing their time into a company, which is why they command flexibility."
One strategy for keeping employees on a growth cycle in a fast-paced environment is to encourage microlearning. Microlearning is a brief, concise kind of employee training. When training material is presented in easily digestible pieces at the right moment, it is more likely to be remembered. Additionally, future-proofing your wokrforce by nurturing in-house talent for leadership roles provides a big boost.
Puneet Khurana, CHRO Policy Bazaar, explains the perks of doing so, “Growing leaders internally and saving senior positions for current employees helps avoid onboarding leaders in the future, which saves time and money." Additionally, it gives workers a chance to progress their careers and raises morale because a happy worker is always a productive one.”
Lokendra Saini, COO at Ease my Trip, advises every organisation to have an academy to groom its resources so they know that the company is investing in them. The cherry on top of the cake here would be to offer internal job postings so employees can look at growing another skill within the company.
Arushee Aggarwal, Head of Coursera Business, added to that suggestion, pointing out that role-based skilling would produce a better ROI. “It is important to tie learning opportunities to end points like possible career opportunities to ensure the upskilling is taken seriously." Companies thrive under this kind of growth.
Upskilling: Gauging success metrics
However, it isn’t enough to develop the program and ask people to participate. Although it’s critical to be enthusiastic about this initiative, leaders should also take steps to maximize its accuracy and efficiency. Let’s examine some best practices for assessing skill gaps and reskilling top talent. How can leaders gauge the success of upskilling initiatives? The large-level indicators that help leaders understand that an employee is on the right track
1. Check on improvement in productivity.
2. Check if the employees are able to impact business goals.
Pooja Dudani, AVP of HR at Cast24, concluded by saying employers and leaders should journey with employees till the goal is reached. It’s less of a lone ranger and more of a partnership. In isolation, the end goal will die. Talent and skills need to be nurtured. That being said, it’s important to monitor and reward small milestones through regular one-on-ones.
Despite the advantages, a lot of reskilling programmes frequently fail because of a lack of readiness, useful tools, and competent talent. Because of this, it's critical to spot skills shortages early on and pick the appropriate candidates for retraining. The last and possibly most important step is to evaluate your efforts.
Disclaimer: This article is generated and published by the Insider Studios team. You can get in touch with them on insiderstudios@businessinsider.in
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People are no longer settling for unfulfilling and unhappy roles in the middle of ‘The Great Resignation.’ They desire learning, self-improvement, and knowledge growth instead. Applicants expect their employers to provide ongoing learning and development (L&D) opportunities.
With multiple advancements in modern technology, work practices need to evolve and keep pace, paving the way for continuous process improvement. Without a doubt, today, it is essential for the labour force to have skill sets on par with market trends. The development of skills contributes to structural transformation and employee productivity.
Rethinking upskilling
In light of this, Business Insider got candid with a few professional leaders. When asked how they needed to rethink their business to accommodate the next-generation workforce? Margaret D'Souza, Chief Human Resources Officer at Zeta, said, "Millennials and Gen Zers have been relatively evenly distributed in the workforce. They have experienced a career awakening, and work has not become the centre of their lives, but merely a part of it. Their primary concerns are, "how fast can I achieve my goals," "what is my life's purpose," and "is my passion aligned with what I am doing?" This has in turn accelerated how much they want to learn. This replaced long-term career development decisions with short-term ones. They now look for faster role growth and faster opportunities to use new skills.
“On the bright side, they have a thirst for doing more in less time thanks to the pandemic, which provided ample opportunities to pursue other passions and opened up their eyes to new perspectives on their careers,” she said.
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It is agreeable, though that the current and next-generation workforce is
1. Self-motivated
2. Possess tech-savvy intelligence.
3. Desire to reinvest in oneself
4. Seek an advantage in cutting-edge technologies
“So, the responsibility falls on companies to learn to be agile and stay relevant to help employees upskill,” Ashish Kumar Singh, CHRO, Meesho opines.
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However, businesses still face a problem in adjusting to this marginally different view of a career and in making wise decisions to effectively retain and develop their personnel. Therefore, investing in a skilled workforce can start a positive loop of increased productivity. As a result, both the existing and future workforces are more productive and employable. Pooja Dudani, AVP of HR at Cast24, sheds light on the same, saying, “Regardless of their work conditions, this generation is aware that it is up to them to make a difference and will do so." They are not the type to hope for a great opportunity from a potential employer.”Motivating the workforce
The big question now would be, How do we keep these go-getters interested, relevant and motivated to stay in a job and get things done? Geetika Hans, VP and Head of HR for Product and Global Functions and Diversity Leader at OYO Rooms, said, “This generation needs to be challenged with more responsibility than what you would normally give someone their age. They are aware that they are investing their time into a company, which is why they command flexibility."
One strategy for keeping employees on a growth cycle in a fast-paced environment is to encourage microlearning. Microlearning is a brief, concise kind of employee training. When training material is presented in easily digestible pieces at the right moment, it is more likely to be remembered. Additionally, future-proofing your wokrforce by nurturing in-house talent for leadership roles provides a big boost.
Puneet Khurana, CHRO Policy Bazaar, explains the perks of doing so, “Growing leaders internally and saving senior positions for current employees helps avoid onboarding leaders in the future, which saves time and money." Additionally, it gives workers a chance to progress their careers and raises morale because a happy worker is always a productive one.”
Lokendra Saini, COO at Ease my Trip, advises every organisation to have an academy to groom its resources so they know that the company is investing in them. The cherry on top of the cake here would be to offer internal job postings so employees can look at growing another skill within the company.
Advertisement
Arushee Aggarwal, Head of Coursera Business, added to that suggestion, pointing out that role-based skilling would produce a better ROI. “It is important to tie learning opportunities to end points like possible career opportunities to ensure the upskilling is taken seriously." Companies thrive under this kind of growth.
Upskilling: Gauging success metrics
However, it isn’t enough to develop the program and ask people to participate. Although it’s critical to be enthusiastic about this initiative, leaders should also take steps to maximize its accuracy and efficiency. Let’s examine some best practices for assessing skill gaps and reskilling top talent. How can leaders gauge the success of upskilling initiatives? The large-level indicators that help leaders understand that an employee is on the right track
1. Check on improvement in productivity.
2. Check if the employees are able to impact business goals.
Pooja Dudani, AVP of HR at Cast24, concluded by saying employers and leaders should journey with employees till the goal is reached. It’s less of a lone ranger and more of a partnership. In isolation, the end goal will die. Talent and skills need to be nurtured. That being said, it’s important to monitor and reward small milestones through regular one-on-ones.
Advertisement
Despite the advantages, a lot of reskilling programmes frequently fail because of a lack of readiness, useful tools, and competent talent. Because of this, it's critical to spot skills shortages early on and pick the appropriate candidates for retraining. The last and possibly most important step is to evaluate your efforts.
Disclaimer: This article is generated and published by the Insider Studios team. You can get in touch with them on insiderstudios@businessinsider.in