Upskilling: A Pathway for Corporate and University Learning

Technology has completely changed the way people study, do business, and interact with others. Things change at such high speed that employees and students need to upgrade and update with new skills and technical knowledge consistently. As a result, employee and student training programs are no longer a nice-to-have option; they are an absolute must. You need to ensure your employees and students have the latest knowledge of industry trends and technical developments and access to the latest technology.

Companies and universities can provide this type of training with the help of upskilling. There are several benefits of upskilling, which help people get better jobs and on-the-job learning.

What Is Upskilling?

Upskilling teaches students and employees to develop new skills that help them personally, academically, and professionally. If there’s one constant in the world of technology, it’s that it is always evolving, which has made the need for upskilling greater. There is always a sense of urgency to regularly train employees and students. As technology evolves and job and academic requirements change, employees require new skills, and upskilling fills this void with regular training. Your employees and students stay on the top of whatever they do.

Why Is Upskilling Becoming Important?

With the advancing technologies and emerging disciplines, learners need to engage themselves and stay relevant competitive arena. Lifelong learning is no longer an option but a reality. The fact is that businesses and institutions find it more and more challenging to retain, let alone recruit, talent to fill skills gaps. Upskilling opportunities improve the skills of existing employees. Employees without adequate training in new tools and technologies will have a severe impact on companies’ ROI.

Thus, upskilling is essential because

1. Jobs and academic roles are changing much faster than expected;
2. Employees and students want to grow professionally and personally;
3. Upskilling boosts morale and satisfaction;
4. It motivates employees and students to do their best;
5. It helps employees and students to become competitive;
6. It is cheaper to upskill employees than to hire talent from outside to fill a skill gap

Upskilling in the Long Run

There’s a skills crisis in the industrial world. On the one hand, automation is taking away millions of jobs and threatening thousands of other jobs. Millions of new students graduate every year and find themselves unemployed and unemployable because they lack skills, while many experienced people find they are no longer needed, or their jobs are becoming obsolete. On the other hand, there is a severe shortage of qualified people for new digital jobs that are now becoming mainstream. Jobs that require knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are growing worldwide but are going unfilled due to a lack of talent.

These two trends show the widening gap between employees now and employees of the future: hence, the interest of employers and universities in upskilling.

A growing number of CEOs see value in upskilling. Consulting major PwC, in its 22nd Annual Global CEO survey ², said that 79 percent of the business leaders it spoke to said a shortage of skilled talent topped their worries. In addition, about 46 percent of the approximately 1,700 business leaders said upskilling was their ideal solution.

Until a permanent solution is put in place—upskilling is not a one-time endeavor—the impact of job losses will be greater than it ever has been

How to Approach and Develop an Upskilling Strategy

No two organizations are the same, so the approach you take to develop upskilling should also be unique. Before embarking on the upskilling mission, you must consider the pros and cons, the financial impact, and other issues.

Here are a few strategies that you can use for upskilling your employees and students.

1. Create an individualized upskilling plan.

   Whether employee or student, every person has unique talents and interests that align with their skills; however, a lack in certain skill sets may cause later issues—which is why it’s important to create personalized plans. To do this, it’s crucial to communicate with the person to understand what they lack.

2. Focus on specific skills.

   Apart from the skills that the learner chooses, it’s always good to focus on skills that the learner will use regularly.

3. Deal with one skill set at a time.

   It always makes sense to deal with one skill set at a time rather than focusing on several skills at once. It helps people to learn better and quicker.

4. Bring a peer network into upskilling strategy.

   Having a peer network to train people goes a long way in making upskilling more interactive and collaborative. In addition, the learners benefit from the experience of professionals who have the skills needed to get ahead in life.

How Can Straive Can Help?

Straive has been a leader in educational development for more than 25 years. Services range from traditional production to the full-service development of content used in digital and print products. Straive is recognized for our full-service model and partnerships with our clients, dedicated teams of discipline-specific subject-matter experts, experienced project managers, and editorial, art, and design specialists. In addition, Straive provides end-to-end services that include solutions development for online assessment, developing eLearning modules, interactivity, and mobile content delivery.

¹ http://www.uniindia.com/82-of-employees-would-quit-their-jobs-because-of-no-progression-careeraddict-study-reveals/prnewswire/news/1853788.htm

² https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/2019/report/pwc-22nd-annual-global-ceo-survey.pdf