What is upskilling?

Helping employees grow professionally is a win-win for both the employer and the employee. Common upskilling opportunities that companies offer include:

• Tuition assistance

• Time off to pursue a new degree or certification

• Free continuing education programs in the form of seminars, conferences, workshops, and classes

• Management training

• Skills training

To implement upskilling at your organization, follow these critical steps:

• Determine the skills gap among your employees

• Train employees through various methods of professional development and upskilling

• Monitor the progress of all employees

• Once training and professional development is complete, direct new duties for employees, or move or promote employees into different roles so they can use the new skills they have obtained

Upskilling is effective because it improves employees' confidence and skill sets. Here are some reasons why upskilling is important for companies:

• It improves employee confidence

  Upskilling can help to increase employees' confidence as professionals. Their confidence gets boosted when they learn new skills or take on new knowledge that is vital to their role. This makes them more confident and well-rounded professionals.

• Increases networking opportunities

  Upskilling gives employees the opportunity to expand their professional network. Most professional development programs are completed alongside other professionals so they get a chance to meet new and interesting people in their field. This can not only benefit your employees but your company as a whole.

  Here are some common venues for professional development that involves upskilling:

  • Classes or professional programs

  • Seminars

  • Webinars

  • Industry-related conferences

  • Professional workshops

  • On-the-job training

  • Bootcamps

  • Online courses or boot camps

  • Professional certification courses and exams

  To determine the right venue for upskilling at your company, you need to look at your organization's specific needs and the particular skill levels of employees on your staff.

• Volunteer events

  These types of events usually welcome professionals from within one specific industry, like software development for example. They provide novel opportunities for employees to meet and learn from others in their specific field. Internal company events like these also provide the chance for team members to bond and form meaningful and trusting relationships.

• Employees get to develop new skills or hone existing skills

  Most forms of professional development and upskilling see employees increasing and honing the number of hard and soft skills that are critical in the workplace. Job-specific knowledge and abilities, like technical knowledge about role-specific programs, are in the hard skills category, while soft skills refer to their social workplace skills, and are also essential.