Teaching employees new skills to meet the changing demands of their roles has countless benefits. One of the biggest boons is increased employee retention.

Upskilling your current employees:

Builds trust. When you invest in developing your employees’ skills, they trust that you want them to succeed as much as they do, making them want to remain with the company.Improves engagement. Learning new skills keeps employees engaged with their work, which can also improve your bottom line. Research shows that companies with highly engaged employees can generate 2.5 times more revenue.Creates a career path within the company. Millennials and Gen X employees list “lack of career progress” among their top reasons for seeking new employment. Upskilling your employees is one way to show them you value them. In turn, it can increase their feelings of loyalty to your organization.During the current labor shortage, talent is hard to find, and the retention of top-performing employees is more important than ever. If you’re on the fence, here are some additional reasons upskilling is a valuable initiative:● It’s easier and less expensive to upskill new employees than it is to train new hires from scratch.● Upskilling is less risky than hiring new employees because the employee is a known quantity.● Many diversity initiatives exist at the entry-level. Upskilling entry-level workers can create a career path within the company for diverse individuals.

Upskilling Opportunities

Many industries identified a need for digital upskilling during the pandemic when organizations were forced to move to a remote work model. It appears as if many of the technologies adopted during the pandemic are here to stay, and a rapidly widening skills gap has emerged. Digital upskilling allows employees to continue to remain and evolve with their organization.Skills gaps have also been identified in leadership and data analysis roles. As the workforce changes, managers will need training to adapt. Similarly, as technology evolves and data-entry roles are replaced with automation, the employees inhabiting those roles will need training to move up the career ladder into data analysis positions.

How Can Organizations Upskill Employees?

There are numerous ways to upskill employees, but they all share a common goal: to better prepare employees for success within an organization. Whether you invite employees to join a mentoring program, take an online course, attend a workshop, or participate in another learning opportunity, it proves that you are invested in them and inspires commensurate loyalty. Some organizations take upskilling to an even higher level by creating:Internal training programs. Many companies adopt in-house upskilling programs. These organizations create “schools” or regimented classes that teach the employees the skills they need to reach the next level of their careers.Apprenticeships. Other companies have programs that take mid-level employees and prepare them for management roles during an apprenticeship.Partnerships with other organizations. Some companies combine forces with vendors, universities, or community colleges that teach necessary career skills.Looking for experienced, skilled, and loyal employees? Contact Premier Talent Partners to learn more about how we can help your business move forward.