How to upskill employees for happier teams and better retention

In?a survey conducted by The Harris Poll , 70% of employees say they’re somewhat likely to leave their current company to move to an employer that invests in?learning and development . How can you keep your best employees from hitting the road? Throw your weight behind their desire to learn, grow, and?advance their careers . Build an upskill program to keep them engaged, retained, and show that their career success is as important to you as it is to them.

Picture this: Charlotte is focused, driven, and hungry to advance her career. During a one-on-one with her boss, she mentions she’d love to learn more about using data to improve her sales techniques. “We’ll look into it!” her manager tells her.

… and then nothing happens. For months. Charlotte brings it up again in her performance review. “Yep, it’s on the list!” her manager says. And yet, crickets.

A few months later, Charlotte accepts a role with a company that will fully support her growth and development. Sigh. This happens more often than you think. And a good upskilling program can prevent this burnout and churn.

What does it mean to upskill?

Upskilling helps employees expand their skillset so that they can move their careers forward. This could mean improving existing skills or learning entirely new ones.?

When employers formalize and standardize these efforts, it becomes an upskilling program. While upskill programs focus on the core goal of developing employees, the learning itself can be quite flexible. It may include:?

• Courses (online or in-person)
• Demonstrations
• Job shadowing
• Mentoring
• Seminars and presentations
• Tuition reimbursement or professional development stipends

What are the benefits of an upskill program?

To create and launch an upskilling program requires elbow grease, but it offers plenty of benefits for both employees and employers, including:

• Better employee retention:?The American Upskilling Study ?released by Amazon and Gallup states that 61% of employees cite an upskilling program as “extremely” or “very” important when weighing the decision to remain at their current job. Additionally, 71% of employees say that job training and development increase their job satisfaction, giving them even more reason to stick around.
• Fewer skills gaps:?Data from McKinsey & Company shows that?87% of companies ?worldwide are aware that they either have a skill gap or will have one within a few years. Upskilling programs help companies identify those current and future gaps and bolster current employees’ skills to avoid a shortfall of expertise and knowledge.
• Easier hiring:?Upskill programs are especially advantageous for hiring. Companies need to hire fewer people because there’s less employee turnover. They also build a deep well of internal talent for promotions and new positions. Additionally, learning and development are great benefits to tout in employer marketing materials:?Amazon and Gallup’s study ?found that 66% of workers ages 18-24 rank “learning new skills” as the third-most important perk when considering job opportunities—ranked just behind health insurance and disability benefits.?

5 steps to build a top-notch upskilling program

The advantages of an upskilling program are undeniable. And you can create an effective (and even personalized) upskilling program regardless of the size of your company. Here’s how.?

1. Set goals for your upskill program

Like any other business initiative, it’s helpful to start with an objective. Why do you want to launch an upskill program in the first place? Maybe you want to…

• Improve employee retention
• Increase internal promotions
• Improve employee feedback scores

… or something else. Figure out the reason for this program, and then set a relevant benchmark to monitor your efforts and determine its success.?

2. Research the needs and demands of the program

Ultimately, your upskilling program should satisfy a need. And the real magic happens when you meet the needs of your employees?and?your organization.

How do you strike that balance? A?skills gap analysis ?can determine what will benefit your company. And?employee surveys ?will give you valuable insight into what and how they want to learn.?

Conduct a skills gap analysis

A skills gap is when your employees don’t currently possess a skill that your organization needs. To perform a skills gap analysis, first determine if you want to conduct an analysis of your entire company, a specific department or team, or just an individual.

Once you know your focus:

• Document responsibilities.?What major functions or tasks is the company, department, or employee responsible for?
• Relate responsibilities to skills.?What skills are needed to complete those tasks?
• Evaluate existing skills.?Turn to performance reviews, feedback from managers, documented?career paths , employee surveys (more on those next!), and more to get a grasp of existing skills. What’s missing to fulfill the responsibilities you’ve outlined??

Just like that, you’ve identified your most pressing skill gaps.?

Survey your employees

An upskilling program isn’t about shoving your company’s needs and desires down employees’ throats. Your program is most beneficial when it finds the overlap between what your organization?needs?and what your employees?want.?

It’s important to bring employees in on the process. Put together a simple survey to collect feedback about their career ambitions and learning preferences. A few questions you could ask include:

• What next step in your career are you working toward?
• What topics or skills are you eager to learn?
• Which learning methods do you enjoy most??
• How much time per month would you like to invest in your learning??

Those answers will be helpful as you start to build out your program.?

Keep reading for more tips on how to upskill your employees for a happier team and better retention