How Can We Reduce Resignations by the Upskilling and Reskilling Workforce?

Today, everything in the workforce is uncertain. The Great Resignation is at its peak. GenZemployees are always hopping between jobs, and workers have shifted their priorities from just making money to have an excellent work-life balance. That results in difficulties keeping employees from resigning. Before the pandemic, people worried that they might get fired. However, today employers fear that their staff will quit.

Apart from Gen Z, other generations are also resigning. However, Gen Z has a higher resignation rate, as shown below:

• Gen Z: 31%
• Millennials: 27%
• Gen X: 14%
• Boomers: 13%

What is upskilling and reskilling?

Everyone is now interested in retaining expertise among employees by upskilling and reskilling. Upskilling means upgrading already acquired skills, while reskilling means learning an entirely different skill.

Imagine the following situation. You have a small organization and only one IT staff responsible for your IT needs. However, you decide to migrate your organization's data to the cloud. Now, you need to train your IT staff in cloud administration. That is reskilling: you are training your staff entirely new skills. Then, as your business improves, the work becomes complicated, and you decide to train your other staff to improve their efficiency. That is upskilling: you are making an already skilled employee more efficient.

How does upskilling and reskilling avoid the great resignation?

Employees always want to feel valued; they want to know that their jobs matter. Therefore, if you give them opportunities to learn new skills or upgrade their current ones, you show them that they matter.

McKinsey&Company reports that organizations can endure the Great Resignations by upskilling and reskilling. It can reduce job-hopping among employees; therefore, increasing employee retention rates.

The reason upskilling or reskilling works is because Gen Z employees want challenges in their work, and it can provide that. It also provides the employees with new opportunities. Moreover, Gen Z employees demand that upskilling and reskilling must be among the benefits provided by the companies.

But is it beneficial for companies?

An appropriate talent should be available at an economical cost. You can always hire talents; however, improving the knowledge and skill of existing talent is more economical. More and more industries are starting to experience labor shortages. Moreover, the cost of replacing an employee is increasing day by day. Currently, it takes twice the annual salary of the current employees to replace them with recruits. Therefore, upskilling and reskilling also help organizations cut costs.

There is another reason why organizations should consider upskilling and reskilling. Employees who want to resign for better and more challenging opportunities have a growth mindset. Such employees are highly beneficial for the development of an organization. According to Dr. Peter Cappeli, a researcher at Wharton, age does not affect the ability to perform a job. Moreover, experienced employees have a high work ethic, communication skills, and self-awareness.

How to start an upskilling/ reskilling program?

To start an upskilling or reskilling program at your company, you should think about the following factors:

• Strategy

  A strategic approach to upskilling is better than just catering to employee requests or industry trends. Consider the following things:

  • Market Trends : Things like new technologies, labor trends, and the industry future.
  • Untapped opportunities : You have to think about where you would invest next.
  • Curriculum : This will include the structure of the upskilling/reskilling course. You have to think about where the upskilling/reskilling course starts and what the employees will gain along the way.
  • Evaluation Process : This will include the tests and progress tracking. How the tests will happen, and how will you evaluate the progress.
  • Employee Preference : You must know what your employees need, in which area they want to improve. Or if they desire to improve. And you need to ensure that their interest aligns with the company's future.
  • Employee Work-Learning Balance : This is most important. You should meticulously plan your course. To ensure that you won't hamper the productivity of your company. Further, your employees must not get overworked.
• Skills

  Before starting any program to upskill/reskill your staff, you should think about the skills that you want your employees to have. According to Gartner, fifty-eight percent of the workforce lack the appropriate skills. Therefore, you should assess the skills of your employees. Then build their skills keeping in mind their interests and the company's future.

  An excellent way would be to ask your employees about their interests and the paths they can follow. That will empower the workers and improve their faith in the company. Consequently, they would be less likely to quit their jobs.

• Tools

  To be successful at upskilling, you should have the right tools. That will help you to finish the upskilling process efficiently within time. Using automation to aid your upskilling process is an excellent way. It can assess and evaluate the skills of your staff, give them options to learn new skills, and track their progress.

  Learning management systems enables continuous professional development for employees. Whatever they expect from an advanced and high-tech learning tool, LMS delivers them that. It offers consistent, seamless, and engaging content that can equip medical professionals in the most productive way possible.

Conclusion

In 2022, if you want to retain your employees, you must give them challenging new opportunities. For that, you must upskill or reskill your workforce. Upskilling/Reskilling will show your employees that you care about them. Further, the company will earn their trust. Moreover, only those employees who love progress are looking for new challenges. Keeping such employees is always beneficial for the growth of the company. However, for a successful upskilling/reskilling program, you need to evaluate the skill gaps in your company. In addition, you should also try to understand the interests of your employees. That will ensure they do not feel you are forcing the upskilling/reskilling. Finally, any upskilling or reskilling would need the right tools and software for efficiently completing the program.

GyrusAim Learning Management System (LMS) can help you with that. The company aims to deliver excellent learning solutions worldwide. Moreover, they will exceed your expectations for setting and implementing services. They are a customer-first company that provides responsive and prioritized services with courtesy and respect. Further, they have the innovation and learning mindset that leads to exceptional services. Gyrus treats all its customers and employees as their own families.