Reskilling is all the rage these days — and for good reason. In a world defined by unexpected, wide-scale change and disruption, reskilling is an effective way to empower your workforce, future-proof your business, and stand out in a highly competitive landscape.
And we’re not the only ones banging on about reskilling. Over at the World Economic Forum, they’ve launched the Reskilling Revolution — an initiative that aims to equip one billion people with the skills and education needed to ride out future storms.1
In this article, we’ll explain how the most forward-thinking companies stay one step ahead of the rest by reskilling their employees, allowing them to embrace the future of work with confidence.
Change is a chance for growth — not a hurdle
Let’s be honest, these are challenging times. Just when you’ve got used to the latest “new normal,” (we know, that phrase makes us shudder too) something else comes along and replaces it. In the world of work, this can be particularly stressful and unsettling — especially for managers.
While it would be tempting to shake your fist at the sky while screaming “enough!” at the top of your voice, that probably wouldn’t help all that much. Trust us, we’ve tried. Besides, change doesn’t have to be something negative.
With an effective upskilling and reskilling strategy in place, you can approach change — whether to your industry, business, or the way you work — with confidence and optimism, safe in the knowledge that your team has the skills and flexibility to move with the times.
Of course, it’s virtually impossible to be prepared for all eventualities. Nobody saw the pandemic coming, but come it did, squeezing years’ worth of digital transformation and cultural change into a few short months.
The past two years were also an opportunity to learn, grow, and find new and better ways of working. And that’s how we should view future change — as an opportunity, not a hurdle. Fostering that mindset amongst your team is integral to staying ahead, and that’s made easier when you’re supported by an agile L&D strategy.
But wait! How do you get a hold of an agile learning strategy that prioritises reskilling? Read on to find out.
Suggested reading: One of the biggest changes in recent years has been the shift to remote and hybrid working. In this article, you’ll find some tips to make it work: The 5 Steps Your Hybrid Working Model Needs to Succeed.
Skills gaps get filled
When a skills gap arises in your industry or business, you have one of three options:
- Stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes, and repeatedly shake your head while shouting “LALALALALALA”.
- Dive head first into the recruitment market.
- Reskill your existing staff, empowering them with the necessary skills and know-how to do the job.
Although that first option is pretty tempting, deep down we all know it’s not the right road to take. And while it’s possible to address skills gaps by recruiting for particular competencies, reskilling or upskilling employees you already know and trust is often a better, faster, and more cost-effective way of closing skills gaps.
In general, we find that companies that prioritise talent retention and a flexible approach to employee development are best equipped to handle the skills requirements of today and tomorrow. Having a more agile approach that takes into account people’s strengths, preferences, and career goals is far better than having a rigid idea of how people’s continuing professional development must look.
When you have a culture of reskilling, you can be more flexible and forward-thinking in your hiring approach as well. Candidates don’t have to fit a job profile perfectly to be considered. In many cases, finding people who possess a range of key skills and show potential and a willingness to learn can prove more lucrative in the long term.
Suggested reading: To help your business navigate the choppy waters of today, check out our Employability Skills content collection.
No employee’s potential goes untapped
How many of us can truly say that we’re using our abilities and skills to their fullest potential in our work? How many would love to try something slightly different but don’t know how? Your boss might say he’s using his skills to the max, but he also thinks modesty is a type of cheese.
While we are all in our current roles for a reason, there may be better uses for our talents elsewhere. Someone in a highly technical job may be an outstanding communicator, for example, but they may never get the chance to develop that part of their skill set.
Reskilling allows you to explore these avenues, ensuring that every employee has the chance to realise their full potential. Employees no longer need to feel trapped in a position that doesn’t suit them. Through targeted training programs, they are empowered and supported to adapt and grow their skills. This in turn boosts employee engagement, productivity, and retention rates.
Progression becomes a piece of cake
In a company that’s unwilling to prioritise reskilling, employees who want to retrain for a new position that better suits their talents and goals are forced to roll the dice and leave.
Not only does the company miss out on their untapped potential, they now have to recruit twice — once to fill the vacancy left by the outgoing employee, and again to fill the role that they could have taken if they were allowed the opportunity to reskill. Not ideal, right?
In a company that makes reskilling their focus, however, that very same employee could realise their ambitions and potential while adding real value to the company in a new role. Everyone’s a winner.
By prioritising reskilling, companies can provide the opportunities for career progression that their employees crave. Reskilling opens up progression pathways that simply might not have existed before, allowing them to progress seamlessly within the same company. You can have your cake and eat it too — and who doesn’t love cake?
And as we have already discussed, retaining talent through internal progression tends to be a much more cost-effective and positive approach than external recruiting. Reskilling is the key to that.
Video Arts keeps workplaces engaged and ahead
By now you no doubt get the picture — we think investing in reskilling initiatives is a pretty fine idea. By enabling your existing staff to learn new skills and tap into existing-yet-underused ones, you can safeguard your workforce and business against future change and uncertainty.
But if we move away from the conceptual and towards the practical, how do you actually go about reskilling your workforce? Well, at Video Arts, we think that one of the most important factors in expanding your employees’ skill sets — and driving workplace productivity and success — is the right learning content. And by ‘right,’ we mean content that is engaging, informative, and fun.
The fun part is particularly important to us. In our decades of experience producing learning content, we’ve found that the best results come when it is infused with humour. And it’s not just us. Scientists have found that humour activates the brain’s dopamine reward system, which is associated with goal-oriented motivation and long-term memory.2 So there.
Our content gets a wide range of complex topics across in a short span of time, delivered by the cream of the crop of British comedians.
From health and safety to leadership, your skill set never has to stay static with digital content that’s perfect for reskilling.
If you are just a little bit tempted to find out more, why not get in touch with one of our learning experts today and see how Video Arts could provide the learning content you need to stay one step ahead?
