Reskilling: What does This Mean and Where to Start?

What is reskilling?

Definitions vary from source to source, but generally speaking, skills retraining occurs when you help employees learn the skills they need to take on a new role in the organization. For instance, a retailer that’s putting more resources into e-commerce might reskill some of its managers with training in data analysis for better inventory planning, logistics and digital marketing performance. 

Reskilling is a revolution in which workers instantly do something very new. In a new McKinsey Global Survey, 87% of executives said they were experiencing skill gaps in the workforce or expected them within a few years. Talent is difficult to locate, so instead of trying to recruit from outside, companies should work to build “new talents” within the current workforce. 

The first step then is to embrace a culture as a learning organization. Consider developing an annual schedule that sets objectives for learning and skills growth for both you and your staff. Your reskilling initiative would also include certain additional tools to help your staff achieve their learning goals. Here are some ideas for reskilling your employees.

Adopt a technology platform for skills development

To help your employees discover skill gaps and create learning goals for their present role or a new one they’re prepared to take on, you may utilize an online educational or certification platform of the skills your company required. Contemporary learning technology allows the trainers to make more enjoyable lessons. Besides, businesses can be more proactive in building a suitable training program since virtual platforms can be more flexible in term of time and places.

Seek out specific skills trainings

Job-specific capabilities are the abilities that enable a position seeker to flourish in a certain job.. It makes sense to engage and invest in certain training for skills that are needed for your industry. For instance, teachers need lesson planning skills, architects need CAD (computer-aided design) skills, construction workers need to know how to use a variety of tools… 

However, if your employees are ambitious to learn other skills to support their secondary responsibility, for example a teacher wants to learn data analytics to improve logistics planning for school, you may need to find resources that support their reskilling goal, too.

Encourage job shadowing

Job shadowing allows employees to see and understand the nuances of a particular job by observing how the job is done, the key deliverables expected, and the people with whom the job interacts. 

There are at least two ways that work shadowing can help with reskilling and upskilling. An employee from one team can shadow a member of another team to learn how they do their job, or an employee transitioning into a new position can shadow a coworker who is currently doing that job.

To sum up all, reskilling has numerous advantages for an organization, including the ability to retain and utilize loyal employees to the greatest extent possible. It will be a critical component of any Learning & Development strategy in the coming decade, so now is the time to start planning how you will implement such a program for your own workforce.  

With experience working closely with many big local Vietnamese, Multinational companies and State-owned companies across more than ten industries, Talentnet can provide solutions for the L&D programme that best fits corporations’ need, thanks to the great combination of global methodologies and local insights.