Crossing the Skills Gap
When we hear about the so-called skills gap–and we’re hearing about it a lot lately–it brings to mind a very specific image. It’s hard not to picture a tiny crack in an organization’s abilities slowly widening into a cavernous abyss, plunging any projects and deliverables that once progressed smoothly to the finish line down to their doom.
We might have already tried to patch it up by looking for outside talent, to no avail. So, now what? How can we possibly traverse this treacherous path?
The reality of the situation is that there doesn’t need to be a skills gap at all. The talent required to bridge it has been working for us all along.
All we need to do is make upskilling and reskilling integral pieces of our culture.
Upskilling is when employees gain the new skills required to advance upward in their current lane. Reskilling is when employees gain the new skills required to switch to a different lane entirely. We should offer plenty of opportunities for our employees to do both.
In this ever-changing modern world of work, companies that build upskilling and reskilling into a broader culture of mobility are basically future-proof.
The skills that were unheard of a few years ago are absolutely essential today. Those same skills that are so crucial now could very well be useless a few years down the road. If our workers are constantly learning new skills and growing with the times, that won’t be a problem for us. Heck, we might not even notice.
The same goes for skills gaps formed by employee departures. Rather than wait out the perfect outside replacement that may never arrive, why not train someone who’s been killing it in a different role, and actually wants to learn the skills required to step in? Better yet, what if they are capable of taking over instantly because we already showed them how to? Goodbye, gap!
Upskilling and reskilling will also do wonders for employee satisfaction and, in turn, retention.
Building a culture of upskilling and reskilling starts with listening to our people. They all have skills they’re good at, skills they’re not so good at, skills they would love to develop, and skills they don’t want to use anymore. This stuff matters to them. We need to show them that it matters to us, too.
It’s simple. All we have to do is provide opportunities for our workers to share their perspectives on their own skills and careers. Get a conversation going and check in regularly, or take advantage of an internal mobility solution like Worqdrive that makes it easy to hear (and act on) what they have to say. Either way, let’s make sure we’re focusing on what our people truly want.
If we allow our employees to take an active role in shaping their own skill sets and career paths, they will gladly stick around long-term and nothing will ever be lost to a skills gap. Sounds like a win-win to us.