Need An Upgrade On Your Career ? Why Not Upskill ?

What does “Upskilling” really means?


Image 7.1 Source : techrepublic.com

  Since the technological advancements are on the rise, the world is evolving at a progressive pace and it is very important to be up to date with the modern challenges, trends and innovations that are new, threatening and opportunistic to the business world. Organizations should enhance the existing knowledge and skillsets of their employees for  better organizational performance.
  
  Upskilling, therefore can be defined as the process of learning new skills or refining existing skill sets to enable employees to continue practicing with ease (Gasteiger et al., 2021).

Why “Upskilling” is important?

Image 7.2 Source : achievers.com

According to Hancock et al. (2020), roughly 30–40% of employees would need to upgrade their skills significantly, within the next decade. Their existing skills does not qualify for the demand in the globalized economy. So, the modern day problems require modern day solutions.

Therefore upskilling through extensive learning and development is crucial. Employees require advancing in their practices and close “gaps” in their knowledge.

What are the benefits of upskilling an employee?

Image 7.3 Source : atriumstaff.com

According to Palmer (2020), organizations that invest in advanced upskilling strategies create a more vibrant culture, see higher employee engagement, and do a better job attracting and retaining talent. 

More importantly, they can accelerate digital transformation, innovate faster, and quickly react to new market opportunities (Palmer, 2020)

How to Upskill an employee?

Image 7.4 Source : techgig.com

According to Fischer, humans go up and down in their cognitive level dynamically according to factors such as personal motivation and current context.

Fischer’s dynamic skill theory considers the “Impact of contextual and interpersonal factors on learning” (Fischer and Corrigan , 1980). Highest possible achievements for any age group are analyzed by Fischer in an evolutionary perspective of human skills, based on four tiers. These four tiers are “Reflexes, Actions, Representations and Actions” tiers.

While there is a major need for upskilling employees in cognitive and technological skills, the need for upskilling in evergreen skills such as leadership, communication and interpersonal levels also remains crucial (Jaiswal et al., 2021).

Therefore it is clear that developing creative thinking patterns, improving soft skills and technological skills of the employees, team-working, leadership mentoring and providing hands on training with peers could be considered as the key things that need to ensure growth and value of the employees in order to enhance the motivation levels that upskills an employee at all aspects.

Conclusion

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The value of upskilling the skills of the current employees cannot be overemphasized if the company wants to ensure the success with the industry. Employees must have faith and trust in the commitment to keep their skills up to date and upgraded within the organization at the cognitive level. Then the business can multiply the chances of retention and nurturing their commitment to the company.In the journey to achieve the success, upskilled set of employees assure a great strength in facing the uncertainties and modern day challenges













References


Gasteiger, N., van der Veer, S., Wilson, P. and Dowding, D., 2021. Upskilling health and care workers with augmented and virtual reality: protocol for a realist review to develop an evidence-informed programme theory. BMJ Open, 11(7), p.e050033.

Fischer, K.W., & Corrigan, R., 1980. A Skill Approach to Language Development. In A.P.Reilly(Ed.), The Communication game(pp.58-64). New York:Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Round Table No 04.

  Hancock, B., Lazaroff-Pick, K., & Rutherford, S., 2020. Getting Practical about the future of work. McKinsey Global Institute.

Jaiswal, A., Arun, C. and Varma, A., 2021. Rebooting
employees: upskilling for artificial intelligence in multinational
corporations. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, pp.1-30.

Palmer, K., 2020. 7 Steps for Upskilling That Support Internal Mobility. [Blog] blog.degreed.com, Available at: <https://blog.degreed.com/7-steps-for-upskilling-support-internal-mobility/>.



Comments

  1. Prabath7 December 2021 at 01:53

    Interesting and very creative article , it's really important to upskill employees for motivate them as well as sustain company performance Thanks for shearing .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M D S Perera10 December 2021 at 16:59

      You Welcome Prabath! Thanks for the feedback!

      Delete
  2. Asma Nafaz10 December 2021 at 17:54

    The businesses have to focus on new trends to survive in the market. Due to globalization changes are taking place day by day. It is another essential function of the managers to up-skill their employees with the trends to maintain their productivity and the performance. The blog is an important piece of article to the businesses

    ReplyDelete
  3. N R Waduge. MBA10 December 2021 at 18:49

    Upskilling employees in an organisation leads to expand their capabilities in any context. Consequently the organisation directly gain the outcomes due to advance workmanship. Therefore the employers must manage to upgrade subordinate skills in company perspectives and it is important mutually both employer and employee.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Asitha D12 December 2021 at 07:58

    Upgrading the career of employees by having a faith on their performances and skills is the method to improve the employee performances. Therefore, management should implement strategies to upgrade career of employees.

    ReplyDelete

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