reskill-mediocre-employees

Here’s an inconvenient truth about the composition of corporate workforces across the world. Not everyone is a super star or even an above average performer. As a matter of fact majority of our workforces are just about average. Why should you focus on how to reskill mediocre employees in your firm? Well, let’s check out some numbers first.

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s technologies alter jobs, we’ll need to reskill more than 1 billion people by 2030. 42 percent of essential skills required to execute existing professions are likely to change in the coming two years. Aside from high-tech talents, specialized interpersonal skills, such as sales, human resources, care, and education, will be in high demand.

The world is in desperate need of reskilling. According to OECD projections, more than 1 billion employment, or about one-third of all jobs worldwide, will be altered by technology during the next decade. According to the World Economic Forum, 133 million new jobs will be produced in major economies by 2022 to fulfill the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. [Source]

Simultaneously, economic and demographic trends further strain today’s workforce. As we enter a new decade, dubbed the “decade of delivery” by the UN and others for significant transitions to a more sustainable world, we must also focus on ensuring equitable, inclusive progress to equip and allow the world’s people to succeed in the future occupations.

How do we ensure that no one is left behind around the world? Many of the latest upskilling programs are in the form of “radical reskilling,” which entails assisting workers in gaining the skills needed to enter occupations other than their current ones. With the rise of the coding Bootcamp over the last decade, many programs now educate workers for the tech industry. Some have shown promising results, and corporations are becoming more involved as companies such as Amazon and Walmart invest in their reskilling programs for existing employees.

These new models appear to have promise as a component of our economic recovery, and they have received plenty of media attention. Are they, however, in line with the goals and ambitions of employees?

Why Should You Reskill Mediocre Employees?
reskill mediocre employees

According to a new study, the answer to that question may be more nuanced than previously imagined – particularly for workers in the middle of the skill spectrum — those working in jobs that do not require a college degree). According to the National Skills Coalition, middle-skill employment, which includes positions in healthcare, information technology (IT), manufacturing, and tradesmen such as plumbers and electricians, accounts for the majority of the labor market in the United States. Therefore, we can use the viewpoints of middle-skill workers to offer insight into broader labor market changes.

With this in mind, most middle-skill individuals are seeking a new job hunt in their current field. Many workers believe that learning new abilities on the job is the most crucial thing they would need after moving jobs when it comes to training alongside getting a degree or certificate). While a higher salary is the most popular reason for changing employment, long-term stability is generally the most crucial factor to consider, especially for people with only a high school certificate or some college experience.

In short, even though research regularly reveals that workers want more training, most intermediate workers do not want the radical reskilling experiences that receive the most significant media attention. They have no desire to begin their careers from the ground up. They are more likely to choose stability and advancement over a significant professional change. Mediocre individuals are interested in gaining incremental abilities to transition to a new position. They value income and the prospect for long-term progress, and they prefer to learn new skills on the job or in the course of their employment rather than leaving for completely other opportunities.

How Can Organizations Ensure to Reskill Mediocre Employees?

According to studies, attracting new talent into your sector is more challenging than nurturing and training the individuals you already have; it supports experts’ calls for a transition to a “build vs. buy” paradigm. It’s also evident that creating a more resilient workforce necessitates delivering the most up-to-date training and aligning workers’ objectives — for example, the need for more seamless career paths — with the demands for new skills and the fast-paced pace of technological change. Employers should also pay attention to the barriers that stand in the way of career mobility: The need for training and the cost of training are the factors most likely to keep people from looking for new jobs.

Let us now go through the steps on how to reskill mediocre employees:

Align with your team’s objectives (and expectations)

Don’t let employee learning and development go awry if you want the best results. Make sure you have a destination in mind when you do so! Consider what you, as a leader, require of your mid-level staff to fulfill your organization’s objectives. This will allow you to concentrate on training personnel skills that will benefit the company.

The following are the fundamentals of alignment:

Note: Don’t limit yourself to meeting immediate or short-term organizational demands. Plan reskilling mediocre employees to assist your company deal with new trends and then adapt accordingly!

In your L&D planning, do not forget to communicate what you require and want from employees. This is true. Set specific expectations for reskilling and upskilling staff members. Do you want a lesson completion, goal achievement in the short term, or overachievement from them in the future? Let your people know!

Make retraining and upskilling as much accessible as possible

To multiply the chances of your workforce completing training, make it accessible. This is true, especially for the growing non-desk workforce. Given their on-the-go jobs, they NEED flexible access to information; reskilling and upskilling included.

Ensure at least part of your plans to teach employees new skills offer them the opportunity to learn when and where they want. Going mobile may be your best bet to do so.

Aim for individualized training

Make sure you’re spending time on skill development relevant to your personnel. Attempt to personalize it as much as possible. People learn in different ways, but the skills that different workers require also differ depending on their present job environment! Consider categorizing learners when establishing reskilling and upskilling programs for your employees. A few examples are department, role, work mode, location, and time of your employee at the company.

Make employee engagement a top priority

What are the benefits of employee engagement? Employee development and training are critical components of the employee experience. Don’t overlook reskilling and upskilling as a way to increase engagement. Having engaged employees have a lot of advantages! Decreased absenteeism, lower turnover, and increased profitability are just a few examples of beneficial business consequences.

Create a more engaging learning environment by using:

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Don’t forget to track employee engagement as part of your reskilling and upskilling efforts. This way, you can keep track of your development and the good influence it has on your entire company.

Consider contracting out your content development

Do look for a platform or solution that will allow you to construct exciting and bite-sized learning routes and content. But don’t lose sight of the point.

We understand. You might have a good idea of what you want your staff to reskill or upskill in. However, your company may lack the resources to develop complete reskilling courses or lectures. Perhaps you’d prefer to have awesome content created by learning professionals.

It’s possible that hiring specialists from an eLearning platform like PlayAblo to create content for you is the answer! Consider working with a learning provider to assist you in shaping and developing your unique learning solutions. They might even offer a special training program that meets your requirements.

Make use of technology to help you

The days of relying solely on in-person learning are long gone. Blended learning has been prevalent for a long time, and for a good reason. It combines the best of both worlds: in-person learning’s human interaction with the enchantment of digital learning.

Among the numerous advantages and difficulties answered by e-learning, four stand out. Take advantage of these opportunities by using [the correct] technical solutions to upskill and reskill personnel.

  • Conserve your resources. Reduce the amount of paper used and the amount of money spent on printing. Those crumpled training packets very certainly ended up in the garbage.
  • It’s a lot easier to scale and adapt. With the proper tool, thousands of employees can benefit from a one-time setup of lessons that run automatically and are available on demand. There is no need to travel. It also aids in the faster pivoting of strategy!
  • Encourage people to share their knowledge. By digitally linking your staff, you can foster cooperation and a learning culture.
  • Data. Automatically track employee learning progress and view metrics for better decision-making!
Managers should be involved

Mid-level managers must be included in the discussion. They may provide helpful information for developing effective personnel upskilling and reskilling initiatives.

Good managers are familiar with day-to-day operations, duties, and responsibilities, as well as the people in charge. They are familiar with the personnel and have likely witnessed firsthand employee performance over time.

Furthermore, if they conduct one-on-one meetings with their employees, they may identify skill gaps. Managers can also establish an improvement plan to identify the reskilling needs and goals they have for distinct employees, departments, or teams.

Keep in mind that leaders at all levels may have an opinion on making learning content more engaging. 

Make use of people analytics

Use data to your advantage! It can assist with several aspects.

Recognize skill gaps. This is the foundation of effective reskilling and upskilling. The heart of the programs will be quantitative and qualitative data from one-on-ones with managers, performance evaluations, and employee surveys.

Employees should be empowered. Autonomy should be encouraged. Employees can use real-time data and feedback to track their growth and performance while learning new skills.

Recognize the effectiveness and effects of training. Evaluate participation and test knowledge on specialized training and retraining courses for continual improvement. There are even solutions that can assist you in providing training compliance to your company’s clients! Using people analytics to create excellent staff learning and development programs can make all the difference!

Consolidate your knowledge

Humans, including your employees, forget things quickly. It’s possible that completing a reskilling or upskilling lesson will not “stick.” Within an hour, people will have forgotten roughly half of the information they were given. Within one day, they might have forgotten an average of 70%, and within a week, they have forgotten an average of 90%.

Reviewing the material is beneficial! Employees (or any trainee/learner, for that matter) should receive post-training reinforcement. Supporting behavior modification and on-the-job application of skills is critical.

Consider allowing people to access on-demand training for reskilling and upskilling, as well as testing on the material to see where learning gaps may exist! Continuous learning should be encouraged as part of the organizational culture.

Upskilling and reskilling should be encouraged on a regular basis

It’s not just something you do once a year. Reskilling and upskilling should be a continuous process that encourages individuals to attain their maximum potential while also retaining them in your company.

Here are a few ideas that can promote a culture of continuous skill-building in your organization:

  • Involving managers and giving them the designation of Chief Retention Officer
  • Leading by example (such as finishing training assigned by the company and seeking external opportunities for skill-building)
  • Enforcing individual reskilling and upskilling (not sponsored by the company)
  • Ensuring people are receiving notifications of new training available
  • Broadening the scope of training (generalists are in high demand)
Conclusion

Finally, look for a solution that allows you to have many learning touchpoints with each person throughout their employment. With these ten best practices or strategies to ace upskilling and reskilling, you’ll be ready for higher-impact L&D programs.

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Find out more and request a custom demo!

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