In an environment of constant change companies must regularly upgrade their employees’ skills in order to keep current workforce. As digitalization is changing the business operations, extensive education programs help businesses ensure their workforce is prepared for the future.
What is Upskilling?
Examples of upskilling could include technical skills and technical expertise. Through upskilling employees, managers might decide to improve employees’ emotional ability and increase cooperation in the workplace as well as focusing on one specific technical skill that is that isn’t present in their workforce.
At its most basic it is about investing in your workforce to be able to meet the ever-changing demands of a business. With the recent changes in business caused by the pandemic as well as new technology, upskilling has become an increasingly important aspect for many businesses.
Businesses need to learn how to be able to operate and adapt to the digital age. Sometimes, it is referred to as “digital upskilling” it is the process of educating employees on the latest techniques and methods to maximize the benefits of these technologies.
Nowadays, companies must be able to demonstrate an continuous learning mindset that continuously searches for ways to enhance as well as collaborate and communicate with customers by using the latest technology.
Alongside upskilling as well, upskilling has emerged as an essential tool in modern business strategies.
The Difference Between Upskilling and Reskilling
Reskilling and upskilling are two procedures that are related to developing new skills and improving the employee’s skills in the matrix.
The two terms may be used interchangeably and in confusion. But, the main distinction between them is the their context.
- Upskilling is focused on employees acquiring new skills to enhance their current positions.
- Reskilling is the process of the process of retraining and learning new abilities to be able to take on new tasks within the company.
Upskilling is the process of increasing the amount of knowledge the employee has gained from their current job. It improves and refines the skills already in place.
Re-skilling, on contrary, provides new skills , expanding the range of knowledge an employee can have and enabling them for a transition into the next position.
The vertical axis is a representation of the amount of knowledge and skills about a subject, while the horizontal axis represents the variety of subjects.
As the world is flooded with new technologies, digital training lets organizations update their existing roles to reflect the current requirements. However, modern technologies including the increasing automation, are rendering many jobs obsolete. Reskilling will prepare employees for completely new roles within the company.
Why Upskilling is More Critical Than Ever
Training and development of employees as well as teaching teams new capabilities to improve their operations has always been crucial for business success. However, rapid advancements in the field of technological advancements (e.g., AI and automation) and increased digital integration make it necessary for companies to upskill their staff more than ever before.
Many of the traditional business processes and the skills they require are now outdated. To be successful, companies and their employees must be able to adapt to the new ways of operating.
It is important to not think of upgrading your skills as a single-time task in order to transition into the digital economy. It should instead be an ongoing process to keep pace with the evolving landscape of an industry or business.
It is interesting to note that the increased utilization of technology actually decreases the time-to-use of abilities (how the particular skill set is valuable).
Research It suggests The life-span of professional skills has decreased from 10 to 15 years to 5 years . the same is true for technical skills. this time frame is halved to 2.5 years. . It means that today’s top-of-the-line technical capabilities will not be as valuable in two and two-and-a-half years.
Research by Deloitte illustrates the increasing length of careers in the workplace. The diminishing half-life of qualifications, which intensifies the need to keep upskilling. People are working longerhours, however, their skills are still in demand for a shorter period of time. They will also have be able to update their skills matrix in order to be valuable within an organization.
This trend toward continuing learning is evident across all regions around the globe. The following figure, taken from Deloitte illustrates the importance of continuous learning throughout your career, according to people from various countries.
