Chief Executive Officer at Safeguard Global.
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Company leaders are at a fork in the road: either exceed business goals by investing time and resources in employees or consistently lose top talent to companies that are eager to support their teams' development.
For employees, it’s a time of change, fear and disappointment as they discover none of the millions of jobs currently available are the right fit for them. So employers must consider how to reskill, repurpose and retrain their existing employees for the jobs needed. This is especially important because the pool of available talent can be a pricey commodity and with an uncertain economy, taking on more long-term overhead isn’t the most strategic approach.
Of the G7 countries, the United States ranked 4th in 2020 as far as developing employee retention programs behind France, Germany and Italy. This lag is systemic, and with the changes companies face on many fronts, retraining their workforce is a major vulnerability.
The next step in employee retention is to establish a path forward that includes the workforce you have already invested in. So when it comes to the fork in the road, leaders choose to keep top talent by teaching them the skills required and desired, whatever it takes.
Adjusting To New Learning Styles
The environment of learning has changed in recent years. Most learning models have been based on industrialized curricula, a one-size-fits-all approach that ends up feeling generic and unfitting for a unique workforce. But research on Gen-Z and Gen-X learning patterns concluded we're transitioning into active learning as opposed to passive study, which doesn’t involve the interaction and collaboration we see more commonly.
With this shift, companies must transform old methods to avoid widening the competitive gap between institutions that are willing to evolve and institutions that aren't. We need to embrace new methods of learning to keep our soil rich. This speaks not just to the approach but also to how the culture of companies supports learning and development in the long term. It’s not a policy change, it’s a paradigm shift.
Considering the changes in essential roles and labor shortages, employees already know their skills need to evolve. So if your workforce responds well to in-person team-bonding activities, try bringing in engaging guest speakers who can compel them to learn a new approach. If your workforce relies heavily on technology, try setting up an interactive chatbot session where employees can ask questions and dive deeper into new tech.
The old, post-industrialized models of uniformity, qualification and certification are still useful, but not for the majority of modern, technology-driven businesses. We must look at learning as a function of spotting and mirroring the natural abilities of each worker.
Aligning Business Development With Employee Development
When was the last time you asked an employee how you could help with their career journey? In a remote-first, hybrid professional world, skills are crucial. What a worker brings to the table equals the value they bring to your company. The more solidified skills they possess, the more value they contribute.
You build a lot of equity with your team when you train them well and give them more reasons for staying. Companies often bring up fears of retention, believing newly trained employees may find a better job after the investment. Employers naively think if they don’t teach employees new skills, they won’t have the prowess to leave. But the exact opposite is true.
While the skills an employee initially brings to their role are paramount, the ones they pick up over time allow them to adapt and grow alongside your business. Your employees are invested in the company’s success, so make sure their skills are aligned with current business needs. Then, you'll create leaders with institutional knowledge who can guide your next stage of growth.
Methods Of Reskilling
When we look at training by capability, it isn’t a uniform solution. For example, programmers need a series of qualification gateways. With sales professionals, it’s verbal performance training because every single word, pause and moment of listening counts. So your leaders must ask their teams what they want to learn and what trainings they want most. Then, to encourage the adoption of new skills, companies can offer incentives like an open week of training. If an employee successfully completes the training by Wednesday, they can use Thursday and Friday as bonus vacation time.
Think about the way you present your reskilling opportunities as well. Innovators like Blinkist have been working to develop short-form reskilling methods that prioritize collaborative learning on what employees care about most. Advances in technology are developing for more effective forms of training from online to the metaverse, with advanced gamified themes and innovative reward programs. If your company is technology-driven, consider being an early adopter and explore these solutions.
At Safeguard Global, we use a remote-first approach called "Work in Any Way" that allows for flexibility so employees can engage in training anywhere at times that fit within their schedules. As a result, we've seen a year-over-year decrease in voluntary attrition—in part because we encourage people leaders to get curious about what their teams want to learn.
Reskilling and retraining can build a better business by building an environment where it’s clear that employers are investing in people’s growth. But the key is not the training programs themselves; it's the overall approach to learning within your company culture. If you're starting to think about why you should train people, start considering how you'll train them and what methods of learning will add value and opportunity for your workforce. In this new world of reskilling, it isn’t about passing the test. It’s about making change a reality and showing employees all the ways you value them.
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