Old Skills Combined with Historical Turnover = A Failing Workforce

A common grievance among employees leaving is that there are not enough opportunities for growth and learning. When organisations want to introduce upskilling measures, they should change the old approach. In this context, Learn In's CEO and co-founder, David Blake, outlines how businesses should think about training programs that would avoid a failing workforce.

Since the spring of 2021, the highest number of employees have been quitting their workplaces, indicating the advent of this term as The Great Resignation. These figures can be described as overwhelming. Research says that one out of every two employees (52%) feel the need to change jobs. According to Gartner, 2022 is predicted to be treacherous as about 37.4 million Americans will be quitting their employment. One doesn't require much depth analysis to appreciate how it is. Thus, companies need to concentrate on finding ways to ensure that employees are successful and happy.

Learning Outweighs Pay

What makes so many people run away? A study by Prudential found that about 72% of the workers are looking to change their jobs to learn something new, while 80% do switch jobs in anticipation of furthering their career growth. In other words, when they feel that such will not be on their itinerary at that employment, people look forward to quitting and finding another job. Learning new skills and progressing up the ladder of corporate politics are not the same definitions for many, but they are interrelated.

Nevertheless, as employee turnover results in high costs and interruptions, it is worth noting that 25–50% of personnel turnover results are not viable for many businesses. The fact that there could not be any without an alternative examination in the recent environment is worrying to the companies.

94% Greater Retention + 2x Skill Development

Organisations that now incorporate learning and development into their everyday practices can avoid these problems. In a survey carried out by Ceridian, 43 percent of the workers indicated that they would be willing to take another internal post within the company if they were able to acquire new skills without any pay rise, whereas 30 percent of employees can spare no time to exit a company with opportunities for advancement.

According to a recent study, IT skills have a practical period of two years. Data Science is the sector that is growing the fastest, even more than other data science-related professions; its growth rate is 295%, which most frankly does not allow the industry to develop data professionals. Therefore, even educational institutions cannot catch up with the growing demand for such hot roles as data scientists.

As analysed by Ceridian, 77% of the employees expressed a need for further learning but received it in only 40% of the cases. Another important aspect is that there must be correct types of learning opportunities, as it is not enough to dismiss a few online courses as inappropriate. Ceridian's view is that companies should offer a combination of job-specific knowledge and a cross-organisational package comprising soft skills training. Such soft skills would empower an individual in terms of leadership training or how to instill a culture of learning and adjusting to any sector or market requirements.

Employers and employees sometimes don't fully understand the competencies they should develop due to working in an environment of blurring work divides and advanced automation. Introducing the staff to these tools and letting them know when and how to use them and for what reason to enhance productivity and creativity is a daunting task. For organisations to pleasantly introduce new technologies to their employees, they need first to understand the causes of technological barriers and then introduce practical strategies to tackle them.

Traditional Training Methods Don't Work 

There is a myriad of products and services that exist in the marketplace to enable organisations to address specific needs, and yet, in most cases, how do you determine what must be included, when the training should take place, or how to mix and match various forms of professional development that maximally benefit the organisation and the workforce? Do you schedule classes during the workday and allow your people to take class time?

To get started, companies should consider the following:

Make learning accessible and feasible while working:

Each learning need should be met so every learner gets opportunities. Indoor training methods appear old-fashioned, given the advances of the current age. The process of upskilling and reskilling can quickly be resolved into an individual's daily schedule, enhancing their productivity and diminishing stress.

Put money toward expanding employee experience: 

Most organisations pour millions of dollars into improving the customer experience; however, some of the priorities are misplaced regarding employees. Funds are wasted on temporary 'fringe benefits' that make working indoors more enjoyable or, in effect, offer no sustenance for the workers' careers. Organisations must develop a new brand of employee experience that will enhance skills acquisition because most employees now work from home and regard their time and interests. The sooner you locate what particular skills your firm will need for the future, the better.

Liberalisation of the society and its economy is associated with the deadline reduction and the availability of necessary resources.

The sooner you identify the capabilities your firm requires, the better. The obsolescence of skills is a reality we have to face. Decide the five abilities your firm requires based on the long-term strategic goal. Managing a corporation becomes much easier when you know the "must haves" and the "nice to have things" for which individuals and skills should be recruited.

The sooner you identify the capabilities your firm requires, the better:

The half-life of skills is decreasing across the board, from soft skills to sales skills. Decide the five abilities your firm requires and who those skills are based on your long-term strategic goal. It gets much simpler to modify your strategies by the outcomes the corporation needs once you focus on the "must-haves."

Create a route map for your potential workforce:

Your company must intentionally grow its talent through the three Cs: context, cohorts, and coordination. What considerations inform the formulation and implementation of learning activities, as in how to guarantee that there is participation in the activities and learning during the activities so that people do not end up sitting and listening and nothing is achieved? What realistic rehearsal and work experience shall be included to ensure the individuals are up to scale to perform effectively on the job?

Pay attention to the employees:

Nobody is perfect; sometimes, even the best management teams fail to meet the set objectives. Any professional development initiative should hone in on the appropriate audiences and be appropriately delivered to those audiences if it is to be effective. Because if they do, they may only be willing to expend weak levels of effort if they feel even the slightest inclination to participate.

Meeting each worker's specific demands for growth:

Programmes must be flexible enough to fulfill one-off personnel as well as the skill-building needs of the cohort. For every employee, these should be such that different educational resources would allow them to learn even before the "next" expected group academy is scheduled and in place. Such a marketplace would enable a person to acquire skills in a specific work while pursuing a defined career progression alongside colleagues at the same level.

Integrate learning into all of your activities:

As training programs are embedded in a business culture and employee processes, learning becomes ubiquitous amongst employees and occurs in a more informal setting. Employees do not shy away from seeking to upskill and reskill themselves owing to an enabling environment that imbues healthy curiosity. In return, they offer attention and time.

Looking Forward

Companies are currently presented with a unique chance to set up a one-stop learner's center where employees no longer have to go through induction, training, and other employment processes at various times within the organisational setup but rather accrue new skills in the process. In Board, Companies may now execute efficient skill enhancement and acquisition programs and design personalised, group-learning paths. For some departments and jobs, they can offer one-off access to boot camps and credentials or establish expedited skill-building programs. All the expenses and costs incurred and capital invested can be entirely monitored and evaluated against corporate targets. There have always been very few, if any, professional development programs that have been as adaptable or practical, and improvements are presently taking place when the need is most acute.

This is the right amount of time to employ people with rich professional development experiences. You should prevent talent drain in the future and move your firm forward. The merits will be of great worth.

Now is the moment to invest in personnel with rich professional development experiences if you want to stop a talent drain in the future and advance your firm. The benefits will be more than worthwhile.