HR’s Role In Upskilling And Reskilling

Job requirements are constantly changing which means that employees and companies need to adapt accordingly. The reasons for these changes are usually due to new developments in technology and the evolvement of industries.

It then becomes HR’s responsibility to oversee that employees have the chance to grow their skills for their career development.

Companies that offer human resources software solutions in the UK include:

1. Rippling
2. Deel
3. BrightHR
4. Factorial

This can be done either through upskilling or reskilling. Both approaches are highly beneficial to employees and for the growth of the company.

What Is Upskilling And Reskilling?

Upskilling refers to the process of helping current employees within the company to develop their skills or gain new knowledge in their existing roles, expanding their expertise.

An example of this would be if a marketing manager was trained on a new digital marketing analytics tool. It still falls within their role of marketing, but grows their skills in the digital marketing space.

On the other hand, reskilling is the process of training employees in different positions within the company.

While upskilling refers to improving the skills needed for the purposes of a current role, reskilling is aimed at preparing the employee for a different position.

For example, if a marketing manager was sent on a basic IT course, that would be considered reskilling because it is not part of their day-to-day role.

How Prioritising These Can Impact Your Business

Providing upskilling and reskilling opportunities plays a big role in retaining employees for longer. Studies indicate that employees tend to stay with a company who provides them with career advancement support. The more a company is willing to invest in their people, the more it will be reciprocated.

Another factor to consider is the rate at which technological advancements are taking place. The ability of technology to replace manual labour and other tasks where humans were primarily needed now means that employees have to be able to widen their skill set in order to adapt.

HR’s Role In Upskilling And Reskilling

The HR department is usually central when it comes to planning and executing employee opportunities to grow or learn new skills. From seeing which opportunities are suited to each employee to evaluating the program’s success, HR oversees the whole process.

Pinpoint Areas Where Skills Can Be Grown

This will require a skills gap analysis and employee assessments to determine the specific factors that would require either upskilling or reskilling of the employees.

Practical steps here would include collecting the information about the current competencies of the employees and identifying room for improvements.

Formulate The Learning And Development (L&D) Programs

This step requires a fair amount of time and planning. Before creating the actual programs, HR has to consider some critical factors. These include the career aspirations of the employee themselves, their current skill capability and the projected growth of the business.

From this, HR can develop the L&D program to make sure that these factors are all aligned. Moreover, the learning plan has to accommodate the employee’s current time spent on work tasks by being flexible.

Make Use Of Technology To Support Learning

With advanced learning tools, it becomes easier to make learning recommendations and also monitor statistics on the effectiveness of the learning process. Moreover, these tools can provide analytics on how skills are being acquired over time to see how employees are developing.

For example, AI-based systems can recommend certain courses to L&D learners based on their performance and interests. This makes training more relevant to each employee which can only add to their skill development.

Monitor Each Program’s Efficacy

The HR department needs to outline key performance indicators (KPIs) which will be used to evaluate the success of each learning program.

These can range from improved productivity to the engagement scores of the employees and their retention rates among others. The continuous assessment allows HR to revise their strategies where necessary in order to suit the changing conditions of the business.

Promote Ongoing Learning In The Company

HR has the potential to create an environment of continuous learning by stressing the benefits of it to both employees and the business as a whole. This can include rewarding employees who successfully complete their programs or offering benefits to those who take on additional learning.

Those who have succeeded in upskilling or reskilling can also mentor other employees within the business and share their experiences.