Why Upskilling Is So Important For 2021 And How To Do It Remotely

When looking at recruitment and talent acquisition, there is a tendency to look at how you can fill a required role only when the need arises.

Although this is not always avoidable and is typically where a recruitment specialist comes in, it is important to address the longer-term approach of talent development in your business forecasting to ensure your current employees are able to fulfil the businesses needs and progress in their personal development to both avoid excessive recruitment costs, and a feeling of career stagnation within your employees. 

Now, this may seem an odd thing for a recruitment consultancy or talent acquisition partner to be writing about considering that it is the resourcing of new talent that we typically make our money, however, we believe the best way to work with our clients is to help them build a successful business and an environment that people can see a bright future with – and of course, we are always there to fill those talent gaps as and when they come along. 

So, why are we bringing this up? 

Well according to the latest research, 43% of UK employees are worried they don’t have the skills companies will need especially relating to leadership, cybersecurity, and cloud computing as the employment landscape continues to change, especially with remote and flex working becoming highly integrated into how a lot of businesses are moving forward. 

Despite these concerns, 47% haven’t had the opportunity to progress their professional skills and qualifications since the first lockdown began last year, and over a quarter wished their employers had provided access to online learning courses.

Of course, throughout 2020 a lot of businesses were still in survival mode and focusing on keeping the business going, adapting to a new way of working, and trying to keep their employees all on the payroll. But, as mentioned in previous blogs, 2021 is the year to reinvest and forge ahead, and of course, an important part of this is making sure you are keeping your employees up to date and ahead of the curve. 

Managers need to focus on upskilling staff for their organisation to flourish, especially if they are among the 65% of UK small and medium businesses who say the pandemic has highlighted skills gaps. Although it may not solve the immediate problem and there will undoubtedly be some gaps that still need to be filled, enabling your existing talent to deal with the demands of the business and drive it forward should form part of your long-term strategy.

In a recent survey conducted by The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, the chief executive Andrew Harding said: 

“To be successful in both the post-Brexit and Covid-19 world, the UK must 

change its attitudes to workplace learning or risk being left behind.”

So how can you adapt? What are the benefits of upskilling? And how to do it remotely?

Managing employees through remote working

With companies having to work remotely, managers have needed to learn how to support their teams virtually. For many, this has been a brand-new experience and has added a whole new aspect to their role – Ensuring the wellbeing of employees during long periods of isolation, issues surrounding communication, keeping track of productivity, and handling collaborative processes and decision making.

To effectively overcome these hurdles and be prepared for the realities of remote working going forward, managers need to improve and adapt their leadership styles. 

Perhaps the most effective way to do this is to take a management course. With many course providers now including content dedicated to remote working practices, taking a more holistic approach than management courses in the past, with tips on prioritising mental health and wellbeing, how to develop the right mindset and approach to work and colleagues, and include training sessions on leading virtual teams and what makes remote work most effective, to how to help your team transition to the new normal. 

Upskilling can boost profits and morale

Organisations that enable their employees to level up and develop more skills, not only gain from much stronger team members because of the higher skill level but it has been proven that empowering your team members builds a stronger workplace culture and brand loyalty and leads to a boost in long-term profitability. 

This is especially important at the moment when a large number of people are still worried about the future of their jobs and having the skills needed to meet the business’s needs as it continues to evolve to the new normal. By enabling and encouraging them to upskill you are showing that you are invested in them and this will go a long way to addressing the stresses they may be facing as well as mitigating any staff losses to new opportunities elsewhere.

How to upskill staff remotely

While it’s not possible to train teams in person at the moment, online courses can be just as beneficial in the long run. In most cases, these will be much cheaper than in-person courses because fewer resources are required to conduct them and are far more accessible. 

Online courses are often available 24/7 from any device, offering greater flexibility so can be scheduled around other responsibilities and commitments.  All employees need to start learning is a strong internet connection. 

What’s more, it doesn’t matter how tech-savvy they are when so many courses are very simple to navigate. Employees can decide what they want to learn and it allows them to choose courses tailored to their needs and interests.

It is also worth looking at the resources you may already have available to you and seeing how they can be utilised, ensuring staff can access existing training and development resources is easy if they’re uploaded to a shared digital workspace. Training materials can be repurposed by breaking content down into short videos or creating infographics.

Adopt a learning culture

Many businesses could benefit from following Google’s ‘20-per cent time’ approach, which encourages staff to spend at least 20% of their time working on projects that don’t immediately pay great dividends but might in the future — this is ultimately how Google News, Adsense, and Gmail came to be. Asking employees for feedback can help reveal what businesses may be lacking and what courses they would like to undertake. This way, the right opportunities can be provided.

We believe a strong team culture is one of the foundations of good business. Levelling up your existing employees is a big part of creating that atmosphere and will help you to retain and utilise the talent already within your organisation, and produce an environment that is enticing for the talent you still need to source externally.