What is Reskill and how can it help your business?

Reskilling is not a new concept. With rapid advancements in technology over the last few years, technical skills are in high demand and organisations must do what they can to remain competitive in the current market.

Focusing on employee development and staff skills training enables organisations to equip their workforce with the latest skills, effectively bridging skills gaps and fostering a team that’s ready for the future. In fact, 7 in 10 hiring managers say that they’d prefer to train their current employees for different roles rather than hire new ones.

Reskilling is all about preparing your workforce for the future. The EY 2024 Work Imagined Survey talks about the ‘Talent Advantage’. They explain that in order to build a Talent Advantage, employers must align strategies for agile skills building. Companies who achieve this talent advantage are:

• 7.8 x more likely to say their company has successfully navigated external pressures.

• 6.5 x more likely to say productivity has improved significantly in the past 2 years.

• 5.8 x more likely to say they are overperforming significantly in the current economic conditions.

So, how can your business unlock the benefits brought by employee training? Read on to find out.

> What is the difference between reskilling and upskilling?

Reskilling and upskilling are often used interchangeably, but while they are similar, they’re not quite the same. Both, however, focus on developing the skills of existing employees.

Reskilling is the training of employees to acquire new skills to allow them to transition into a different role. Whereas upskilling is about furthering existing skills to help with professional development.

Upskilling (role development)

• Equip your team with ‘T-shaped’ skills that boosts collaboration with others in different areas of expertise.

• Lift people with variable skills up to a baseline.

• Improve team performance with a shared knowledge of the latest industry knowledge.

Examples:

• Bring your whole organisation along on the transformational journey to adopt DevOps methodology.

• Ensure that no one is left behind in a landscape of constantly evolving AI machine learning.

Reskilling (role transition)

• Enable non-technical employees to move into technical roles.

• Shift internal talent into growing parts of the organisation.

• Tailor delivery for a fast or flexible delivery.

Examples:

• Transitioning from a customer service representative to someone running a technical help desk.

• Moving from a business analyst role to a data scientist.

> Why Reskill employees in your business?

Reskilling employees is no longer a choice, it’s an imperative. The Organisation for Cooperation and Development predicts that technology will transform over 1.1 billion jobs over the next decade, with AI and machine learning being behind many of these changes.

Reskilling employees shows that leaders are preparing their workforce for the future as it means their employees are more versatile.

How reskilling can benefit your organisation:

1. Employee loyalty and retention: Offering the opportunity to learn new skills shows that you’re invested in your employees’ career development. This can boost morale, reduce turnover, and strengthen organisational loyalty. McKinsey found that one of the main reasons for employees quitting was that they didn’t feel valued by their organisation.

2. Faster integration: Current employees are already familiar with your company’s processes, culture, and objectives, making them more likely to adapt quickly to new roles after reskilling.

3. Filling skills gaps due to tech innovation: As industries evolve, there may be new technical or soft skills your business needs. Reskilling can address these gaps, allowing you to mould existing talent into exactly what’s required.

4. Growth: Leverage the latest tech to create better products and services with up-skilled teams.

5. Retained knowledge: As AI and automation displaces roles, retain intellectual property by reskilling employees into new in demand areas.

> How can mthree help?

We can help you to take your team to the next level with our reskilling and upskilling programmes, known as ‘Reskill’. We have many training capabilities from Data & AI, Software Development, SRE & DevOps, Business & Banking right through to Leadership & Management.

How reskill works

1. Identify your skills gaps: Using expert analysis we can identify your organisation’s skills gaps. This allows us to create training programmes that are tailor-made to your specific business.

2. Expert-led instruction: Our instructors have 5+ years of industry experience and provide practical and relevant knowledge.

3. Outcomes driven: Our training aligns with predefined outcomes. Progress is tracked through assessments for clear career growth and development.

4. Boosts productivity: Over 60% of the training involves real-world activities, giving trainees role specific skills and knowledge, which boosts productivity within your team.

5. Flexibility and scale: Customise course content, location and delivery to meet your specific needs.

Reskilling and upskilling aren’t just about adapting to new technologies, they’re tools for business growth, resilience and employee satisfaction.

Find out more about how mthree can help reskill your organisation today.