What is Upskilling, and why do you need it?

We live in a world where technology is rapidly evolving. By and by, new tools spring up in the marketplace. These are usually inevitable and necessary developments that would require learning to master. While they sound great, these new tools would require new skills, causing a skill gap in the job market. This is where upskilling comes in. 

So what exactly is upskilling? 

Upskilling can be defined as the process of learning new skills in the competitive market through extra training. Training can be in different forms; boot camps, online courses, workshops, etc. Sometimes, upskilling is done by employers who wanted their employees to stay relevant in the market. Other times, individuals take the balls in their hands by self-learning. 

In the world of Scrum, for instance, upskilling would involve following the certification path list below. 

• Certified Scrum Master
• Certified Product Owner Product (CSPO)
• Advanced Certified Scrum Master (ACSM)
• Advanced Certified Product Owner (ASPO)
• Certified Scrum Professional – Scrum Master (CSP-SM)
• Certified Scrum Professional – Product Owner (CSP-PO)

Without a doubt, upskilling is highly recommended to both employers and employees. As earlier mentioned, it helps the company fill the skill gap technology advancement creates. This gives you a competitive advantage over your peers. Let me give a simple example. The COVID-19 pandemic created the need for businesses to operate from home. Meetings were held in front of PCs, and seminars fast became webinars. The change created the need to master online conference service tools such as Zoom and Google Meet. Imagine not knowing how to host a meeting on Zoom or schedule a meeting on Google Meet. Such a company would experience a severe plummet in their operations and, by extension, their revenue. 

Going forward, let’s discuss some key reasons why you need to upskill. We would begin with its benefits for employers. 

Benefits of Upskilling for Employers

1. Improve the morale and confidence of employees: As an employer, upskilling your employees gives them the right confidence they need for optimum performance at work. In addition, by upskilling them, you assure them that you care about their career growth, which makes them excited about their work and deliver better results. 
2. Improves retention of employees: No one wishes to leave an environment where they know they are growing. Since they are up-to-speed with skills required in the market, there is no pressing need to leave. This gives you a solid workforce where everyone understands their roles and can work effectively as a team. 
3. Better customer satisfaction: The by-product of a good and healthy working environment is customer satisfaction. When the workers are excited about their job, they feed off this positive energy to clients and customers. Since they are constantly upskilling, they become highly proficient at what they do. This would translate to the client’s willingness to even pay more. 
4. Attract good talents: Studies have shown that the major challenge of HR managers lies in hiring the right persons for the job. In a research by SHRM, there is a 75% shortage of the right candidate for job openings. But if your business is flourishing and the workforce is happy, you will naturally attract the right people. Your employers become brand advocates and tell others about your business effortlessly. In the long run, there is a wide pool of talent waiting for the next opening in your business. And since upskilling make the business thrive, you get even more good talent to reinforce the workforce. It is an upward trend for the business from then on. 

Benefits of Upskilling Yourself

1. Set yourself up for promotion: As a general rule of thumb, companies prefer to hire from within their organization, except there is no candidate to fit in the position. This means that upskilling positions you for higher responsibilities in the organization when the need arises. As a result, you can easily go up the ladder while staying in one company. 
2. You become more productive: Most times, difficult tasks are not really difficult. On the contrary, it is you who lack the required skill to perform the task efficiently. Upskilling allows you to be more valuable to yourself as well as becoming better at what you do. 
3. Discover new passions: We have a flair for many things but won’t know until we give it a shot. Upskilling gives you the opportunity of threading new grounds. Who knows? You may be uncovering your new passion in the process. 
4. Connect with like minds: Upskilling helps you connect with other people and build a solid relationship with like minds. Many times, it is these connections that are the gateway to your next job or promotion. So the network you build in those classes, workshops and training is invaluable. 

To conclude, it is glaring that upskilling is a win-win situation for both employers and employees. It needs to be embraced to have a better working experience and augmented result. If you are serious about upskilling, check out our online certification training and be sure to enroll for one.