Staying up-to-date with technological advancements is a great challenge for companies regardless of the type and size. While technology generates a lot of business opportunities, it also paves the way for skills gaps, specifically in healthcare, construction, and manufacturing industries, where the need for skilled employees is incredibly high.
In Singapore, the programs in the SkillsFuture Series offer comprehensive training and certification courses to both fresh graduates and busy professionals alike. The programs can provide industry-relevant training and help participants enhance their skill sets and take advantage of better employment opportunities. This initiative allows them to provide the skills companies are looking for in a competitive job market.
Smart organizations can further boost their bottom line and lessen some financial pains by investing in existing employees, especially their top talents. Stellar employees are hard to come by, so organizations need to know the importance of retaining these high-valued individuals. Given the increasing value of skill sets in the modern workplace, we’ll talk about the benefits of upskilling employees and what it means for the company and its workforce.
Improved employee retention
Hiring employees is expensive. According to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, the average cost per hire for a company is more than $4,000! This is a huge sum of money, especially if you’re managing hundreds of employees.
Reducing the hiring cost is not just limited to salary raises, competitive benefits, and flexible work schedules. You can do so by investing in upskilling efforts. Many employees today prefer to work in companies that provide them with adequate training opportunities. This makes them feel valued and appreciated, knowing their employers are willing to invest in their professional growth.
When your workforce does not receive appropriate training for their roles, they become less engaged and may start looking for other companies that invest time and money in providing relevant training. This is contrary to the belief that training does not affect turnover. Poor quality training during onboarding may give a negative impression of how you really value your employees. Including upskilling in your retention efforts will keep employees more engaged, competitive, and satisfied.
Increased employer reputation
Upskilling opportunities can set employers apart from the market competition in terms of talent search. Employers who provide relevant training opportunities increase their reputations as top employers of choice.
Today’s youngest generation of employees, particularly the millennials and Gen Zs, consider lack of career progression as the primary reason for leaving a job. This is critically important in this age where great talent is hard to find. Although you may be actively hiring applicants with tech skills, the fierce competition and limited talent supply can hinder your chances of finding the right employee for the job.
There’s a limited supply of prospective candidates out there, and hiring the best ones may cost a lot of money. For this reason, the best way to prevent these costs is to upskill your existing employees. The talent war has started, where there are too many vacancies but not enough qualified applicants. It’s better to upskill your existing talent and provide them with a clear career path. Without it, people will leave you. Upskilling prevents risks because you’re not recruiting unknown candidates.
Higher customer satisfaction
Here is a fact: upskilled employees bring in more satisfied customers. How? When employees feel satisfied and motivated with their job roles, they’re likely to generate better results for the organization. Better results lead to happy customers and pleased shareholders because of increased overall revenue and productivity.
When upskilling the workforce, you are offering them the most relevant and updated industry skills, knowledge, and practices. Having all these attributes helps employees provide better services and solutions to your clients. In turn, this will put you ahead of the competition by knowing how to meet all your clients’ needs.
Providing excellent service or experience to clients is necessary to win new clients or repeat business through case studies and word-of-mouth recommendations. With ever-changing corporate demands, high competition, and new technologies, continuous upskilling efforts will help your company stay competitive and keep pace. Remember, today’s skills will no longer match tomorrow’s demands, and even newly acquired skills and knowledge can quickly become obsolete.
There are many ways to drive your company to success, but upskilling should be your top priority. Investing in upskilling employees offers many opportunities and doesn’t require a huge fortune to reap all of its benefits. Take time in your upskilling efforts to help your company improve productivity, employee retention, and overall business growth.