How to Fix the Skills Gap in Your Organization
The skills gap continues to be a threat as the rise of hybrid and remote work persists. Christina Gialleli, director of people operations at Epignosis, discusses how L&D training can help close the gap
With over half of the global workforce slated to need new skills in the next five years, companies must address their skills gap now. Focusing on employee training significantly impacts productivity, growth, and company culture.
The skills gap is certainly not a new phenomenon, but with the rise of hybrid work making teamwork even more challenging, the gaps are now more pronounced. With the Great Resignation/Reshuffle still in progress, hemorrhaging talent will only exacerbate the issue further, turning it into a threat to your company’s economic recovery.
Tapping into the power of your L&D department is the most efficient way to address and overcome the skills gap. This will help you improve talent retention, employee engagement, company reputation, and overall company growth.
And with over half of the global workforce slated to need new skills in the next five years, according to the World Economic Forum, it’s never been a better time for companies to take a long, hard look at their current skills shortage. Planning for the future starts now.
Overcoming the Skills Gap
Employee training was always a part of any healthy company’s DNA. But for the longest time, employee training was mostly something that took place once or twice a year, during workshops and seminars, or via guest instructors that gave long lectures.
Some companies, of course, had already made the switch to online training, using an LMS as a hub for their content. But the switch to remote and hybrid work skyrocketed the adoption of such online training tech. The pandemic’s impact on the new world of work has echoed a need for companies to increase their L&D budgets to benefit both companies and their employees.
While switching to online training and increasing the training budget have made a big difference in accessibility, diversity of content delivery, and training engagement, it hasn’t eliminated the skills shortage.
According to a recent survey conducted by TalentLMS and SHRM, more than 50% of HR managers agree that their company is facing a skills gap. While 32% are overcoming this issue by hiring new employees and 17% by leveraging independent contractors/freelancers, 51% of HR managers surveyed are choosing to train existing employees instead.
Not only is training your existing team more sustainable than constantly hiring new talent or relying on freelancers, but it’s also a solid investment for your company’s future. You need employees who can learn and grow with you – employees who will want to rise vertically within the company and will facilitate in-house promotions.
Upskilling and reskilling are incremental in building new competencies among employees and dealing with skills shortages. According to the same TalentLMS/SHRM survey, half of HR leaders will provide their employees with upskilling (59%) and reskilling (55%) training in 2022.
See More: How to Perform a Skills Gap Analysis for the Construction Industry
The Most Important Skills Tech Workers Seek
Skills gaps manifest differently across industries. In the tech industry, where there are constantly new cutting-edge developments, technical skills gaps are more quickly and easily identified and of paramount importance to address.
But what do tech workers want to learn? Which are the skills they feel they need to master first?
The consensus seems to be a combination of new skills, so they can stay on top of what’s new and happening, and an opportunity to develop their existing skills. A TalentLMS and Workable survey found that the respondents placed technical skills related to their current role or project as most important (65%), followed by “technical skills related to emerging technologies” (60%).
Almost half of the respondents picked soft skills, such as communication, leadership, project management, and time management. oft skills, also known as power skills or people skills, affect every facet of the employee journey and how people work together. According to the LinkedIn 2019 Global Talent Report, 89% of recruiters claim that when a new hire doesn’t work out, it usually comes down to a lack of soft skills.
However, given the specifics of the tech industry, soft skills training should be balance with hard skills such as machine learning and AI, skills.
Benefits of Training for Employees and Employers
Training, especially reskilling and upskilling, seems to be the path towards closing the skills gap. But that’s not all employee training does.
The TalentLMS/SHRM survey on HR managers showed that training has a significant impact on various aspects of an organization – from productivity (90%) to growth (85%), to company culture (83%). We already know that an employee who feels confident in their role is more likely to perform better, believe in the company’s mission more, and be an integral part of its culture. But there’s also a tie to employee retention that’s important to highlight here: 86% of HR managers find training beneficial for the retention of employees. In the age of the Great Resignation, when retaining employees seems harder than ever, this data is eye-opening. Employees find training beneficial for their professional development (82%) and engagement at work/job satisfaction (75%). More than 3 out of 4 say they are more likely to stay with a company that offers continuous training – and 66% say training is beneficial for their loyalty to the company they work for.
Promoting from within after using training to fix the skills gap seems to be a great way for HR managers to maintain and nourish that employee company loyalty.
L&D Is the Powerhouse Investment
Focusing on your L&D department enables you to offer employees the skills they seek to excel in the workplace. Doubling down on training also benefits your entire organization by increasing the quality of company culture, performance, employee satisfaction, and loyalty. After, all, these aspects of your organization are what matters the most…
Why do you think fixing the skills gap is beneficial for your company? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We’d love to know!
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