How to Build Upskilling Programs That Empower Employees and Fuel Company Growth
Imagine a team that never stops learning. Now, pair that with a company that's forever evolving. Sound like a dream? It's not. It's the power of upskilling programs.
Upskilling programs are becoming necessary for modern businesses: the professional development of existing employees is often more effective and cost-effective than hiring top talent.
This article will:
- Illustrate the anatomy of effective upskilling programs.
- Teach you how to craft a program that empowers every team member from the ground up.
- Explain the value of upskilling and reskilling programs as a catalyst for company growth.
🧩 What are the key components of an effective upskilling program?
An upskilling program is an educational or training initiative that teaches employees new skills or enhances their current ones, enabling them to perform their roles more effectively or transition into new roles in demand within the organization.
Upskilling aims to bridge the gap between existing skills and those required to meet current or future business objectives.
As industries evolve and technologies advance, upskilling programs ensure that the workforce remains competent, competitive, and aligned with the organization's strategic direction.
🚨 Equipping employees with the latest skills and knowledge will drive innovation, enhance productivity, and position a company for sustained growth in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
Such programs can encompass a variety of formats, including:
- workshops;
- online courses;
- on-the-job training;
- mentorship opportunities.
It is hard to overstate the value of a culture of learning in any company. James Cash Penney, founder of JCPenney, famously said, "No company can afford not to move forward. It may be at the top of the heap today but at the bottom of the heap tomorrow, if it doesn't."
A surefire way for a company to grow and thrive is if its employees grow and thrive.
Here are some important factors to consider before you get started.
Needs assessment: Skill gap analysis
Before reaching your goals, you need to know where to start. A skill gap analysis gauges current skills and competencies and compares them to where you want or need them.
A skill gap analysis can examine the entire company or any subset down an individual.
For example, you might want to determine what percentage of your employees use AI software proficiently.
Or you may want to see how many of your copywriters are proficient with any AI writing tool. Or you may simply want to see if Jim, your web designer, has any experience with using AI to speed up web page building.
➡️ Explore the top hard skills and must-have soft skills for the modern workplace before creating your priority list.
Suppose your goal is for everyone in your organization to familiarize themselves with AI tools to make them more efficient. In that case, the first step is to see who needs training and how much. That is what happens when you identify skill gaps.
Personalized learning paths
One of the main reasons traditional forms of training are unengaging and ineffective is they lack personalization. Not everyone learns the same way, so assuming a video or book will provide all the information needed to learn a new skill is a pipe dream.
Personalized training ensures no one is wasting time learning something they already know, and everyone can learn in their preferred way.
You might offer a blend of video training, group workshops, and self-guided training guidelines. This way, everyone can learn at their own pace rather than interrupting the day with a company-wide conference meeting.
Practical training activities
While book learning has its place, on-the-job training shows that theory alone isn't enough. Practical training activities are vital to teaching new skills and ensuring knowledge sticks.
This might look like hands-on training where employees put these skills to use or an assessment after completing theoretical training.
💡 Tip: You could even design training like a game or friendly competition with prizes to boost learning engagement.
In any case, if you want to ensure your employees learn new skills, they need to apply them practically to build confidence via competency-based learning.
The 70-20-10 learning model is based on the idea that experimental and social learning are must-have elements of any training program.
Feedback mechanisms
In the world of people operations, you can never have too much feedback. For upskilling programs, you want feedback flowing in every direction.
Of course, providing feedback to those participating in the program is helpful to see that everyone is on the right track and motivating them to grow, but their feedback is also essential.
Your upskilling program will constantly evolve to meet new needs and optimize results. To this end, receiving feedback from participants about what is working and what can be improved will help you strengthen the program for the future.
➡️ Find out what makes feedback effective and how to use it.
🪜 How to build a successful upskilling program in 8 steps
We have broken down the core components of successful training initiatives so you can build a strong foundation for your organization that promotes learning and career development strategies.
The sections below follow a step-by-step framework for effective upskilling programs.
Select skills
To design an effective upskilling program, an obvious first step is determining which skills you want to focus on. You can approach this task from a company-wide scale or by focusing on an individual.
For example, you may see coming changes in the industry and ways your workforce needs to change to stay ahead. From there, you can define the required skills in your company and work on a program that will add those capabilities. An example for many companies was training employees on remote work software during COVID-19.
Another approach focuses on upskilling individuals according to a competency development plan.
For example, you might have an HR generalist who is excellent at creating job ads and onboarding employees but inexperienced at interviews. By identifying interviewing as a prime upskilling opportunity for that individual, you can increase the mastery of their role.
By exploring what skills your company and its individuals need to succeed, you may also uncover unneeded skills or roles.
Suppose you have a lot of human resources employees interviewing every new candidate. In that case, you may realize some of those interviews are redundant and streamline your process to only include your best interviewers. This could even lead to eliminating redundant positions or restructuring your workforce for better efficiency.
Identify training needs
Once you know which skills you want to focus on and for whom, it is time to figure out how best to provide that training.
For example, an HR person can improve their interview skills by conducting mock interviews with coworkers. This exercise will require little training material or a budget, but it will take some time for those participating.
In other cases, upskilling may require training materials, paid courses, hiring a speaker, travel and convention expenses, or even community college degrees or training certificates.
Identifying what you need and how costly upskilling will be is a sensible step to ensure your program is reasonable and offers justifiable ROI.
Define learning objectives
Now that you know which skills you want to acquire and how to make that happen, you should set goals for individuals or as appropriate for the scale of your program.
For example, you may want everyone in your human resources department to have experience and be comfortable interviewing new hires.
Learning objectives can also be quantifiable, such as achieving a particular certification or hitting a specific performance metric.
While goals can be flexible and adjusted as needed, defining them upfront provides direction and clarity for all involved.
Align training and business goals
Teaching employees new skills is great, but they will only impact the company's success if they are relevant to company initiatives and big-picture objectives. Your upskilling program should have direction and purpose beyond just learning for the sake of learning.
How do you align your upskilling program with business goals?
You can start by looping executives and stakeholders in to offer their input and ideas. These influential members of your organization likely have invaluable insight into the outlook of your industry and future trends, which will help you identify relevant skills to start building now.
A failing of many traditional forms of on-the-job education is it simply becomes training for the sake of training, with little ROI. From the beginning stages of skill gap analysis and selection, a forward-looking plan is vital to reaping the benefits of your hard work.
Set success metrics
It's not enough to simply pick skills and start learning about them. Setting mastery goals according to your needs ensures everyone gets enough training but doesn't spend too much time on a single skill with diminishing returns.
For example, through a new mentorship initiative, a sales department may increase their sales goals for all employees by 10% by year's end. Since mentorship will take time away from the most productive or senior members of the sales team, it is vital to track the progress and effectiveness of the program.
If the program is successful, the increase in sales from newer salespeople will provide positive ROI in the immediate and distant future.
Setting success metrics motivates those involved in the program. It helps sell upskilling programs to shareholders and anyone who doesn't readily accept change.
Plan training methods
Knowing which skills to target, who should learn them, and what level of mastery is required is the easy part of designing an upskilling program.
Putting those theoretical plans into action requires concrete training planning to provide the knowledge and skills needed for meaningful results.
These methods will vary considerably based on the skills being taught, and there should also be multiple paths to acquire said skills whenever possible to appeal to different types of students.
Try to estimate your needs and a realistic training budget before diving in.
Monitor progress
Once training has begun, it is vital to monitor the progress of each employee involved. Setting milestones and tracking trends will allow you to predict who will achieve the success metrics and who may need additional assistance.
Regular check-ins and real-time progress monitoring will allow you to adjust the program as needed and ensure everyone succeeds without undue pressure or frustration in addition to their core responsibilities.
Evaluate outcomes
As new skills are learned, and success metrics are achieved, it is important to celebrate employee successes and collect feedback about the program. These insights will provide the building blocks of a culture of learning within your organization, motivate employees to pursue upskilling, and offer insight into how to improve the program in the future.
In cases where employees don't achieve their goals, determine what obstacles got in the way and how to overcome or circumvent them.
Don't see these shortcomings as a failure, but instead, an opportunity to learn about your employees and find a solution that optimizes their value to the company, such as further training or reassignment to another department.
Use what you learn to improve your upskilling program and start the cycle again, applying what you learn to enhance effectiveness!
➡️ Learn how to measure training effectiveness to improve results and calculate ROI.
🏢 2 Inspirational upskilling program examples
Upskilling isn't just a nice idea or a PR move.
Big companies invest big money in helping their workforce grow, whether it be Amazon's $1.2 billion upskilling initiative or Boston Consulting Group's employee-centric growth strategy.
Below is a closer look at these real-world examples as proof of concept. These companies have implemented effective upskilling and reskilling programs and continue investing heavily to ensure future success.
➡️ Discover more examples of companies that are true learning organizations.
Amazon's Upskilling 2025 pledge
Near the end of 2021, Amazon pledged $1.2 billion for training programs and higher education for over a quarter million of their employees.
Again, this isn't just a feel-good act of charity. It is an industry leader investing heavily in their workforce to prepare for the future.
Tuition reimbursement and on-the-job training programs are included. The standout aspect of this initiative is teaching technical skills through software and robotics courses.
As Amazon pursues automation of their warehouse management, they need technicians who can maintain and repair their equipment. Rather than competing for in-demand specialists on the job market, Amazon is turning inward and transforming their front-line employees into specialists through intensive upskilling.
This is the perfect example of a specific and actionable upskilling program that is beneficial and arguably necessary for the company. By aligning its upskilling program with the company goal of increasing automation, Amazon is paving the way for a more capable and profitable future not reliant on the limited supply of skilled workers on the job market.
➡️ Check out our in-depth analysis of employee development at Amazon.
BCG's learning-centric business model
Boston Consulting Group is a massive global company built around the idea of a social learning workplace:
- Employees grow with support from the company and their peers.
- Mentors grow by helping others.
- The company grows by creating a magnetic work environment that values its staff's personal growth and well-being.
➡️ Read our in-depth case study of employee development at BCG.
This culture of growth and learning is infused into every facet of the company, which is plain to see from this excerpt on their Impact & Commitments page:
"Guided by the belief that we ourselves grow by growing others, we operate as a school for talent to shape the leaders, thinkers, and entrepreneurs of tomorrow."
BCG fully embraces self-guided learning and provides ample resources for its employees to pursue their interests while acquiring knowledge that will add value to the company. This is evidenced by their generous tuition reimbursement program, which covers up to two years of full tuition for graduate studies and living expenses at $129,000 per person on average!
Such a program has helped BCG earn the title of #1 Large Company for Career Growth in 2021 and 2022 and the benefit of exceptional employee satisfaction, retention, and talent acquisition.
➡️ Future-proof your business by upskilling your people. With Zavvy
No business wants to stand still. For a company to continue to grow, its people must continue growing. Upskilling is just that: supporting employee growth so your workforce is more versatile, capable, and prepared for the future.
At Zavvy, we believe that a company succeeds when its people flourish. We're not just a platform. We're the driving force that helps your employees unleash their full potential.
Whether you need skills matrix software to help you prioritize the goals of your upskilling program, a learning experience platform (LXP) to help you deliver training material effortlessly or top-notch employee development software that charts personalized growth paths, Zavvy has you covered.
But we're not stopping there – we also offer our feedback software, a game-changer in enhancing employee performance and fine-tuning development strategies.
Equip your workforce with the skills they need to conquer the future – with Zavvy by your side, growth is the only direction you'll know.
📅 Schedule a free demo to claim your spot on our calendar!
❓ FAQs
What is upskilling for the future of work?
Upskilling is simply the act of learning additional skills. Professionals from all walks of life who actively pursue new knowledge and abilities position themselves much more competitively in the job market, including advancement at their current company.
The landscape for knowledge workers is rapidly changing as companies embrace new technology advances such as AI and industry changes such as the shift to remote work. Professionals who can adapt to industry changes and learn about emerging technologies are precious to companies that want to stay at the forefront of their market.
What is an upskilling strategy?
Upskilling strategy generally refers to tactics used by management to encourage their workforce to learn new skills. These strategies aim to enhance employee engagement so employee learning is more effective and efficient without wasting resources on generic training seminars.
People operations can promote upskilling with personalized training programs that utilize gamification and offer incentives to learn. Many classic HR strategies, such as mentorship programs, feedback surveys, and data-driven training, can also be used for strategic upskilling.
How can I measure the effectiveness of an upskilling program?
The simple answer is to measure the skill growth of the target audience. Any upskilling program aims to provide employees with new knowledge and abilities that make them more capable in their current position or more qualified for the role they are pursuing.
How you measure their skill levels and mastery of different competencies will depend on which skills are being targeted. This could be as simple as having individuals earn a certification or more nebulous, such as improving leadership skills. More common examples include improving performance by learning new skills that will help them in their role.