How to Build a Successful Training/Upskilling Program for Your Workforce?

Due to constantly changing business environments, upskilling programs take pride of place at large multinationals and even start-ups to enhance their employees’ skillsets. Training programs also aid employers in improving efficiency and productivity, retaining top talent, and increasing revenue through optimum utilisation of resources.

Acquiring new talent for new roles could cost far more than just helping current employees upskill themselves. Thus, it becomes extremely vital for companies to have an effective upskilling program or training program in place.

So, how exactly do you build a successful upskilling program for your workforce? Let’s find out.

Identify Your Business Needs

Conduct a detailed study of the needs and requirements of your business, workforce, projected growth, and future plans. This way, you can see if future hiring needs can be offset by deploying training and development programs so that your employees can keep pace with changing job profiles.

Technology is advancing at such a searing pace that it is making entire job roles obsolete or redundant. As an employer, it’s in your best interest to foresee such situations and retain your best talent by helping them upskill themselves to square up to future challenges.

Otherwise, you may end up losing time and money to hire and train new employees.

Conduct Surveys For Training Programs

Make sure you take your employees into confidence before taking up an upskilling program or training program as a strategic intervention. Some employees may resist changes, while some may be motivated to learn new skills.

The best workaround is to float a survey amongst your employees. Inform them about the need to upgrade themselves to meet the varied challenges of a fast-changing job role and business landscape.

The survey could have questions to gauge the reaction of employees to such an upskilling program, and also how they would like to proceed with it. It could contain questions such as:

• Would you like to upskill yourself in your current domain, or try a new area of expertise?
• What mode of training would you prefer – online, offshore, or offline?
• Would you like to contribute towards the training program to upgrade yourself?

The third question of the survey is vital because when employees contribute to a training program, they demonstrate more active interest to learn and grow, rather than just do it to tick a checkbox.

Identify What Your Employees Want

Once you receive all the answers, aggregate the responses, and find out the interest of the employees, and their preferences in relation to the training and development program being planned.

Here, it is crucial you try to fulfil your employees’ choices as that would send them a strong positive message — that you are there for them as an employer and have their best interests in mind.

Match Them Up

The next step, naturally, is to see what training program is best suited to your employees based on the survey responses. This is so that every employee has the opportunity to upskill themselves in their field of expertise or aspiration.

It could be possible that an employee would like to move into a new domain, and try a completely different segment to move out of their comfort zone, or explore a completely new area of expertise altogether.

Encourage your employees here and let them know that you are supportive of their aspirations, within the constraints of the business.

Identify The Types Of Training Required

Undoubtedly, this is the most important step toward building a successful upskilling program for your workforce. It is vital to identify the types of training that could be best suited to upskill your employees.
Providing the choice of a correspondence versus a full-time course could help bring more employees into the net of upskilling. As a recruiter or employer, offer to sponsor fully or partly for such courses.

The employee could also upskill themselves with an offshore assignment and learn on the job. They could even try a digital or online course that would run parallelly with their regular work.
An upskilling program should be conceptualised in consensus with employees, not thrust upon them. Get their unwavering support to roll out a successful training and development program and meet future business challenges confidently.