We all know that there is intense competition for top talent in the market. How do you make your organization a top workplace destination for those talented professionals seeking to build their careers? Well, the answer is in the question.

People want to BUILD a career. They know that they need to be continuous learners to stay up-to-date on leading practices, adapt to new technology, leverage their strengths, build new skills, and stay relevant. Organizations that offer career development and upskilling opportunities have a competitive edge over those that don’t.

These are the three virtues that business management author Patrick Lencioni describes as the characteristics of an ideal team player:

• Humble: they know that they don’t know everything
• Hungry: they want to learn and grow and push themselves, often investing in themselves along the way
• Smart: they will take advantage of the opportunities presented, soak up the new information, and be strategic about how they pursue learning and development

The ideal employee has commitment and drive, and if challenged, will gladly accept opportunities to develop and grow so he or she can be tapped to take on new assignments or be ready for that promotion. These employees appreciate that leadership is playing the long game, see the potential, and are willing to invest in them.

We are constantly adapting to a rapidly changing world. Amid new technology and automation, there is widespread adoption of AI, and we are in a global world that presents its own unique challenges and opportunities. With the pandemic, workforce shifts, mass retirements, remote work, and global recessions, we need to retain the talented team that we built.

Strategic Pathways

Upskilling is training workers to expand their current skillset so they can grow and take on new responsibilities in their current path. Think of climbing the proverbial career ladder.

Reskilling is teaching employees to learn new skills, perhaps in an adjacent career path or even a totally new career. This is the jungle gym approach; often it’s lateral versus upward. Both paths are necessary to ensure succession planning and that there is a trained pipeline ready to meet the company’s needs.

Companies that do this well implement a long-term strategy that involves identifying the skills needed and assessing where there are gaps. This requires dedicating resources to create career pathways, tracking transferable skills, and offering learning opportunities.

Forbes cites several studies supporting upskilling and reskilling. “McKinsey found that one of the main factors employees cited as a reason for quitting was that they didn’t feel valued by their organizations or their managers, adding that ‘a primary driver of quitting is that employees do not have opportunities to learn new things or find their work interesting or challenging.’ Gallup-Amazon research stated that 48% of workers in the United States would be willing to switch jobs if offered skills training opportunities and 65% of employees believe employer-provided upskilling is very important when evaluating a potential new job.” This underscores the demand for employers to actively invest in their teams.

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