Upskilling 101: How to Add Value to Your Team’s Experience Through Skills-Based Training

Upskilling training is the best and most effective way to improve your team’s productivity, boost your company’s competitiveness in the market, and add value to the employee experience.

Upskilling is all about doing the most with the resources (talent) you already have on hand. Consider it a critical part of your employee retention program, as it’s the internally focused equivalent of a customer success program. Upskilling makes your employees more effective at their work and helps them stay engaged with the company’s mission.

According to research from SHRM, 76% of employees say they are more likely to stay with a company that offers continuous training.

Of course, upskilling training is more than just a flashy benefit that companies can offer to attract and retain talent. In fact, it’s become an essential part of the modern workplace. With rapid rates of turnover and an increasing number of workers switching fields in the last handful of years, companies have had to do more with less. Companies now rely on cross-functional teams and employees who can adapt and shift to meet needs within the workplace as they arise.

Here’s everything you need to know about adding value to your team’s experience through skills-based training.

What is upskilling?

Upskilling is the process of teaching employees, sales teams, partners, and customers new skills. It can include improving existing skills to bring them to a higher level or adding new skills to provide further depth and scope to a specific skill set.

Upskilling training is one part of the corporate training equation and should be used in conjunction with onboarding training, sales training, and other learning initiatives. Many of the same training principles that apply to corporate learning and development also apply to upskilling training, like the importance of creating engaging training experiences and tailoring the learning experience to each learner.

How is upskilling different from reskilling?

Upskilling training builds on and improves existing skills by adding new ones that are relevant to the learner’s role. Team members should take upskilling courses to advance to the next level in their field or to improve their skill sets overall by adding new or additional competencies.

Reskilling, in contrast, refers to training that prepares an employee for a new or alternate role that is outside of their existing skill set. In a reskilling program, team members learn a new skill set that applies to a different field or department. In the context of reskilling, the learner has no previous background in that specific set of skills.

Reskilling is more common in business restructuring or when preparing employees for cross-functional roles. Upskilling training, on the other hand, is relevant for any business that hopes to help its employees improve and grow in their existing roles or departments.

What makes an effective upskilling strategy?

An effective upskilling training strategy should be accessible and personalized.

Accessibility refers to the learner’s ability to participate, engage with, and reap the benefits of a training program. Every training strategy—whether upskilling, reskilling, onboarding, or others—will fail if the learner is not at the center. When companies neglect to create training programs that are accessible for their teams, learners are less likely to engage, and the training is either less effective or ineffective overall.

Second, personalization is the key to an effective upskilling strategy because personalization makes it possible for companies to deliver a relevant and ongoing learning experience to each team member. This ensures that learning goals can be met across the organization without making employees take courses that contain content that isn’t relevant to their training goals.

How can upskilling impact business operations and company culture?

Upskilling training can improve business operations and company culture by adding value to the employee experience.

First and foremost, upskilling makes your team more competent. By investing in your team’s skills, you can improve their effectiveness at work and create a cross-functional team that’s adaptable and even more innovative.

Improving the employee experience correlates directly to business outcomes like improved efficiency, reduced costs, and a creator degree of competitiveness. And the ROI of your training program can increase exponentially depending on the technology that you use to train your learners. A digital LMS software makes training more streamlined and even more effective by automatically distributing personalized learning opportunities to each team member and tracking and measuring training completion automatically.

Additionally, an upskilling training program can improve company culture by showing your employees that you value their contributions and want to contribute to their professional growth. A culture of learning can encourage curiosity, creativity, and innovation among your employees. Additionally, if you use digital training features like LMS gamification or live coaching sessions, you give your employees an opportunity to connect with each other at work as part of learning.

What is the best upskilling platform?

A digital LMS is the best upskilling platform because it delivers a cohesive, engaging learning experience for every learner. Upskilling is a critical part of a healthy corporate learning and development ecosystem, and it must coincide with other ongoing training initiatives like compliance training and onboarding.

In order to get your employees to buy in to an upskilling training program, you should ensure that it is accessible and personalized. With a digital LMS platform, these objectives are attainable. A digital LMS streamlines upskilling training by providing a user-centered learning experience that delivers tailored learning experiences to every member of your team, whether you have 1,000 employees or 100,000.

LMS features for upskilling

An LMS platform is the tool of choice for companies looking to create effective, engaging upskilling training programs. There are a handful of LMS features that are essential for getting the most out of your skills-driven training initiatives.

LMS Mobile App

With a mobile LMS app, learners can engage with training anytime and anywhere. If you want to keep your remote and hybrid teams engaged, an LMS mobile app is essential.

LMS Personalization

Using the power of AI, companies can deliver personalized learning experiences through the ExpertusONE LMS platform. This way, learners are provided with courses that are relevant to their training needs.

LMS Salesforce Integration

Looking to upskill your sales team? You need an LMS app for Salesforce so that you can connect critical learning data to clear sales objectives.

LMS Meetings

Sometimes the human touch is essential in the learning process. Improve upskilling outcomes with an LMS that provides opportunities for live meetings, so you can coach your team, conduct one-on-one training sessions, or host live group meetings to double down on important subjects.

LMS Data Analytics

Measuring the impact of your upskilling training program is the only way to determine if it’s effective. Look for an LMS platform with integrated data analytics, so you can understand whether your program is effective for learners.

LMS Performance Observation Checklist

With an Observation Checklist, you can measure your team’s progress toward specific skills and identify knowledge gaps for future training.

LMS Authoring Tool

Make your upskilling program engaging and interesting for your teams by adding interactive training elements. With a rapid authoring LMS tool, managers can add engaging training content like polls and quizzes to courses to improve engagement.

Ready to create an upskilling program at your company? The ExpertusONE LMS platform is the best platform to serve your company’s training needs. Contact us today for a free demo.