From noticing challenges with tech adoption to seeing more unhappy customers, here are 10 answers to the question, “Can you share the most important signs that say it’s time to evaluate and improve your business’s upskilling/reskilling program?”
- Low Rate of Adoption for New Technologies
- Fewer Promotions Than External Hires
- Completion Rates Drop Year-on-Year
- Employees Are No Longer Benefiting
- Your Current Program No Longer Meets Team or Business Needs
- Tasks Get Monotonous
- Falling Market Share
- When Production Dips Following PTO for Certain Employees
- High Turnover Rate
- Customer Dissatisfaction
Low Rate of Adoption for New Technologies
One glaring issue you can look for is your adoption rate of new technologies or processes that can directly benefit your business.
For example, with the recent advent of AI development, is this something that your team is looking into regarding how it might benefit your internal processes?
Tracey Beveridge, HR Director, Personnel Checks
Fewer Promotions Than External Hires
When your reskilling or upskilling program needs to deliver the skills your business needs to get ahead of change, such as the competence to grow in a new direction, then you have an ineffective program.
Your business might be growing too fast, and your upskilling program is falling behind. Or, the focus of your program continues to miscalculate or fail to accurately predict which skills your company needs to be successful at its next level, meaning the program needs to be evolved to keep up with changing requirements.
Jon Torres, CEO, Jon Torres
Completion Rates Drop Year-on-Year
If you’re noticing a consistent drop year-to-year, then it’s time to take stock. This doesn’t have to be a major dip either, as any good upskilling/reskilling program should show a fairly steady rate of growth as word of mouth, career advancement opportunities via upskilling, and HR upskilling goals work their magic.
I recommend doing a regular skills versus offerings audit at the start of each year—ask your employees what they think they should learn and take that into account.
Kate Kandefer, CEO, SEOwind
Employees Are No Longer Benefiting
If you notice your employees are not keeping or applying the skills they have gained through your reskilling program, it might be time to reassess and strengthen the program.
You should regularly survey employees to gauge their satisfaction with the training materials and other aspects of the program. Doing so will help you identify any areas that need improvement and ensure that the program is providing real value for your employees.
Matt Teifke, CEO, Teifke Real Estate
Your Current Program No Longer Meets Team or Business Needs
If you notice your team is not displaying the desired skills and knowledge, then it may be a sign that your upskilling/reskilling program is not providing adequate learning opportunities.
It could be a sign that employees are not being given access to the right resources or that the program is outdated and needs to be updated with more modern approaches. Additionally, if you find that your business is struggling to keep up with industry trends or demands, then it may be time to evaluate and improve your existing program.
Michael Dadashi, CEO, Infinite Recovery
Tasks Get Monotonous
When the skills training of your employees gets stale and monotonous, that’s a sign it’s time to evaluate and upgrade the upskilling/reskilling program. From my experience working with businesses of all shapes and sizes, once a program becomes too comfortable for employees and their work gets bogged down in repetition, there is little room for them or your business to grow.
Thankfully, upskilling and reskilling initiatives—which develop an employee’s skill set with specialized training—are incredibly powerful tools when used correctly. Their primary benefit is allowing individual workers to learn new skills quickly while increasing efficiency and output at their job, leading to more productivity throughout the entire organization.
Whenever it seems like the same tasks are being completed using the same methods each day, that’s a sign that taking time to review and improve your current upskilling/reskilling plan will pay off in spades.
Daniel Pfeffer, CEO, Scrape Network
Falling Market Share
Falling market share can be one of the biggest signs that it’s time to evaluate and improve your business’s upskilling/reskilling program.
When I worked for a small digital media company, we had to constantly update our skills as new technology became available. This enabled us to stay aware of our competitors; however, when there was a decline in the company’s market share, I knew it was time to hit the reset button on our upskilling/reskilling program and actively prioritize getting everyone up-to-date with industry changes.
Joe Troyer, CEO and Growth Advisor, Digital Triggers
When Production Dips Following PTO for Certain Employees
This is a clear signal that your organization is too dependent on certain employees or specific skills that those employees possess. As such, make sure that you regularly take time and review production levels following the absence of employees in different positions.
If you notice an unusual gap in production or efficiency, it’s likely a signal that you should implement an upskilling program within your organization so that you always have an immediate backup plan in case one or two key employees ever have an emergency and need to take extended time off.
Janelle Owens, Human Resources Director, Guide2Fluency
High Turnover Rate
If employees do not feel adequately equipped to perform their job duties or feel that there is a lack of opportunity for growth and development within the company, they may become disengaged and seek opportunities elsewhere.
By evaluating and improving your upskilling/reskilling program, you can show your employees that you value their professional development and are committed to helping them grow within the company. This can help improve retention rates and boost employee morale, which can ultimately lead to increased productivity and profitability for the business.
Michał Pożoga, Vice President of Marketing, ConQuest Consulting
Customer Dissatisfaction
A decrease in online ratings, negative reviews from customers, or even an uptick in returns of products or services that your business provides can evidence this.
Customer feedback is essential to improving any business program, and using customer dissatisfaction as a sign for evaluating upskilling/reskilling programs can help you ensure that your employees are consistently kept up-to-date on the changing demands of the market.
Through regular evaluation and attentive response to customer dissatisfaction, businesses can ensure they are staying ahead of their competitors while better meeting the needs of their customers.
Umair Jadoon, Project Manager, Solar Panel Installation