Skill development is an important term for every individual now. Although the company might implement such programs for employees, problems can occur when employees are reluctant to accept them. The employees are not so eager to pursue such programs because they have their growth trajectory already planned in their minds. They might have planned to join a bigger company. Also, the company might implement a skill development program, but the employees might refuse to participate in it. 

The employees might also decide to do upskilling on their own terms without getting any contribution from the company. This happens when the employee is completely acquainted with his skill development. But this is often not the case because he is not aware of his goals.

The company can guide him on how to attain such goals through upskilling. So, a company can support an employee in his skill development initiatives by ensuring that he knows what to learn to fulfill his career-related aspirations.

The L&D group has experience in suggesting the right training strategy for upskilling an employee. The employees must also have an interest in upskilling themselves because if they don’t then the company is just wasting money on them. They might not be willing to learn any new skills. A company can make sure its skill development programs are successful by following these steps:

• Ensure mistakes of the past are not repeated:

The L&D team must ensure that it has done considerable research on what employees did for their upskilling in the past. It can reveal a wealth of information to the team because it can cover why such programs didn’t strike a chord with the employees. The L&D team gains a complete idea of what was wrong in the prior skill development program, whether it was not using the right technique or whether the material was outdated.

So, in the new program, they can avoid all such loopholes. The L&D team can check the need analyses on which such older programs were based and detect what such programs did not contain. It’s because the programs didn’t follow the needs analysis correctly. If they had, they might not have missed the employees’ needs.

• Use mentoring:

Mentoring can aid a company in uncovering an employee’s skill development needs. When an employee approaches a mentor, he has a guide who knows how to solve his troubles. The mentee can resolve his/her problems through the mentor by utilizing his knowledge and experience.

Mentoring is useful for a company in discovering what kind of skill development is needed by an employee. Mentors can help him forge a plan for growth and development in his career. The employee can hence be soon on the right skill development path and get promoted within his company.

• Such development must happen on a company-wide scale

The L&D teams also need to understand that upskilling must happen on a large scale. It should not be restricted to a specific department. When the company understands such initiatives need to happen throughout the organization, they tend to encourage growth-based psychology.

Companies have to understand that they can’t ignore any department when it comes to upskilling because all the employees need to be agile. When the company has focussed well on skill development, it can handle any changes in the business environment involving technologies. It can make sure that it does not lose out to competitors because of a delayed response to changes in market conditions. 

The skill development programs need to take into account an entire organization because then the trained employees can have better skills and be more adept at handling challenges. They can easily understand the jobs of other departments which leads to a better collaboration with them.

Skill development is necessary for both junior-level employees so that they don’t resign from their jobs. On the other hand, it’s also important for top-level employees so they can be trained for future leadership.

Advantages of skill development:

• Compliance training:

Companies can’t ignore the need for skill development in different departments because compliance regulations need to be taken care of.

The employees can’t be expected to commit mistakes when they have been trained properly in the latest rules.

• Better image:

Companies that focus on skill development often create a positive image for themselves in the eyes of investors and clients. With their better trustworthiness, they are likely to create a better name for themselves in the market. When a company focuses on a bigger skill development program, then it can ensure that there are no problems at any level of the organization.

• Technical changes:

It’s because all the employees are competent enough to do their jobs after training. In today’s times, the older ways of an organization’s functioning are changing due to technology taking over. Hence, skill development needs to happen in sales, marketing, finance, and HR to update employees.