PEOPLE | UPSKILLING
Upskilling as a talent strategy Not only do digital upskilling resources give employees the opportunity to grow and foster a shared culture and vision within an organisation , says Suneet , they also allow companies to train workers from a wide range of educational backgrounds , job titles and geographies to fill urgent business needs , while further empowering their people to explore new areas they may not have considered for themselves .
Cyber upskilling is a case in point . PwC ’ s 2023 Digital Trust Insights Survey found that more than half of CISOs and CIOs recognise that talent attrition is a problem and about 40 % are monitoring it closely . “ Instead of relying solely on finding skilled cyber workers , we ’ ve seen many companies use digital upskilling to create a cybersecurity
“ Reskilling efforts need to be versatile and personalised to each employee ’ s background and current experience – it ’ s not a one-size-fits-all approach . If businesses want to get the results they intend , personalisation is a key to a return on investment ”
Suneet Dua Products & Technology Chief Growth Officer at PwC workforce from amongst their existing employees to stretch their IT personnel .”
Suneet says that at PwC they have noticed first-hand just how powerful upskilling can be , not only as a business operations strategy , but also as a retention strategy tool to keep our people happy , challenged and engaged .
Greg acknowledges the same and says this is particularly relevant given the current labour market “ where highly-skilled individuals are both scarce and immensely valuable as organisations continue to face resource constraints .” And with Gallup reporting that 50 % of the US workforce are ‘ quiet-quitting ’, and hiring freezes on the rise , employees are increasingly looking for organisations to invest in their career growth .
“ With the right programs , organisations can experience less turnover , bridge skills gaps of existing talent , achieve higher productivity , and save money , all while investing in their employees ,” says Greg – pointing to Udemy Business , which facilitates firms with digital upskilling programs that seamlessly integrate into employees ’ flow of work , allowing them to develop their careers while simultaneously making progress toward business objectives .
After integrating Udemy Business into their flow of work in an effort to upskill their employees , Booz Allen Hamilton unlocked talent retention and productivity with 65 % of learners indicating that the platform had a positive impact on productivity . Additionally , the firm experienced a 93 % retention rate for graduates of the program , a 9 % increase over non-graduates .
Udacity ’ s Sarah tells Business Chief that , as demand for digital skills grows , classic hiring strategies simply won ’ t stand up to the intense competition to recruit and onboard tech talent – there simply aren ’ t enough digitally skilled candidates to fill the roles .
44 January 2023