How to Easily Equip Employees with New Skills

Employee disengagement is an ongoing problem that no one seems to have the solution for. Just 32 percent of Americans are engaged at work.¹ Also, engagement declines with each year that an employee spends with a company.
“While 82.3% of employees are engaged in their inaugural year, that number drops to 74.8% in year two and 73.3% in years three through five,” wrote a contributor to Quantum Workplace.² “Organizations must be intentional about keeping their employees engaged.”
One way to be intentional about engaging employees is to provide training opportunities that equip them with skills that increase competitiveness and professional value.

Why Upskilling Staff Should Be Your Company’s Top Priority

Upskilling employees should be a priority for every company. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Upskilling staff increases employee satisfaction. In fact, 68 percent of employees believe training and development is the most important workplace policy. Your team members especially want to gain digital skills.³
2. Upskilling staff sets the habit of learning. When corporate learning becomes habitual, a continuous learning culture is developed. This type of culture normalizes learning and makes training readily available. Enabling employees to learn in the flow of work promotes habitual learning.
3. Upskilling staff reduces employee churn. Forty percent of employees who are poorly trained leave their job within one year, per Clear Company.⁴ “These employees cited lack of skills training and development as the main reasons they chose to voluntarily leave their positions.” Upskilling staff goes a long way toward reducing turnover.

Engage Your Employees by Offering Training for New Skills

For many employees, the idea of gaining a new skill set is overwhelming. Upskilling can be a fuzzy, complicated concept if not clearly defined. To make the upskilling process obvious and easy to participate in, focus on equipping staff with one new skill per month.
EdCast can get your employees on board with learning a monthly skill by creating and promoting a dedicated learning pathway of your choosing. The pathway can address just about any skill, i.e. cybersecurity, digital transformation, AI, ect. A learning pathway also:

• Can be promoted in weekly email digests
• Consists of the most current, relevant pieces of training content
• Provides proof of certification and a badge of completion

A custom learning pathway encourages training participation by providing a framework for learning and rewarding employees for their engagement. The ultimate reward for learners is the sense of competency that results from owning a new skill.

Just imagine where your company would be in one year if your employees mastered at least one new skill each month. EdCast can help make that  happen.
This month, many EdCast customers are upskilling their employees with the Digital DNA/Digital Transformation Skill of the Month.
Get more information about EdCast’s custom Skill of the Month learning pathways here.
References:

1. Forbes. How to establish a culture of employee engagement. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekappel/2018/01/04/how-to-establish-a-culture-of-employee-engagement/.
2. Quantum Workplace. 10 surprising employee engagement statistics for 2018. https://www.quantumworkplace.com/future-of-work/10-surprising-employee-engagement-statistics-2018/.
3. Forbes. What do employees want? They want digital skills. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2018/11/21/what-do-employees-want-they-want-digital-skills/#6a1804c17f56.
4. Clear Company. 5 surprising employee development statistics you didn’t know. https://blog.clearcompany.com/5-surprising-employee-development-statistics-you-dont-know.