Staying ahead isn't just about having the latest technology or the best product, and it's about empowering your workforce with the right skills. This is where upskilling comes into play, offering a strategic pathway for businesses to drive business outcomes by:
1. Closing Skills Gaps
One of the most pressing challenges faced by businesses today is the widening gap between the skills required for emerging roles and those possessed by the current workforce. Whether it's training in digital literacy, data analytics, or specialized technical skills, upskilling ensures that employees stay relevant and capable of meeting the demands of their roles.
Johnson & Johnson is just one of many examples of organizations devising experiential programs to upskill employees. The program at Johnson & Johnson gives agency to employees to take on projects outside of their remit, like a skills marketplace. Doing so gives employees room to develop new skills and begin applying them in different parts of the business.
2. Adapting to Technological Advancements
Technological change always seems to outpace the skills of the current workforce. Upskilling initiatives bridge these gaps by providing employees an ongoing solution to build and maintain their skill set.
For Mercy Health System — which encompasses several large hospital and clinics in four states — staying on top of ever-changing technology is a huge priority. Mercy organized its learning content into easily digestible learning journeys comprised of certification tracks, bootcamps, and more. Within these journeys, learners start with a Skill Benchmark that measures their current knowledge and serves up personalized content recommendations based on their answers to questions.
Taking these steps helps Mercy stay current with emerging technology and practices. Read about their learning outcomes.
3. Improving Collaboration
Effective collaboration is essential for driving innovation and business outcomes. Upskilling plays a crucial role in fostering a collaborative culture within organizations. By providing employees with training in "soft skills," such as communication, teamwork, and leadership, businesses can cultivate stronger partnerships across teams and departments.
Black Knight has had a culture of learning and developed Black Knight University (BKU), a proprietary program built around course topics related to the industry and its proprietary products. Designed with interactive gamification concepts and incentives for participation, BKU makes it easy for employees to share learning and knowledge across departments, boost engagement, and reward curiosity — ultimately improving collaboration within the organization.
4. Transforming the Customer Experience
In a customer-centric economy, delivering exceptional experiences is key to building loyalty and driving revenue growth. Upskilling empowers employees to deliver personalized and proactive customer interactions. Training in customer service excellence, empathy, and relationship management equips frontline staff with the skills to anticipate customer needs and exceed expectations.
This is why Delta Dental created a customized learning and development process that provided their contact center agents with training in customer service and power skills. This gave them the tools to provide top-notch service and drive business outcomes by proactively tackling customer problems and asking thoughtful questions that extend the care and quality of service.
5. Promoting a Culture of Learning
Upskilling promotes a culture of continuous learning within organizations. By encouraging employees to acquire new skills and knowledge throughout their careers, businesses cultivate a workforce that is agile, resilient, and prepared for future challenges. This commitment to lifelong learning not only benefits individual career progression but also strengthens the overall capability and competitiveness of the organization.
St. Luke's Health System, Idaho's largest employer, was on the cusp of an organizational transformation in early 2020, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and demand for healthcare services skyrocketed. By 2022, St. Luke's had extended learning opportunities to every employee in the organization, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training, project management, leadership development, and more.
