India Employer Forum

Human Capital

What To Avoid When Upskilling The Workforce

  • By: India Employer Forum
  • Date: 18 February 2021

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The coronavirus pandemic threw so many employees off balance with the new reality it brought along. People lost their jobs simply because of their computer illiteracy. And these recent happenings have pushed people to way past their limits. To resolve the situation, many employees and employers are taking on upskilling and reskilling programs. While this is a good step in the right direction for employers and their workers, they’re bound to make many mistakes.

This situation is bound to arise because so many upskilling and reskilling programs are being carried out all at once. It should be known that while upskilling the workforce, several things need to be considered. A lot of learning, relearning, and unlearning would happen, and that’s fine.

You might also be interested to read: The Importance Of Human Skills In Your Business

Here are five mistakes that should be avoided when upskilling the workforce for the future.

Intake of a lot of irrelevant information:There are many intellectual skills available for persons who are interested in upskilling. However, with this multiplicity of options comes the problem of choosing the right skill program. This is because there’s a lot of irrelevant content out there.

To address this, however, the best move would be to look forward to working in places that offer the services and require the skill being learned. This will help ensure that only useful information is tracked; hence, making the entire upskilling and reskilling process more effective.

Dislike for necessary skills:Many employees today have issues with their jobs. This is so not only because they do not possess the adequate skill, but also because they don’t like their jobs. And when people don’t enjoy what they do, it’s very unlikely that they will excel at it. Even when keen interest is used in learning, it would still be of no use if the skill is inherently hated. Learning and development skills can only do so much, but they can sure be of some assistance.

Loss of focus:Loss of focus is another mistake individuals who are looking to upskill themselves must avoid. A lot of learning and development initiatives are at the fingertips of whoever is interested in them as there are multiple training contents all over the internet. But there are also a lot of things that can cause distraction. It’s important to never lose sight of what they are out to learn. While upskilling the workforce, employees shouldn’t get overwhelmed with all that would be happening. All that would be needed is to focus on what the future job wants and how such would be delivered assiduously. 

Absence of consistency:Before delving into upskilling the workforce, people must keep in mind that they will not become experts at the new skill they are learning overnight. To achieve such skill levels would take time. As such, employees shouldn’t get discouraged if they’re unable to internalize their new skills immediately. The most important thing is for them to be consistent and deliberate about their upskilling objectives.

Digital illiteracy:This is the 21st century and the world is now a global village. Almost everything is digitalized. So, it’s a necessity that people develop digital skills as this is the best investment for the future. As much as the world is digitally advancing at the moment, these advancements keep increasing. One must therefore make sure to continuously grow in knowledge and innovation in order to fit those advancements.

References:

  • 6 ways to start upskilling for the future of manufacturing | Mark De Wolf | October 14, 2020
  • Upskilling, Reskilling, and preparing for the future | Adam Etzion | June 16, 2020

You might also be interested to read:

https://indiaemployerforum.org/2020/08/19/upskilling-and-reskilling-how-companies-must-stay-relevant/

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