How do you create a reskilling strategy?

Permanent change is now part of daily business life, accentuated by the Covid-19 crisis. It is now necessary for organizations to reinvent themselves and to allow teams to be resilient and able to deal with uncertainty over the long term.. It is the most effective way to continue to develop in a world that is constantly changing.

HR departments must now support the skills development of employees for existing positions, what is calledUpskilling and create new ones for functions to be initiated, reskilling). Reskilling is essential for a company to be able to create new jobs in order to meet the evolution of its market, the needs of customers, but also to the development of the individuals who make it up.

Reskilling corresponds to the acquisition of new skills as part of a change of job, career development or expansion of the scope of actions. It intervenes within the framework of a redevelopment (an employee is recruited on the basis of his motivations and personality and must increase his technical skills), a vertical internal mobility (an employee becomes a manager) or for Cross Skilling (an employee wants to be trained in order to broaden his scope of actions or to gain versatility).

It is a good way for a company to anticipate a possible shortage of skills and to build up its own pool of experts that it will adapt to its needs. It will be able to adapt to technological changes and changes in professions related to its sector of activity with a positive impact on its competitiveness, performance and growth.

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Step 1: Rely on data

Managers often tend to rely on their intuition to assess a candidate's potential. However, the human brain is constantly subject to cognitive biases that mean that most choices are made for non-objective reasons, leading to management errors and especially to a lack of reliable information for companies that want to determine their reskilling needs. Thus, according to a Deloitte study, 59% of businesses feel that they lack information to know if their employees are ready for the future.

Businesses must therefore implement data-driven strategies to remain competitive in order to make decisions based on objective data. They can rely on psychometric tests and predictive algorithms to identify people who are able to develop skills for the future. Reskilling actions must now become long-term strategies based on the valorization of behavioral skills..

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What actions should be put in place?

1. Implement a data-driven HR strategy;
2. Determine employees who will be able to develop specific skills essential to the development of the company.

Step 2: Adapt the training method to the employee

For a reskilling strategy, it is essential to know the main aspirations and main ones Motivations of employees concerned in order to build their training path and promote their skills development.

Among these methods, we find:

• The Coaching : the employee is supported to develop emotional competence. Coaching is more focused on the development of soft skills and interpersonal skills.
• The Training : the employee is supported to develop technical, business or managerial skills. This method is focused on the work environment and the team.
• La devolving : the employee performs a new task under the supervision of a more experienced person within the company or a dedicated trainer. He is then led to gain autonomy in this task.
• The mentorship : the employee will work with a peer who will support him at the managerial level in taking office.
• La digital method : includes all online and distance learning techniques such as webinars, online conferences or courses elearning.

What actions should be put in place?

1. Explore the different training methods, online and in person;
2. Determine which methods are the most relevant according to the needs of employees and the corporate culture.

Step 3: Use multiple skill-building methods

Mixing different training styles makes it easier to adapt to the contexts and expectations of individuals in a company. The format must be in line with the objectives set, regardless of whether it is face-to-face or digital training.

A lot of knowledge and skills can be obtained by self-learning through digital technology, especially everything related to technical or specialized business content. Regarding soft skills, the sharing of experiences via the Social learning and live feedback is required and may involve face-to-face training.

For example, it may be interesting to start with a theoretical apprenticeship with a career path. elearning and online conferences before moving on to the stage of increasing individual skills in person via delegation.

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What actions should be put in place?

1. Identify the formats preferred by employees for professional training;
2. Measure the degree of autonomy of employees;
3. Set up a tailor-made training plan adapted to skills acquisition needs.

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Step 4: Involve the manager in the development of the employee's skills

The manager has a very important role to play in the development of the skills of the members of his team, a role that neither an external consultant nor a coach can play. Indeed, he must show kindness to his employees and show their support in the learning process.. He can act before the training by listening to the needs of employees, during the training by valuing the efforts and results, or even at the end of the training by supporting individuals in putting their new skills into practice.

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What actions should be put in place?

1. Raise awareness among managers about their behavior with respect to reskilling programs;
2. Encourage managers to collaborate with individuals at the various stages of training: before, during and after.

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What to remember

There are 4 main steps to creating a reskilling strategy:

1. Rely on data;
2. Adapt the training method to the employee;
3. Use several methods to increase skills;
4. Involve the manager in the development of the employee's skills.

To do this, here are the actions to be put in place:

1. Implement a data-driven HR strategy;
2. Determine employees who will be able to develop specific skills essential to the development of the company;
3. Explore the different training methods, online and in person;
4. Determine which methods are the most relevant according to the needs of employees and the corporate culture;
5. Identify the formats preferred by employees for professional training;
6. Measure the degree of autonomy of employees;
7. Set up a tailor-made training plan adapted to skills acquisition needs;
8. Raise awareness among managers about their behavior with respect to reskilling programs;
9. Encourage managers to collaborate with individuals at the various stages of training: before, during and after.