Breaking Barriers – Digital Skills Key For Business Growth
Technology is advancing faster than ever, and as a business owner, you will want to ensure your workforce is equipped with the digital skills they need to help your business thrive and grow. Digital upskilling means giving your workforce a chance to gain the knowledge, tools, and skills they need to thrive in a world where technology is ever-changing.
Digital transformation can bring many benefits, but employers may find that they come up against resistance from the workforce to adopt new digital skills. Let’s explore why these barriers can crop up and how businesses and leaders can overcome them.
What Are The Barriers?
There are many reasons why employers might encounter resistance when looking to upskill their workforce. You may hear some employees say they’re too old to learn a new skill, especially a digital one. They may be worried about where they will find the time in their already busy day for additional training. Whatever the reason, you will find that it often boils down to one reason – as a rule, humans don’t like change.
Most of us prefer to live in a state of stability and comfort in our personal and professional lives. However, people fear the unknown that change often brings, and the workforce may worry that their jobs are at stake. This is particularly true for employees who have been with a business for a long time.
But as an employer, it’s worth remembering that retraining your current workforce is more cost-effective than hiring new employees. Furthermore, employees are more likely to stay with a company committed to helping them develop new skills rather than opting for fresh talent. And a loyal workforce is your greatest business asset.
Start From The Top
If you want to upskill your workforce in the digital space, it needs to start from the top. Senior management must consider what the business wants to achieve and lead by example. Good communication is critical – explaining to your workforce why they need to upskill and what the benefit will be will go a long way to making it more receptive to positive change.
Prove to your employees that you are serious about upskilling by investing time and money into quality training programs and rewarding those who learn new skills through incentive schemes. Building a culture that recognizes the benefits of learning these digital skills will foster unprecedented growth regarding staff satisfaction, empowerment, and a skilled workforce.
The Gift Of Choice
Digital upskilling doesn’t mean that everyone must learn to code or know the ins and outs of MS Office. Remember when you were forced to learn a subject you hated at school? No one enjoys learning things they’re not interested in, right? So, the best approach to upskilling your workforce is to speak to them beforehand and uncover their interests related to their jobs. Then integrate these into your training programs. Give employees the choice of what they learn and how they do it, whether through seminars, eLearning, or self-directed learning. Everyone learns at their own pace. So make sure to dedicate time to nurturing internal learning.
Empowering your workforce to embrace digital upskilling will prepare your business for future advances in technology that might be on the horizon. In addition, it will provide you with a significant advantage regarding your workforce’s digital skill set. With the proper support, employees will adapt quickly to changing circumstances and be more willing to engage in upskilling.