There’s a lot of buzz around the terms, “upskilling” and “reskilling,” of late, and in some ways, they embody what learning and development (L&D) has always done—helping employees learn new skills. But at the same time, these terms have a different sense of urgency today.
In this year’s LinkedIn Learning Workplace Learning Report, we asked L&D pros globally about their primary focus for their L&D programs in 2021, and their #1 priority (59 percent) was upskilling and reskilling. That’s a 15 percent increase from June 2020.
The difference between upskilling and reskilling before the pandemic and afterwards is twofold. First, the level of urgency and scale needed to help employees learn new skills has been dialed up to 11, and second, learning is no longer isolated to the L&D team. As Amy Borsetti, senior director at LinkedIn Learning, said during a recent virtual event, “Learning is now a horizontal, spanning every department within an organization. The companies that weave it into the fabric of their cultures are the ones that will win in this new business environment.”
It turns out that there are two power skills that will define the new world of work:
- Resilience, to help us cope and adapt to rapid-fire change that indelibly marks this new decade
- Digital fluency, to ensure we can collectively harness the technological advances that will spark innovation and enhance productivity
L&D pros globally understand that these skills are now a need-to-have, because resilience and digital fluency are the #1 or #2 most important skills they are going to focus on in 2021.
Actionable Approaches
Learning leaders understand that upskilling and reskilling are priority, but the biggest question we hear from customers and industry leaders is how. There are many different approaches to tackle this challenge, but we’ve chosen three actionable tips to help you lead your organization through their upskilling and reskilling journey.
- Engage executives to clearly tie learning goals to business goals.
Let’s start with the good news. We found that 63 percent of L&D pros agree that L&D has a seat at the executive table today vs. 24 percent at this time last year. Most likely, your leadership team has recognized the power of learning and will actively champion learning in the organization, particularly when filling critical skills gaps that are required to execute a business strategy.
Here’s an example from Kevin Delaney, VP of L&D at LinkedIn. Think back to when mobile apps were on the rise. At that time, LinkedIn was built exclusively for desktops, and we needed to do a hard pivot into mobile to continue reaching new members and grow the network. The organization didn’t have enough employees with mobile development skills (and there wasn’t a huge talent pool out there yet) to execute on the business strategy, so we engaged in a large-scale mobile skilling program to help us get there quickly. Needless to say, it was successful from both an employee and organizational growth perspective.
- Set company-wide learning goals and hold everyone accountable.
Instead of thinking of company-wide learning goals as mandates, reframe them as accepted business imperatives that transform them from “something extra to do” into “part of everyone’s job.”
That’s exactly what Nationwide did when it invested $160 million in its Future of Work initiative, a five-year program to reskill and upskill 28,000 associates to strengthen their digital skills.
Gale King, chief administrative officer at Nationwide said, “Upskilling is the investment we are making in ensuring that every associate is developing the new skills we believe are necessary for the future. This includes digital literacy, and future capabilities (lead, innovate, and adapt). Each associate will receive eight hours of time annually to invest in their development with a personalized learning plan that’s level specific.”
To help learners feel in control of their learning, the L&D team provides curated resources tied to the core skills, while also allowing for a flexible, “self-directed” experience. “We couldn’t be more pleased with how the associates embraced it,” said Tishia Damschroder, associate vice president of Enterprise Learning and Development at Nationwide. “Many people are going well beyond their eight hours. Some completed it in the first week and immediately wanted more.”
The Nationwide story underscores that when learning becomes a top priority, learning mandates become investments in every employee’s growth and career development.
- Create upskilling communities of learning.
Many of us have passed the one-year anniversary of working from home, and social isolation is taking its toll in the form of depression, anxiety, and burnout. According to a recent report from Glint, employee burnout rose by nearly 4 percent between August and December 2020 (after it already hit a two-year high in August 2020), and the biggest risk factor for burnout is feeling disconnected from colleagues.
Since the pandemic, employees on LinkedIn have naturally gravitated toward social learning features to help them stay connected to colleagues, peers, and experts. There’s been a 1,100 percent increase in people joining Learning Groups, with joins from younger generations much higher than their older colleagues. There was also a 225 percent increase in courses shared with a learner’s professional network, and a 121 percent increase in activity—that includes both learners and instructors—in course Q&As.
So consider tapping into the community-based learning trend and creating upskilling communities. The top fastest-growing skill in IT that we shared in the LinkedIn Learning 2021 Workplace Learning Report is cybersecurity. Why not create a Microsoft Teams channel on cybersecurity for those employees to share news, learning content, and practical tips from internal subject matter experts? Or maybe create a virtual “lunch & learn” that serves as a watch party and discussion session on the latest cybersecurity threats.
Just giving employees a place to connect and exchange ideas—centered around filling a skills gap—not only helps them learn new skills, but also gives them a sense of belonging that can combat burnout.
These best practices work regardless of industry or company size. When your leadership team and business strategy are aligned to learning goals, then your employees grow individually and together—creating a sustainable culture of learning.
