McKinsey & Company recently found that 87% of executives said they were experiencing skill gaps in the workforce and expect more gaps in the next five years. As a leader, understanding how skills gaps and shortages will impact your business is critical to overall success. But how do you prepare for skills gaps or overcome their current impact on your business in an era where skills development is taking 12x longer than just five years ago? Some are hiring in preparation while others are upskilling and reskilling their current teams. Both strategies can be effective, here’s how.
Hire for Fit, Not Technical Skills
When you look at hiring to decrease skills gaps, most companies may not be approaching it the best way. While you may want to hire the most qualified candidate with years of experience and stellar technical skills, they may be overly difficult to work with and not open to developing other skills needed by their new team. You must hire for fit. Why? Let the numbers speak for themselves. A recent study by Leadership IQ uncovered that 46% of new hires will fail within the first year and a half. Of those who fail, 11% are because they lack the technical skills whereas 89% fail because they have difficulties integrating into the work environment. You can’t teach behaviors and mentality. You can teach technical skills needed to do the job when the individual is eager to learn and be a part of the team!
Leverage Personalized Training Opportunities
Every person is different, so why should their training be the same?
IBM has been addressing their skills gaps effectively for years, and have shared that, “The key to closing the skills gap is for companies to take a holistic approach to skills development that’s personalized to the individual, built on data and experientially fueled by new ways of working.” This is what NimblyWise’s programs aim to do. Through offering your employees baseline assessments developed by business leaders and psychology experts, we’re able to identify specific areas for growth. Then, with personalized coaching and group cohort workshops they work through closing those soft skills gaps that will both drive their success and organizational success.
Place Focus on Most Business Critical Skill Building First
What skills are most critical to your business success? Is it project management, leadership, critical thinking or decision making, maybe IT and programming skills? Take a look at which of these skills are lacking the most, and which are needed the most to help you grow. This will help guide you to who you need to reskill or upskill through customized training opportunities first so resources aren’t wasted.Allowing your employees to envision their future in a different way as an outcome of reskilling or upskilling has the potential to grow your bottom line through reduced turnover and greater engagement long-term.
Personalized Training Can Help Your Team Close Skills Gaps
In today’s tumultuous world of work, investing in reskilling or upskilling your current team is a much more profitable way of doing business. And by investing in your team you’ll gain trust, loyalty, and an overall greater company culture that encourages employees to stay a while. NimblyWise’s Real-Time Learning Program can be catered to fit to your team’s unique needs, helping you to close those inevitable skills gaps while building a stronger, more resilient team! Let’s chat about how to get started.
