Retention Planning | Focus on Upskilling

Once your organization has made a great hire through Idealist, the focus will naturally shift to employee retention. 

Employee retention involves long-term planning, and upskilling should be a key part of that plan. When employers offer professional growth through upskilling, employee engagement and retention improve.

What is upskilling?

Upskilling is the practice of offering staff intentional learning opportunities through training and development that expand your existing employee's abilities, minimizing skill gaps and allowing them to grow. 

The way in which your organization approaches upskilling can vary. For example, if you are looking to build your organization’s talent pipeline internally, design a leadership development program, allowing mid-level staff members the training opportunities to advance to the next level in their career. Other upskilling options could include a mentorship program, access to professional development, and opportunities to earn new certifications.

If you are in need of some external support, some sites like Coursera and Udemy are great online resources for career development and skills training, with some free and low-cost options.

Benefits of upskilling

Investing in upskilling your employees can:  

• Improve employee job performance. Providing your employees the ability to access new skills effectively builds confidence that in turn can result in greater productivity
• Increase retention. According to a report by McKinsey, “one of the main factors employees cited as a reason for quitting was that they didn’t feel valued by their organizations or their managers.” Investing in your employee’s growth is indicative of your organization’s to them, and in turn, leads to higher retention. This could also lead to promoting belonging among staff.
• Allow for more internal promotion of staff. With increased retention of your employees, your organization will have the ability to grow them over time, building a talent pool from within.
• Effectively fill organizational gaps. Everything from technologies to compliance policies are continuously shifting. Giving your employees the opportunity to acquire new skills in these areas (and others) allows your organization to stay up-to-date with changes. 

Result in saving on annual recruitment costs—again, if you are effectively retaining staff, you are eliminating the cost associated with replacing them. And with a Gallup report estimating the cost to replace an employee to be potentially twice their annual salary, upskilling can provide your organization some major recruitment savings.

Implementing upskilling

Implementing an upskilling program at your organization will require planning. To get the process started, identify organizational gaps that need to be addressed. Consider things like technology skills or training specific to your organization’s mission.  

Next, create a clear plan specific to each employee, taking into consideration their professional goals as well as your organizational needs. Your plan should include specific recommendations for courses or trainings to be completed, an overarching timeline, and clear performance milestones allowing your employee to track their progress.

Once your plans are in place, schedule an in-person review with your employee. Inviting individuals to give their feedback helps to ensure that your plan is inclusive and comprehensive.

When your plans are finalized and employees start on their individual upskilling journeys, schedule regular check-ins to determine any needed adjustments, solicit ongoing feedback, and provide support. This will help make the upskilling process more successful while also promoting employee engagement and ownership.

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Whether your organization has already implemented upskilling or it is a new strategy you are exploring, we hope these recommendations will help you find success in retaining great staff.

Upskilling will not only improve your employee engagement and help build strong organizational culture, it will also benefit your bottom line. With improved retention rates, your organization will (hopefully) experience lower turnover rates, while increasing efficiencies.