As the landscape of labor evolves, entry-level jobs are at risk of being made obsolete by automation. This puts the focus on companies to upskill their employees to ensure that they stay relevant in a changing career landscape.

Upskilling also offers other benefits for both the employee and the employer and is generally a win-win situation. The employee learns more and grows in his domain, whereas the company gains a more valuable employee.

There are many dependable methods to upskill your workforce. These have also proven effective in ensuring employee utility and satisfaction.

1) Invest In Online Training Courses

Many companies choose to take on online training courses as a dependable way to upskill their employees. An incentivised and subsidised online training program can do wonders for an increasingly obsolete workforce.

Employees can be given opportunities to learn more in their own disciplines and develop their existing skills. They can also be encouraged to find different skills to specialise in and enables them to be a more valuable addition to the company.

Websites such as Udemy, Coursera and EDX offer specialised packages for companies. They also have a multitude of dependable courses for up-to-date information on a wide variety of subjects.

2) Offer Certificate Courses From L&D Giants

Certificate courses are one of the easiest ways to ensure that your employees are upskilled. Partnering with an educational institution to offer certificate courses are a sure-fire way to increase employee engagement and skill levels.

Courses relevant to their field of work will allow for an expert-level understanding of the subject. Moreover, prominent training institutions also hold a name in the career space, making the certificates a valuable addition to any employee’s resume.

3) Hop On The Mobile Learning Train

Mobile learning is quickly picking up pace as an accessible L&D method. Most employees use their phones outside the workplace as well, making for an all-encompassing and enriching training experience.

Mobile learning is also one of the biggest L&D trends of 2019 and is easily accessible for setup. Moreover, engaging with them ‘on-the-go’ will further the learning experience.

There are also various trends such as training with chatbots, phone calls, and mobile applications which offer a richer experience for those aiming to comprehensively upskill their employees.

4) Create Individualised Training Approaches

If the team is of a smaller size, it is worthwhile to invest the time required to create customised approaches and schedules for every employee. Everyone learns at a different pace, and a specially-structured approach, in conjunction with a focus on their roles, will create a learning environment quickly.

Moreover, employees also feel valued by such a move and motivates them to learn and work harder. This will also go a long way in retaining employees post the upskilling phase, as they feel like they are needed in the company.

5) Enable Access To A Mentor

One of the best people to learn from is someone who has seen and been in the field for a long time. There are many companies outsourcing mentorship and even more experts in the field who have since retired.

A mentor is a dependable approach towards upskilling employees as it brings the element of a human connection into the picture. This creates and fosters a relationship between the mentor and the mentee, with a health information exchange occurring between the two.

A mentor will also give employees a way to learn from past mistakes and employ deep industry knowledge in their everyday tasks.

6) Training On The Job

Even though all these approaches are equally efficient in ensuring new knowledge transfer to employees, they don’t compare to raw experience. Learning on the job is one of the most organic approaches to training your workforce.

By being assigned new roles and responsibilities, employees stand to gain new knowledge faster than any other method. It also equips them with the ability to think on their feet and feel more confident in their potential.

7) Support From Other Employees

L&D roles work great for upskilling, but learning can also come from other experienced employees. A peer network not only makes a new employee feel welcome but also encourages improvement within existing ones.

Peer networks can also become an important onboarding tool, as new employees can quickly learn company-specific processes and procedures. Requirements for specific L&D roles will also be reduced, fostering a general environment of collaborative progress.