6 Ways to Bridge the Skills Gap
Today’s labor market is unlike any we’ve seen before. Not only is the skills gap bigger, it’s more technical, and job seekers expect employers to provide training and advancement opportunities. Not only is bridging this skills gap critical to the long-term success of businesses, it plays a huge role in finding and retaining top talent. Employers are finding themselves in the unique position of navigating an extremely complex skills disparity during rapidly changing workforce expectations, emerging technologies, and evolving recruiting challenges.
While every business must consider their needs and goals to take the appropriate approach in navigating and improving the skills gap they’re experiencing, here are some key ideas that may help:
1. Identify the Gap
Identifying your company goals and comparing them to your employees’ skills will help assess the need for training platforms. With a skills gap analysis, current skill levels and potential gaps can be measured and closed through more targeted training and development.
Beyond technical abilities, evaluate critical workplace skills such as communication, adaptability, problem solving, digital literacy, and leadership potential. These transferable skills have become increasingly valuable as technology continues to reshape the workplace.
2. Create and Foster a Learning Culture
Investing in your employees and promoting continuous learning not only better ensures your employee retention, but also impacts your bottom line. Encouraging development fosters productivity, boosts morale, and promotes higher quality work, while also lowering turnover rates.
Employees increasingly expect opportunities to learn, grow, and advance within their organization. Investing in career development not only strengthens engagement and retention, but also helps prepare your workforce for future business needs.
3. Implement Non-Traditional Training Programs
Learning today looks very different than it did just a few years ago. Alongside traditional classroom training, employers are leveraging online learning platforms, microlearning, mentorship programs, cross-training, workshops, certification programs, and AI-assisted learning tools to help employees develop new skills.
Non-traditional training options are not only of great interest to your workforce, but also provide a hands-on approach to learning and developing specialized skills.
4. Network, Network, Network
Staying involved in your local community makes you and your business valuable connections. Working with educators at the high school and college levels on teaching their students specific skills not only allows you to connect with those students preparing to enter the workforce and create valuable relationships with them, but ensure those students have some of the skills your company is looking for. Build relationships with workforce development organizations, industry associations, and community partners that can help connect them with emerging talent and training opportunities.
Networking today isn’t just about local connections, however. Our highly connected digital world allows companies to hire workers well outside of their geographic region, and the new trend of working from home makes positions in other places highly sought after. Ensuring your network of connections is widespread both geographically and throughout your industry opens up opportunities and provides valuable relationships with both potential partners and employees you may not have access to otherwise.
5. Be Willing to Upskill
Although hiring employees with the skills you need is ideal, it’s often unrealistic. Candidates possessing a minimum of specific technical skills may be necessary to be successful within the position, but consider being flexible in other requirements. Finding the right person for that position and your company is much more important from a long-term perspective than finding someone with the exact skillset you want.
By investing in the right person for the job through training and development opportunities, you can teach technical skills. This investment demonstrates the care you have and value you place in that employee and fosters their loyalty to you and your company. Hiring for attitude, aptitude, and a willingness to learn often creates stronger long-term employees than waiting for someone who checks every box on a job description.
6. Reunite with Past Employees
A big mistake often made when recruiting is being unwilling to reconnect with past employees – some can make for valuable candidates as rehires. They understand your business, your customers, and your work culture which means less training and acclimation time upon hire.
Rehires are often called “boomerang employees” because in coming back, they have increased knowledge, skills, experiences and bring new connections and perspectives. They can also become valuable referral sources, brand advocates, or future hires as their careers evolve. Maintaining positive relationships after employees leave creates opportunities that extend well beyond a single rehire.
Workforces and labor markets are evolving faster than ever and the competition for talent is fierce which means retaining your current employees is more critical than ever. Implementing new approaches to training and development takes valuable time and energy, but is something you can no longer afford not to do. By accepting the growing challenges of an increasingly large and technical skills gap, utilizing the advantages that come with our evolving work environment, and embracing continuous learning, emerging technologies, and evolving workforce expectations, you can ensure your company doesn’t fall behind.
