IT’S TIME TO INVEST IN TAKING YOUR TEAM TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Written by Jessica Murray
It’s hard to believe, but next week marks the beginning of the last quarter of the year. If you haven’t started, you’ll likely soon begin 2025 planning — reviewing 2024 performance, refining key 2025 objectives, evaluating resources and defining success for the coming year.
As part of your planning efforts, think about opportunities for your team’s professional development. Upskilling sometimes gets overlooked, but recent reports and ongoing trends highlight the value of investing in your workforce.
Compelling stats and macro factors
While upskilling employees is not the only factor contributing to talent retention, engagement and overall business success, several recent studies stress the need to focus on continuous development. Macro trends also reinforce the need to make this a priority.
The facts:
The 2023 Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum found that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted by 2024.
A 2021 report by McKinsey revealed that 87% of companies surveyed expected to experience skills gaps within their organizations over the next few years (so, right about now).
In 2022, stats from Lorman showed 70% of employees would be somewhat likely to leave their job for a company that invested more heavily in training and development.
Hiring externally or replacing staff is often more costly than developing an employee from within.
The macro factors:
Small business challenges attracting and retaining top talent.
Inflation has driven significant increases in labor costs.
Technological advances, particularly with AI and automation, will continue to leave businesses behind that fail to adapt.
How to prioritize learning and development initiatives
Set a clear strategy and objectives: Knowing where you’re headed and how you deliver differentiated value helps you better understand the most pressing skills gaps that need to be addressed.
Identify the most important skills requirements and gaps: What skills are essential to delivering on your objectives? What gaps exist on your team? Once you’ve established the cracks and single points of failure, you’ll be able to focus on where to make upskilling investments.
Maximize ROI: Develop your team’s skills in the areas that will yield the highest return for your business. For example, training in relevant applications of AI may yield more results than providing more people exposure to how your point-of-sale (POS) platform works. Or vice versa. Bottom line: make sure you’re investing in what makes the most sense for your business.
Balance next year’s needs with longer-term trends: Don’t just get lost in the short term. Be sure to factor in long-term industry trends that could shape your business’s future.
What’s the connection? Addressing skills gaps and overall business operations.
I often write about the importance of talent and building strong teams in this newsletter. You may wonder why since Empower’s core focus is streamlining operations; not HR.
Here’s why it’s relevant: people and processes are deeply connected. Both are essential to run a successful operation, and they must complement one another.
Investing in upskilling your team can positively impact operations by:
Increasing productivity.
Enhancing creativity and problem-solving.
Reducing turnover costs.
Having a more versatile and adaptable workforce.
Strengthening competitive advantage.
Still unsure?
Try committing to developing your talent next year and establish metrics for success, such as:
Output per employee.
Year-over-year change in company goal achievement.
Year-over-year change in individual employee performance.
Reduction in recruiting costs.
Change in on-time delivery.
Then, report back on your performance.