Upskilling and Onboarding: How to Transition Into a New Role

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been” – that’s how hockey legend Wayne Gretzky explained his recipe for success. The idea travels far beyond the rink. The job market is changing dynamically: many industries need new skills, and some professions are disappearing from business altogether. Developing competencies is no longer a nice-to-have – it’s a hard requirement for keeping up with today’s needs, let alone tomorrow’s. Systematic upskilling is becoming a necessity, and when you design it, onboarding is the best source of inspiration. Why? That’s what this article is about.

What is upskilling?

In a reality of accelerating digital transformation and process automation, upskilling is becoming one of the most important tasks for employers and employees alike. For employers, the priority is securing qualified specialists; for employees, it’s gaining new skills to be where “the puck is going to be.”

Upskilling is not a new concept on the job market. It simply means the process of individuals learning new skills. It can take many forms – every training session, course, or other educational initiative is a form of upskilling. The term covers all activities aimed at developing existing skills, refreshing knowledge, and – as a result – keeping competencies aligned with current market demands.

A faster world means faster upskilling

It sounds obvious, but place it in the context of global megatrends – digital transformation, demographic shifts, the push for sustainability – and acquiring new competencies grows into a defining challenge. Most industries were changing rapidly well before 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated the pace. Employees already understand this. According to PwC’s “Upskilling Hopes & Fears 2021” study, 86% of employees in Poland (compared with 76% globally) are ready to keep learning new skills – or even retrain completely – to stay employable. Almost as many respondents (85%) admit they need new competencies to adapt to an increasingly digital reality.

Development programs and employee reskilling

Aware employers know how to answer that need. – We must have an answer ready for dynamic change. At Accenture we encourage lifelong learning. Training hours nearly doubled last year, and employees could draw on a library of more than 8,000 skills and certifications. They have many paths for building skills and raising qualifications. As a result, they increase productivity and achieve better results – says Camilla Drejer, Managing Director, Citizenship & Responsible Business at Accenture UKI.

– A skilled and motivated workforce is the key to better results and higher productivity. There has never been a better time to make upskilling a top priority. To help companies unlock untapped talent, we are providing a wide range of free training, including online courses, apprenticeships, internships, and our skills bootcamps – that is how Nadhim Zahawi, then a UK education minister, described the government’s approach to upskilling.

Upskilling vs. reskilling: what’s the difference?

New competencies can be built along different paths – through upskilling and reskilling. Upskilling means expanding knowledge and adapting skills to change within the same field. A good example is a team of developers at a logistics company undergoing modernization. To operate well and support automated processes, they need to learn new Internet of Things tools, integrate them with the applications already used in the company, and roll out new solutions. That is not a new career path – it’s stepping up to the next level of specialization within the current position.

Reskilling means retraining and setting out on a new professional path. If the same company employs warehouse workers, it is very likely that robots will take over many of their tasks in time. After the right training and a mix of practical and theoretical courses, those employees could learn how to program and optimize the robots’ work. For them, that would mean a true revolution in their professional lives.

Is upskilling the cure for talent shortages?

According to a Korn Ferry report, more than 85 million vacancies on the global job market may go unfilled by 2030. That could translate into $8.5 trillion in unrealized annual revenue.

Employers in Poland struggle with talent shortages as well. As many as 81% report difficulty finding suitably qualified employees. That places the country eighth among EMEA markets covered by ManpowerGroup’s “Talent Shortage” study – closing a hire successfully is even harder in France, Romania, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany. 

The benefits of upskilling

From an HR perspective, searching for the right candidates outside the organization looks less and less efficient. Reskilling and upskilling can fill that gap brilliantly, preparing candidates for new roles that are critical in a changing job market. On top of that, upskilling within the organization can bring many other benefits:

• Higher retention of loyal employees. According to a study by the Gallup Institute, for 61% of employees the opportunity to grow their competencies within their current organization would be a key factor in the decision to stay or leave. Caring about internal development is one of the strongest pillars on which employer loyalty can be built. An employee who grows professionally together with the company will be more engaged in its business.

• Savings on recruiting and onboarding new talent. We calculated that the cost of onboarding a new employee can reach up to seven times their salary. Add recruitment costs (recruiter or agency fees, paid job ads, the ATS system), plus the indirect cost of the work time of everyone involved in sourcing and onboarding new talent. The final tally is substantial – and it grows for key, more specialized roles. From that perspective, upskilling looks like a sensible (also financially) counterweight to the standard methods of developing a qualified team.
   
• Greater employee satisfaction and effectiveness. An employee who gains new competencies has a better chance at an internal promotion and at smaller and bigger wins within their scope of work. That, in turn, translates into higher productivity, effectiveness, and job satisfaction. Tasks that once seemed complicated don’t have to be scary anymore with new skills in hand. An employee who feels more confident in their role is also more willing to take initiative and propose innovative solutions.
  

• The image of a modern, innovative employer. Dynamic job-market change – especially during the pandemic – requires forward thinking, so you’re always two steps ahead. An organization that invests in upskilling adapts more easily to changes in its industry. It builds competitive advantage and attracts talent interested in growth and an agile approach to work. This matters especially to millennials – for as many as 91% of them, professional development is a top priority.

Upskilling best practices

According to a European Commission report, small and medium-sized companies do offer their employees upskilling or reskilling initiatives. Unfortunately, they usually do it in an unstructured way, which leaves enormous potential untapped. So how can an employer take comprehensive care of developing new skills across the organization?

Define priority skills and areas

Without defining the scope of upskilling, you won’t create effective development plans. Consider which resources and skills are critical for your company from the perspective of its business goals and vision. For example: if the priority is streamlining the accounting team’s work, check whether employees can use all the tools available to them. Or maybe they themselves feel the need to upgrade qualifications in specific areas? Don’t forget employees’ needs in general – they often follow the trends connected to their role or domain and are the first to notice which of their skills need sharpening.

Explain the need for continuous learning

Designing an upskilling path is one thing. Rolling it out and keeping employee engagement at the right level is another. If your boss sends you to a full-day training session without so much as a conversation about it, you’ll treat it as another professional obligation rather than a growth opportunity. What if you proposed a new approach instead and reviewed the training calendar for the next quarter – or even year – together? Discussing the development path during regular 1:1s with a manager makes upskilling a natural part of an employee’s professional journey within the organization.

Create space for developing employees’ competencies

Training during the workday, then catching up on the whole day’s backlog after hours – sound familiar? In that setup, raising qualifications becomes a heavy burden and discourages employees from joining the next initiatives.

More flexibility in learning means more comfort and motivation. Digital solutions help here, giving employees access to the necessary materials regardless of location. They can reach for them at a convenient moment during work, for example through e-learning. That’s especially important for hybrid teams and fully remote setups.

Upskilling and onboarding

Both upskilling and reskilling are processes that partially – sometimes completely – change an employee’s professional profile. As a result, the organization gains a person with new qualifications, ready to take on a new role or extend their responsibilities into other areas. Don’t be misled by the thought that it’s a change within the same, well-known company. Yes, the work culture stays the same – but the operational side will differ.

We are opening a new professional context that the employee will have to face. The challenge is to make taking over new responsibilities structured and comfortable. For that to happen, upskilling should be planned as an induction into a new kind of work. It’s worth looking at the process like onboarding and planning it just as comprehensively. Learning is part of upskilling and reskilling, but without support in a transformed professional reality, it will be harder for the employee to put new qualifications into practice. 

How to onboard employees into new roles and skills

Effective upskilling or reskilling is a process that answers the needs of both employees and the employer. To take care of each side, approach it systematically, using methods and tools that give these initiatives the right structure.

We’re happy to share specific onboarding solutions that can be used to transition an employee into a new professional role. Most of them already power our Gamfi Onboarding application.

A structured development plan

For development programs to meet expectations, they should above all be structured. A development plan organizes the upskilling path and highlights the key areas of communication between everyone involved in the process. The situation is analogous in onboarding. Draw on your onboarding experience and design the upskilling path inspired by a traditional onboarding journey. It’s best to base the plan on a tool that automates the process and helps the employee combine regular duties with those connected to the ongoing upskilling program.

Cross-process collaboration

Just like when onboarding a new hire from outside the organization, onboarding into a new role as part of upskilling is teamwork. Involve HR business partners and the managers of specific teams, and assign a buddy. Provide both subject-matter support and the less formal kind – so important in the stressful situation of joining a new team. We wrote more about the cross-process nature of onboarding in “Onboarding trends for 2022”.

A mentor

A mentor is someone with long tenure at the company, rich experience, and broad knowledge. With those resources, a mentor can give their mentees long-term support throughout their career in the organization. The mentor makes sure their competency growth stays on the chosen course. Don’t confuse a mentor with a buddy, who by definition supports the employee during onboarding – a role that doesn’t require the depth of knowledge a mentor brings. A buddy is also a guide to less formal matters than those covered in mentoring.

Shadowing

Shadowing means observing the work of a more experienced employee. You follow their tasks without actively taking part in them. Meetings with the manager, sessions with a mentor, or regular conversations with another experienced colleague are a great prelude to working with new competencies.

Microlearning

Learning based on delivering small pills of knowledge instead of confronting the learner with extensive material all at once. Microlearning lets employees adjust the way and pace of learning to their current duties. They can absorb new knowledge through e-learning, for example, using different devices (tablet, internet, computer). Easy access to knowledge regardless of location works brilliantly in hybrid and remote work models. We cover this in more depth in “Microlearning: how to teach employees effectively”.

Gamification

Changing careers or gaining new qualifications is often a difficult, demanding process. Designing the development path around gamification makes it engaging and less stressful for the employee. How? In short: employees progress by completing engaging tasks and missions, earning points – and sometimes real rewards – along the way. Motivating, right? And it all happens in a digital environment, available anywhere, anytime. You can read more about gamification in “Gamification at work: what it changes (and why it’s almost everything)”.

Ongoing feedback

The upskilling process should also include space for giving feedback. Keep your finger on the pulse and monitor the satisfaction of the employee being onboarded into the new role. Discuss unclear points as they appear, ask about their needs, and clarify whatever requires it. Use online surveys and arrange 1:1 meetings with the mentor, the manager, or a dedicated person from HR. In our application, the onboarded employee regularly completes a satisfaction survey called the Pulse Check.

We have the knowledge, the experience, and the tool to effectively support your organization and your people through the demanding – and crucial – process of raising qualifications. With our help, you’ll guide your company through the changes that an accelerating, digitizing, and automating world forces on us all. Let’s talk!