The Employee Upskilling Imperative (and How AV Solutions Can Help)

According to some studies, companies are annually spending over $800,000 looking for skilled employees. The growing skills gap is especially evident in the U.S. labour market in technology fields like Artificial Intelligence, data science, and cybersecurity. Similarly, a Deloitte report found that the manufacturing sector could have 2.4 million unfilled job positions by 2028. This carries a serious economic impact of around $2.5 trillion.

To make matters worse, a Freshworks global survey found that 9 in every 10 workers are frustrated with their workplace technology tools. 57% of employees say the current software tools are reducing their productivity. As more organizations move to the hybrid work model, outdated technologies are increasing the frustration levels among remote workers. A key part of the problem is the lack of training provided to these employees in using these increasingly complex tools and technologies effectively.

Sub-optimal usage of technology and skills gaps are now among the main bottlenecks impacting workplace productivity and employee performance and effectiveness.

In this blog, let’s discuss why employee upskilling is imperative and how to implement it.

The need for efficient workforce upskilling

From a business perspective, skills gaps represent a capability disparity between what the company needs to deliver defined business outcomes and what is available to it on the ground.

To meet the challenges of the rapidly changing business landscape, organizations need appropriately skilled employees. Inadequate or ineffective training of the existing workforce is one of the key reasons for the widening skills gap in modern enterprises.

Obviously, bringing employees up to speed on the required skills helps the organisation deliver the outcomes they need. Looking at that another way, it’s also true that through efficient upskilling, organizations can save both time and money spent in hiring new workers.

Here are some reasons why organizations need an efficient upskilling strategy:

• Stay competitive in a tight labour market.
• Improve employee retention by providing them with growth opportunities within the organization.
• Adapt to changing job roles and business requirements.
• Save time and resources in hiring, onboarding, and training recruits.
• Improve workplace productivity with employees trained on the latest tools.

According to the 2023 “State of Upskilling” report, 52% of employees believe that learning a new skill can improve their current and future job opportunities. Over 80% of managers say upskilling programs are effective for preparing their team members for a new project.

Having said that, efficient upskilling has its share of challenges. Here are some of them:

1. Lack of organizational support

The recent DeVry University report found that 43% of employers are not allocating time for upskilling due to high costs or the non-availability of suitable trainers.

Despite the benefits of employee upskilling, most organizations do not prioritize this activity due to a lack of time, budget, and leadership support. Business leaders hesitate to invest in upskilling programs due to high costs and lack of in-house training staff.

2. Lack of business problem-solving

Most organizations simply focus on designing their upskilling program according to the latest skill and technology expertise needed by their workforce. The challenge is to map upskilling to desired business results and improve problem-solving capabilities.

3. Hybrid work

While the hybrid working model has been beneficial, it’s also created a “headache” for training personnel. Managers of remote workers often struggle to identify the reasons behind low employee engagement and productivity.

4. Lack of development opportunities

93% of employees want an easy training program that they can attend at their convenience. Besides that, 91% want training programs to be customized to their job requirements. Hence, organizations need upskilling programs that can create development opportunities, which are most suited for their workforce.

5. Lack of business relevance

As new technologies and tools emerge, employers often struggle to update their upskilling content to the latest skills. This requires them to continuously invest in employee upskilling and development, which is unsustainable in the long run.

 

How Audiovisual solutions can drive employee learning and upskilling

Traditional training programs are no longer cost-efficient and feasible in modern hybrid workplaces with fragmented workforces. Enterprises need technologies like audiovisual (AV) to implement their internal training programs and extend their reach across the organisation. AV solutions are proving to be cost-effective in a hybrid work environment, as they enable remote workers to stay connected to their learning and development platform.

Here is how AV solutions are driving workforce learning and reskilling programs:

• Interactive classrooms

Among the AV solutions, interactive classrooms can enhance learning engagement by amplifying the overall learning experience. For instance, digital classroom solutions in the form of interactive touchscreens, video conferencing, and smart boards can improve “virtual” interactions using multimedia.

• Video-based training

Using AV solutions, high-quality training videos are easy to create, fast to implement, and more affordable than hiring new talent. For reskilling purposes, video training programs are effective for helping employees develop:

• Social and emotional intelligence
  • Technical skills
  • Cognitive and critical thinking skills
• Virtual training rooms

For organizations with a hybrid workforce, “virtual” training rooms can address the physical gap between in-person and remote employees. With the proper design, virtual training rooms can enhance interactive training sessions and enable presentation through audio and video mediums.

 

In summary

To summarize, organizations need upskilling to reduce their skills gap and retain more employees. However, real-world challenges like hybrid work, limited budget, and lack of training resources are hampering companies from developing an effective reskilling strategy.

Immersive technologies like audiovisual solutions can address these challenges and drive the next wave of learning and training initiatives. With years of expertise in audiovisual solutions, Resurgent can help improve your employee learning experience in real and virtual classrooms. Our professional team can customize the AV solution based on your training requirements.

Do you want to know more about our AV solutions? Book a free consultation with us today.