Reasons to upskill your employees

Leaders of companies all have one goal in common and that is for their businesses to be successful. To do so in a climate of changes, employers have the responsibility to offer learning and development opportunities for their employees to replace outdated skills. It should no longer be an option but a necessity in every workplace. Upskilling need not be a difficult task and let us tell you why you should get started and how you can do it now. 

In a fast-paced environment where people are constantly exposed to new and exciting job opportunities, employee turnover rates are reaching an all-time high because employees do not stay in a job for more than five to ten years. Why are these people leaving and where are they going? According to Linked In, 42% of Singapore employees left a company because it lacked Learning and Development (L&D) opportunities. In this day and age, employees constantly feel the need to upskill themselves to stay competitive and prevent themselves from being replaced by someone better. When a company consistently engages its employees with learning opportunities, employees’s loyalty to the company is enhanced and they are more likely to remain in the company since they have found a purpose. This is so important because it lowers the chances of the company resulting in a talent shortage. Remember that every employee has been employed for a reason and they are valuable to the company in their unique ways. When you invest in human capital, you will certainly get great returns. In a Starhub research, it was found that 34% of Singaporeans SMEs find it a challenge to attract and retain employees. Don’t wait until your company has reached that stage to make an impactful change. 

Thankfully, change does not have to occur in massive stages. You just have to be intentional about integrating small steps in your company. You can start identifying the emerging skills needed in the industry and looking for opportunities for your employees to upskill themselves. 

Look no further, SkillsFuture has got you covered with the necessary resources to widen your employees’ skill sets and increase the chances of their career advancement. You can now sign your employees to be Workforce Skills Qualified (WSQ) with various organisations and receive quality and industry-relevant training. Your employees are projected to emerge as credible and competent individuals who showcase industry established work standards. If you are an SME with tight learning budgets, there are also government fundings for Employer-based training, Enhanced Hiring incentive and Enhanced Training Support packages. Essentially, you will receive either funding to send your employees for upskilling or you will receive a monetary incentive whenever you hire someone who has recently attended a WSQ course. 

As you cultivate a learning culture in our company, you are also creating a sizable pool of highly-skilled employees who are capable of producing both quality and quantity work. This added investment in learning will show when better work leads to greater customer satisfaction and long-term contracts with partnering companies. In the long run, you will be making a remarkable reputation in the industry, attracting people of the same calibre regardless of how unpredictable the human resource market may become. 

Upskilling is not an one-off event but a continuous, lifelong commitment that every company should own. Start creating a legacy for your company and engage in upskilling your employees to reach industry standards!