Newsletter
October 2022 Newsletter
How to Successfully Upskill your Team
When you have a small team, your staff members will likely wear several hats – as will you as the business owner. One way to support staff retention and enable business growth in a small setting is to support upskilling within the work environment.
There are several ways to ensure the process of upskilling your staff goes smoothly. There are also several instances where upskilling may be necessary within your small business. Let’s explore these.
Why is upskilling necessary?
The ability to solve problems, increase productivity, and improve performance has shown to dramatically increase when employees are provided with the opportunities to increase their skillset. This will serve your business well in times of change or business growth. Enabling your team to manage the business with autonomy and confidence allows you to focus on the areas of your business that require your attention most. Upskilling empowers your employees to take on greater responsibilities which encourages career progression and overall job satisfaction. Studies show that opportunities in the workplace have also shown to improve staff retention.
When is upskilling necessary?
System upgrades
For small businesses there are often new and improved systems available to you which are developed to streamline your processes internally. Whether you are upgrading your systems and software, or you have decided to change providers, this is an opportunity to encourage staff to take on training and have a direct impact on improved business processes.
Changes within the business
Despite being a small business, when business growth occurs, there may be opportunities for staff to move into new roles. When this occurs, whether there it is due to staff turnover or business evolution, this opens the door to creating new roles and opportunities within the business. This creates opportunities for self-development and an increase in responsibilities.
How can you support the upskilling process?
Encouraging mentorship within the workplace will create opportunities for both the mentor and mentee. This may occur in an apprentice format where a skilled worker can train and educate a junior employee. This allows juniors within your business to learn and grow within your industry while allowing your senior employees to take on more responsibilities and enhance their role also.
Align training to individuals
With any employee, they will exhibit strengths. Harnessing these strengths and nurturing their career path is a responsibility of you as a business owner. Allowing staff to take on external training as well as internal training under the guidance of a mentor will support their own ambitions within the workplace. Encouraging staff to achieve their goals and enabling them to do so is positive for the business and for their overall career progression.
Collaboration throughout career planning is one of the most significant benefits of business mentorship. Mentorship provides business professionals with consistent guidance and resources by fostering a long-term relationship underpinned by support and encouragement.
Offering a sustainable and flexible career path to your employees enables them to upskill and support your business in more ways, while providing them with adequate career progression and satisfaction to encourage staff retention. In times of growth or change within your small business, consider ways to support your staff in their careers for both business and personal growth through training, mentorship and upskilling.