The Art Of Building Agile Organizations With Upskilling

3 advantages of a learning culture

In today's ever-evolving business and technology landscapes, we’ve seen time and time again that change is the only constant. This makes agility not merely an aspiration for organizations looking to remain competitive, but a necessity.

In the quest for agility, the importance of skills cannot be overstated. The days of relying solely on educational credentials and rigid job titles are fading, making way for a new paradigm where skills take center stage. In fact, organizations that adopt a skills-based approach are more likely to achieve success in talent placement, innovation, and retention as compared to other organizations. This strategic shift, however, demands more than mere agreement—it requires a concerted effort from HR and technology leaders to build cultures of continuous learning through strategic upskilling programs.

Three Advantages of a Learning Culture

Creating a culture of continuous learning delivers advantages across the organization. At the individual, team, and company-wide levels, upskilling initiatives power performance and agility. For HR leaders looking to sharpen their competitive edge, three benefits stand out:

1. Engagement. There’s no better feeling than having someone invest in you because they believe in your potential. When employees perceive opportunities for growth and development, they become more engaged and productive contributors. They’re excited to put their new knowledge to work. This engagement ripples through the organization, boosting morale, influencing customer satisfaction, and driving innovation that improves overall business performance.

2. Retention. Research demonstrates that organizations prioritizing development see a significant increase in retention rates. Research from IBM found that high-performing companies invest in their employees' growth, with 84% of their employees reporting they receive needed professional development programming. Compare that to the 16% of employees at low-performing companies who receive similar development opportunities. The research concluded that this investment in education pays off; 94% of employees who turned down new job offers attributed their loyalty to their company’s commitment to continuous learning.

3. Recruitment. A culture of continuous learning proves invaluable in attracting and retaining talent across generations. As millennials become an increasingly dominant majority in the workforce—they’re predicted to comprise 75% of the workforce by 2025—their preference for organizations with strong cultures that prioritize learning cannot be ignored. The opportunity to learn and grow is now a defining factor in a competitive work environment. And organizations need to remain competitive to retain top talent, especially as 47% of technologists consider leaving their current roles to seek growth opportunities. This makes a learning culture a magnet for talent.

Cultivating Learning Culture from the Top Down

A learning culture has several goals: cultivate new employee skills, fill current skills gaps, and develop future-ready capabilities for sustained competitive advantage.

The transition to a culture that achieves these goals requires deliberate action and commitment—and like any initiative, it must start at the top. Leaders play a pivotal role in shaping cultural transformation, as they must embody the values of continuous learning and promote them within their teams. A shift in mindset at the leadership level paves the way for similar shifts within the organization.

Furthermore, employees need to see transparency in top-down initiatives to drive change. HR, L&D, and technology leaders must collaborate to ensure the goals of upskilling programs align with the larger goals of the business. In establishing and communicating this alignment, leadership enables employees to see a path to tangible results on both an individual and organizational level.

Restricted resources, time constraints, and lack of organizational support are the largest obstacles to achieving upskilling success. Luckily, securing buy-in and alignment in the C-suite can help combat these challenges. By investing the budget, time, and enthusiasm into employee education, organizations can build a more engaged and flexible workforce ready to solve new problems as they arise.   

Actionable Tips for Achieving Upskilling Success

Fostering a workforce that is excited to learn means more than simply making educational content available to them. Upskilling programs should be approached in a structured, programmatic manner that holds employees accountable and ensures growth feels attainable. Leaders should consider the following when building a strong upskilling culture:
 

• Resource accessibility. Offer employees the tools required to accelerate their learning journeys, and make sure they know how to access and use those tools. Customize the curriculum's scope, depth, and delivery as needed.
• Hard and soft skills. Personalized learning plans that balance both technical skills and people skills are effective in holistic development.
• Flexible modalities: Embrace a variety of learning modalities, including on-demand video content, instructor-led training, and hands-on learning. Catering to diverse learning preferences greatly enhances engagement across generations. Moreover, empowering employees to create personalized learning plans in collaboration with their managers increases their investment in the process.
• Dedicated learning time: Allocate dedicated learning time within work hours. With teams often stretched thin, providing time for upskilling ensures progress remains a priority.
• Efficacy assessments: Evaluate the effectiveness of upskilling initiatives through skills assessments, surveys, and postmortems. Ongoing evaluation and modifications ensure the program truly contributes to an agile workforce.

The Path Forward

A skilled workforce is a competitive workforce, and a culture of learning is a culture of performance. Companies that proactively invest in their employees' skills development aligned with business goals will be agile enough to navigate economic uncertainties and seize rapid innovation opportunities for years to come. By fostering a culture of continuous learning, organizations empower employees to embrace their growth journey and steer their career development toward a brighter future. In the end, the journey of upskilling not only transforms organizations internally but propels them forward with a long-term performance edge in a competitive climate.

Will Clive is the Chief People Officer of Pluralsight, Inc., the leading technology workforce development company that helps companies and people around the world transform with technology. As a member of the executive team, Will leads all aspects of Pluralsight’s people strategy and operations. He’s passionate about transforming HR into a true competitive differentiator by hiring world-class talent, actively developing that talent, and creating a culture of performance.