Upskilling happens when a skilled worker decides to acquire new or advanced skills that are relevant to their current or future job, profession, or industry. An employee can decide to upskill by learning new techniques, technologies, or approaches to work that can help increase their productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Upskilling options include formal training programs, online courses, on-the-job training, mentorship, and self-learning. The goal of upskilling is usually to gain a competitive edge in one’s career, keep up with industry trends, or advance one's professional goals.

The technology industry has always been the harbinger of change. Moreover, the tech stack that each company requires also keeps changing frequently, depending on new advancements. To stay competitive, tech companies need to ensure their employees have the necessary skills and knowledge to keep up with global changes. By investing in learning and development programs, companies can improve the performance and productivity of their employees, increase employee retention by providing clear growth paths, and stay ahead of their competition.

Here are the steps to follow in order to create a successful upskilling program at your company:

• Conduct a skill gap analysis: This is an internal assessment which helps companies recognize if the skills present within their teams are enough for the organization's current and future needs.

• Identify the skills and knowledge employees need to develop: Post the skill-gap analysis, the tech team can identify which skills need to be developed on priority and the learning paths that engineers need to take.

• Determine the most effective training methods and resources to deliver the upskilling program: Most of the widely available upskilling platforms do not have a credible validation system or proof of ROI. Look for a skill enhancement program that also has a built-in training evaluation tool to understand how your employee's skill levels have changed pre and post training.

• Develop a timeline and budget for the upskilling program: It is important to understand how long the program will take and plan your resource allocation accordingly.

• Communicate the benefits of the upskilling program to employees: Get buy-in from respective stakeholders and ensure everyone is on the same page as to how the upskilling program will affect the team's strength and productivity.

• Measure the effectiveness of the learning and development program and make necessary adjustments: Ensure that all members agree on an assessment criteria to judge the ROI from the training and development program before starting training. Check if the training program meets aforementioned criteria and use training assessment tools to measure efficacy on a frequent basis.

Current learning and development programs do not have a built-in method for measuring success. However, it is important to recognize that all l&d programs have one single goal - to enhance the skill level of the employee taking the program.

Therefore, the most efficient way of measuring success of a learning and development program is to validate skill levels pre and post training. You can do so through continuous assessment of an employee's skills after they have completed the program, and comparing it with the skill-gap analysis done before training. In the long run, the assumption is that gaining new skills will help employees be more productive and have an impact on the business' bottomline.