Recruiting today looks a lot different than in the pre-COVID era. With over 11 million open jobs in the United States, finding candidates that are interested in an organization’s open roles might mean hiring for potential, not exact credentials. 

In Season 2, Episode 9 of Verified First’s HR at the Table webinar series, we hosted Krystal Alegbeleye, the Vice President & Director of Global Learning and Development at Golin in Recruit, Reskill, and Retain Today's Workforce. In this webinar, Krystal helped our audience understand the key components of reskilling talent in today’s hiring landscape. 

She answered three questions on the scope of reskilling that spoke to how organizations can approach reskilling within their recruitment and retention strategies.

• How can reskilling help meet company needs?
• How do you know when to reskill and when to recruit?
• Whose job is it to advocate for reskilling?

How can reskilling help meet company needs?

Reskilling means investing in learning opportunities for employees, but it isn’t just for the benefit of the employee. In fact, reskilling employees can be a viable tactic in reaching company goals or meeting needs. Krystal remarked that companies today are needing their employees to excel in two main areas in order to compete with the competition: digital skills and management skills. 

Digital:

“There’s been a shift toward nurturing digital skills now more than I’ve seen in the past two years. Digital skills have become versatile across the talent landscape as more companies depend on tech, digital tools, and platforms to conduct their business.” 

Management:

“Soft skills like management, leadership, and communication are important. These skills are certainly fundamental and are in high demand because they’re a good indicator of employee growth.”

Reskilling employees in these two areas prepares them for the next step in their career and furthers overall growth by filling open positions with those already familiar with the company.

How do you know when to reskill and when to recruit?

Answering this question isn’t one-size-fits-all. Each company has its own needs when it comes to employee skills and its own reasons for seeking out these skills. However, reskilling employees is a great option when there is internal growth potential. Krystal proposed a list of questions to ask in order to determine if the option of reskilling makes the most sense for one’s organization. 

1. What is the role that you’re needing to fill?
2. Are there elements of this position that an employee is already familiar with?
3. Does this position require new skills not yet tapped in this organization?
4. Is there a new function or capability that can’t be found within this organization?
5. Does anyone come to mind when considering the requirements of this position?

Answering these questions can indicate where recruitment efforts are best spent – internally or externally. While not every position will be able to be filled through reskilling, Krystal remarked, investing in reskilling can be rewarding for employees and lead to a great retention opportunity for the organization.

Whose job is it to advocate for reskilling?

Reskilling employees isn’t an initiative that can happen overnight. It requires careful planning and advocacy for the need to choose to reskill over hiring. When it comes to who should be at the forefront of investing in reskilling, Krystal narrowed it down to two: the employees and their managers.

Employees:

“A good amount of reskilling opportunities should be sought out by the employee. An essential component of managing your career is being able to seek out and operate those opportunities for continuous learning and to build your career development.”

Managers:

“On the other hand, reskilling should also be advocated for by managers. They’re the ones who know about the opportunities in the pipeline. They have a huge influence on the employee experience. Managers should be leaders in advocating for their employees and offering advice on what they can do to grow in their career.” 

Both employees and managers need to make their voices heard in order to create those reskilling opportunities that could lead to aligning the needs of the company with employees’ careers.

In conclusion

For more insight from Krystal Alegbeleye, check out Recruit, Reskill, and Retain Today’s Workforce on-demand. To join a future conversation, check out our HR at the Table webpage. Next, we’re hosting the CEO & Head of Remote at HR, Talent, & Systems, Yuri Kruman, in Navigating Generational Shifts in the Workplace.