In a rapidly shifting economy coupled with the rapid rise of new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, for a company to maintain a competitive edge it is vital that they future proof their business by implementing a strategy to continually upskill their staff.
One of the most valuable assets any company has is its workforce. Previously upskilling or developing training programmes for staff was usually the responsibility of a company’s HR department, however, it is now generally assumed that is should be taken as a core business strategy.
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By investing in continuous learning, businesses can boost operational efficiency, reduce costly employee turnover, and close critical skills gaps.
In a world driven by technology and with Ireland being a hub for the European headquarters of global technology corporations, continuous digital upskilling for employees is now crucial.
Digital literacy is now much more than basic IT software competency, companies should now ensure that all employees across all departments are up to speed on all technologies, and are able navigate all a company’s IT systems, data and engage in digital problem-solving.
With much scaremongering that artificial intelligence and automation could lead to large scale job losses, companies should be looking to utilise AI tools to for the benefit of their employees and utilising AI tools for everyday business operations.
Employees who understand how to write effective prompts, automate repetitive admin tasks, and evaluate AI-generated output could help to boost a company’s output.
For a company to be proactive in upskilling its workforce, it needs to first look towards strengthening its leadership and middle management.
A competent and strong management team directly impacts team efficiency and morale.
By implementing leadership and management upskilling, it can help leaders to navigate conflict resolution, strategic delegation, performance monitoring, and change within management.
However, implementing any kind of training programme can be costly, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Skillnet Ireland is Ireland’s national talent development agency and works in partnership with companies to deliver subsidized, industry-led training across four strategic focus areas – digitisation, sustainability, innovation and leadership.
Skillnet can help companies upskill their workforce through a number of structured models. Skillnet Business Networks foster collaboration with businesses in a specific area and allow them to access co-funded and tailor made training solutions.
A Mentors Work Initiative offers tailored business mentoring and leadership development which is aimed specifically at SMEs with the aim of helping them to improve productivity and operational capability.
Finally specialised Masterclasses and accredited management courses which lead to a formal executive qualification such as a postgraduate diploma are built directly alongside third level intuitions and industry experts.
With the impacts of climate change now being felt and consumers leading towards environmentally conscious brands, it is vital for companies to build ‘green capability’ within their teams by upskilling employees in sustainable operations, resource efficiency, and working towards lowering a company’s carbon footprint.
A company which has a culture of continuous learning will foster an environment where learning is embedded into daily operations, and will create a positive workplace culture where employee engagement remains high.
Kathryn Kingston is the Coordinator at The Caha Centre, a family resource centre serving the communities of Adrigole, Ardgroom and Tuosist on the Beara Peninsula employs eighteen staff, including family support workers, childcare staff who oversee the centre’s creche, pre-school and afterschool facility, and part-time staff who prepare food for a meals on wheels service.
Kathryn believes that upskilling and ongoing staff training is crucial to their operation.
“If staff members are interested in upskilling they can put in a training request to us and we will cover the cost of it.”
The centre also arranges a number of upskilling sessions themselves which are open to all staff and benefits from access to free training.
“This year there has been a pilot for the Parents Plus programme for adolescents, so we put in for two applications for our staff members for that programme, and Parents Plus will cover the cost of that.” Kathryn says they aim to hold a mixture of in person and online training.
“Six of our team undertook health and well-being training last year, that was held in Listowel, the training was free but we have our own minibus so we were able to use that to help keep costs down.”
Kathryn says the Caha Centre actively supports staff throughout their career with them, and will work with them to help them to upskill.
“One staff member initially came to us on work experience in childcare, she then went onto to study at UCC, she graduated in June and spent the summer working for us running summer camps, and she will start with us full-time in September.
We’ve literally been working with her for the past four years, to help her qualify, we will do whatever we can to help people to work with us.”
Kathryn outlines how another staff member who is employed on a community employment scheme as a support worker has recently undertaken a Start Your Own Business Course in order to set up her own sewing business.
The Caha Centre have supported her throughout this process, working around her training programme.
“At the end of her community employment scheme, she’ll have the skills to run her own business, and hopefully eventually come back and run sewing classes for us. In fact we’re planning to run a course this autumn Bring Along Your Repairs, which she will facilitate.”
The FDC Group who has 53 offices nationwide are committed to supporting their staff in ongoing continual professional development.
Leah Crowley who is a member of FDC’s training department explained how they support staff.
“We offer internal webinars for staff tailored to the key areas we work in. They might be based on tax updates, financial reporting or specific financial services like agri-business. We also do some more generic courses such as communication and management, anything that can aid staff in their day-to-day roles.”
Leah said how staff are encouraged to have input into their training needs.
“We are always looking for feedback, recently somebody had an interest in a specific type of a financial report, so we arranged with one or our trainers for them to facilitate a one-hour webinar. We focus on exactly what our staff want.”
Leah outlined how the company has recently been collecting testimonials from staff on how they feel the training benefits them.
‘We’ve had some good feedback, one person quoted, "It shows they care about their employees, our company doesn't want their employees to become stagnant, they want them to grow.
FDC is always scaling up, and it's good to know that they are supporting their people's knowledge.
It's a great benefit to have training available to us, and ultimately, they will benefit our clients, too."
Replacing an employee typically costs between 1.5 to 2 times their annual salary when factoring in recruiting, initial training, and lost productivity.
Employees consistently cite growth opportunities as a major driver of retention.
When a company invests in its team's professional development, it signals long-term commitment, boosting morale and significantly slashing costly staff turnover.
Helen Riddell
