The Reskilling Imperative: How To Future-Proof Your Workforce With Cloud Skills

Jon Flaherty, Chief Executive Officer - Americas, Revolent Group.

How important is reskilling? And what actionable steps can tech leaders take to equip their workforces with in-demand cloud skills to close the skills gap?

How important is reskilling?

The World Economic Forum estimates that, between 2020 and 2025, an astounding half of the globe’s total workforce will need reskilling. Gartner’s data further reveals that the skills required for any job increase by 10% year-over-year.

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Cloud technology has the power to transform businesses, but without the right talent, it’s simply impossible to succeed. While the skills gap is affecting every sector—from healthcare to manufacturing and beyond—it’s particularly vital that tech business leaders embed the reskilling imperative into their core activities, given the rapid pace of digital transformation and innovation that we’re seeing (especially in cloud computing). Organizations that embrace this will see:

• Better talent utilization by moving their employees to more in-demand technologies.

• Improved employee retention rates by providing career development opportunities.

• Greater cost-effectiveness as hiring in-demand cloud talent is incredibly difficult and costly.

And reskilling isn’t just something that employers need—it’s also something that employees expect. Opportunities to learn and grow now rank firmly as the top driver of a great working culture, according to LinkedIn’s 2022 Workplace Learning Report.

With that in mind, here are five steps you can take to embed the reskilling imperative across all levels and functions of your organization.

1. Map out your workforce development needs.

Do you know the specific roles that will help you achieve your strategic business goals—not only today but over the next two to three years, too?

This might seem like an obvious first step, but it’s important that you take inventory of what skills your existing team has. Use macro-level labor data to conduct a detailed skills and competency assessment and cement this with a strategic approach, complete with implementation plans, to make sure it gets actioned.

You are likely to discover that, due to the rapid developments in cloud technologies, some of your employees will need reskilling from one tech stack into another.

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“One way of addressing those barriers is by showcasing how valuable their transferable soft skills are.”

2. Set up professional development schemes.

For every new role you require, consider whether there is an existing role within the business that could be upgraded. Approach the people in these roles and offer them an opportunity to reskill. Not only will this set your workforce up for future success, but it will also drive employee engagement and improve retention rates, which is another serious challenge facing the tech sector. For instance, learning and development opportunities were one of the top reasons among Gen-Zs and millennials for choosing an employer, according to a recent survey by Deloitte.

However, bear in mind that some people may be daunted by the prospect of reskilling. This is why it’s important to break down their potential barriers of perception and carve out some time during their working hours when they can train—to ensure that it doesn’t eat into their personal time or responsibilities at home.

One way of addressing those barriers is by showcasing how valuable their transferable soft skills are. Skills like effective communication and consultancy skills, stakeholder management and project management will always be in-demand and may give them the confidence boost needed to start learning new technology.

3. Prioritize certifications over a university degree.

To meet the rising demand for cloud specialists, you should prioritize cloud certifications and experience in tech over a university degree. Not only will this make your job ads more accessible to a wider pool of candidates, but you’re also likely to get people who are passionate about developing their skills and take a proactive approach to their learning.

As for your existing employees, paying for their cloud certifications is a great way to incentivize them to learn new and in-demand skills. In fact, a recent survey carried out by Mason Frank on careers and hiring trends within one of the leading cloud ecosystems, Salesforce, revealed that only 60% of employers pay for the Salesforce certifications in full, while 86% of the professionals surveyed said they believed that Salesforce certifications help them stand out in a competitive job market.

4. Establish leadership training schemes to bring fresh ideas to the table.

It’s no secret that tech has historically struggled to attract more women and professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds to develop long-term, sustainable careers in tech. But the workforce of today and tomorrow needs to reflect the global, interconnected world we live in. With the rising demands for companies to continually innovate, fresh ideas and new perspectives have become as important as tech skills. And there’s data to back this up, too—research by McKinsey shows that teams that don’t have gender and ethnically-diverse executives are 27% more likely to lose profits.

Although there are a lot of good initiatives out there, companies could be doing more to encourage career progression for minority groups within their workforce. For example, businesses could set up leadership training schemes tailored specifically for employees from these minority groups and invite those already in leadership positions to give talks and inspire others to progress.

5. Work with a learning and development partner.

It can be daunting to do all of this on your own—after all, embedding reskilling programs across your organization is a specialist skill in itself! To help, consider employing a learning and development specialist—it’s a role that’s seen a huge rise in demand, up by 94% between July and September 2021, compared to the previous quarter. Alternatively, consider working with a talent creation and enablement company that can help you reskill your employees from one tech stack into another or upskill them to gain more advanced skills and certifications in a technology they already command—without losing productivity or burdening more senior members of the team with the responsibility of upskilling junior hires.

(Forbes - https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/01/05/the-reskilling-imperative-how-to-future-proof-your-workforce-with-cloud-skills/?sh=7fa0b1872a67)