For those in the business world, the idea of upskilling is familiar, for others, it might be a foreign idea. In a nutshell, upskilling yourself or your team can help you all to be better prepared for whatever 2021 throws out there!
What is Upskilling?
Upskilling is the action of improving work and productivity skills and creating a more effective workforce. Upskilling is an effective way for current employees to refresh and build needed skills for new positions, new roles, and promotions. Some individuals may need to upskill to find a job, especially if they have been out of work for a time. Others may need to refresh their work skills due to circumstances – such as the COVID crisis. People had to upskill, or learn new ways of doing things, to stay safe and ensure the safety of those they work with. New managers need to upskill. The communication skills they used previously may not work as a manager. Plus, they may need to learn new skills such as delegation and holding confidential information.
One of the biggest needs for upskilling is in keeping up with software. Most employees enter the workforce with some knowledge of how to use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Excel, for example. Unfortunately, these tools are constantly updating and changing. Something that might have applied to Excel 2010 may no longer apply to Excel 2019. During the COVID-19 work from home order, lots of people realized they did not know how to use basic tools effectively. Realizing this sparked a wave of people running to eLearning courses to re-learn skills they felt they had already mastered. This is not a bad thing! Having to learn or even re-learn a topic is not something to be ashamed of. Upskilling is something that employers should encourage and employees should take advantage of.
These reasons are part of why Bigger Brains encourages people to get into the habit of reviewing and updating skills. Not only are these habits beneficial in the workforce, but they are also beneficial for those entering the market. Having skills and certifications look great on a resume, but making sure your skills are up to date helps your resume stand out!
Learning More
In order to get ahead, earn new certifications, and upskill Microsoft knowledge, check out Bigger Brains. Bigger Brains and Isograd have recently partnered in creating an efficient package to assess you and your staff’s current Microsoft skills, advising and offering new training to gain more skills within the app, and then re-assessing to prepare for skills certification – and a higher level of productivity! This package is currently available for the Excel app. Word and PowerPoint will be available later this year. To see how this partnership works and explore the topic of upskilling yourself and your employees, watch the Isograd/Bigger Brains webinar here.
