Exploring Upskilling and Reskilling Options in Today’s Job Market
By: Dilara Barthel
Tags: Professional Development, Reskilling, Employment, Upskilling

Co-written by K.Sirin Meydanli

By Caitlyn Wilson via Unsplash

Recently, I watched; a racing biopic focused on the newly manufactured Ford Shelby GT40 to enter the Le Mans race in the mid-1960s. Carroll Shelby, a former racecar driver, sports car manufacturer, agreed to manufacture a car for Ford with Ken Miles British, a racecar driver. The main idea was to bring the Ford GT40 MK II to the same performance level as its European counterparts and rivals like Ferrari. The only issue was that Ford’s core competencies at the time were not focused on entering their vehicles to one of the world’s toughest races, such as the Le Mans. This movie, in my mind, formed a good metaphor for professional development. In the film, the newly manufactured GT40 series was a complete transformation from the former versions of the Ford vehicles, with properties (another word for our skill sets) to make the car lighter and faster. While these so-called new skills introduced by Shelby motors were at first disruptive to Ford executives, it took the company to win at the 1966 Le Mans. It transformed Ford and Shelby Motors into an equally large player in motorsports. This success incentivized Ford to continue with their newly gained competency in motorsports.¹ A small snippet of the Ford GT40 story, in that sense, was a metaphor, to how upskilling and reskilling processes have become a reality of today’s competitive job market, a necessity to stay in the game.

McKinsey Global Institute’s study estimated that executives would need a fully or partially reskilled workforce, 14%, and 40% respectively, by 2020.² With the rise in smart technology for manufacturing and service industries, according to the World Economic Forum White paper published in 2017, about 35% of skills required for the job market will have already shifted by this year, 2020.³ Today, with the added pressure of a less accessible job market due to COVID-19, we are scrambling to arm ourselves with new skills or are being instructed by our employers to do so. In today’s context, we are rallying to enter or remain in the workforce and adapt to the new working style, namely the online workplace. In the meantime, we have also seen a steep rise in online platforms and resources available for individuals and entities to engage their employees in new skill training. In most cases, those resources have played an essential accelerating role in our learning process of soft, cognitive, and digital literacy skills. However, the challenges we face on the topic are twofold. First, picking the reskilling field, then right learning strategies and resources, and being consistent on what we are trying to achieve, either for our career or for personal lives. Second, the challenge is to find incentives to stick to a meaningful and consistent routine in skill development.

A modified version of photo By Ashley Edwards via Unsplash

Additionally, we are in a world where resources are abundant, and information is ubiquitous, perfect, right? Nowadays we can access a plethora of resources in different formats that fit our learning style. One of these formats is online course platforms that provide us content in any specialization. Some of these platforms include Coursera, Udemy, Edx, etc. However, does it mean that it is enough to immerse ourselves in those platforms to up-skill or reskill on a field? Like the impossibility of learning to swim by watching tutorials, any new knowledge that we are trying to obtain remains superficial without real practice. Only adequate practice can make it possible to gain a new skill. As Malcolm Gladwell refers to the “10,000-hour” rule to emphasize that practice is more important than innate talent.⁴ But choosing the wrong reskilling fields and resources might result in a waste of all our efforts and time clinging to our decisions. So, thinking about questions like what matters can simplify the individual prioritizing process and support our reward system. As James Clear’s notes say, “Without hard work, a great strategy remains a dream. Without a great strategy, hard work becomes a nightmare.” strategically choosing the upskilling area and working hard are complementary to each other.⁵ From the Ford vs. Ferrari lines, “Who are you?” might be the relevant starting point to decide our career directions from individuals’ perspectives. Similarly, on the Ford side, even though new motor technologies were disruptive for them, they had related core competency in the car industry.

With such pressures in our lives, remaining or entering the current workforce, an emerging challenge is incentivizing reskilling, either from an employer or from within. A survey conducted by the Henderson Institute by the Boston Consulting Group in 2019 explores the levels at which individuals (tot. 336,000 respondents) are devoting themselves to reskilling. The respondents, who fall in the groups of proactive adapters (61%), have a tendency to follow the significant trend shifts in technology and globalization and devote about a few weeks to a few months to learn new skills.⁶ Part of the proactive adapters has identified securing livelihood and employment as a key incentive. Other respondents have indicated that lack of time is also a significant factor that affects motivation to allocate time and resources to reskilling.⁶ Reskilling employees can have a substantial contribution to employee satisfaction and avoid turnover in companies. So far, some useful strategies to incentivize reskilling and upskilling in the workforce are using reward systems or simply recognizing work done by team members, or motivating employees during performance appraisals. For instance, open company platforms that make employees’ online learning activities visible can be an example of recognition. In companies supporting upskilling, those available platforms can lead to collaboration opportunities with colleagues or team leaders. In the film, the success was a production of two highly motivated people on the same purpose, similarly professional paths that need collaboration with like-minded people.

When all the current circumstances shed light on the importance of reskilling or upskilling, planning it wisely might give us a clearer picture of how to integrate reskilling or upskilling into our careers. Reward systems as self-discipline tools and choosing the right specialties and resources, along with the real practice, are worthy of considering creating attainable upskill planning.

What else do you think is crucial to define priorities and to make the upskilling process more beneficial and realistic?

Good luck to all of us who are passionate about constant learning!