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Kourtney 00:01
Developing your internal pipeline is going to be huge in the way that our organizations are going to be able to continue to retain and develop their employees.

JoDee 00:12
Welcome to The JoyPowered® Workspace Podcast, where we help HR and business leaders embrace joy in the workplace. I’m JoDee Curtis, owner of Purple Ink, an HR consulting and talent development firm, and with me is my dear friend and co-host, Susan White, owner of Susan Tinder White Consulting, also an HR consulting practice.

JoDee 00:40
In June of 2023 we released a podcast on upskilling — that was episode number 171 — and we talked about how organizations were struggling to attract, recruit, and retain employees at all levels, and that upskilling gives teams the chance to build expertise and also advance the employee’s personal and professional growth. So today, we will be discussing upskilling again, but also talk about reskilling, so I want to define the difference between the two. Upskilling refers to training employees to enhance or develop skills within their current roles, which can help make them more effective or prepared for higher level positions. Reskilling, though, is about teaching employees new skills to transition into entirely different roles, often in response to changes in the business or the industry. And both upskilling and reskilling are essential for future-proofing the workforce. We wanted to address this topic again, because recent data emphasizes the growing importance of both. According to a 2023 report from the World Economic Forum, nearly 50% of workers will require significant reskilling by 2025. Driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, and digital technologies, companies are increasingly recognizing that investing in employee development is not just beneficial for retention, but also essential for maintaining competitiveness. Organizations are implementing tailored training programs, often leveraging online platforms and microlearning modules to address specific skills gaps and facilitate continuous learning. Moreover, the focus on soft skills has gained prominence alongside technical training. A 2023 LinkedIn survey found that employers are prioritizing skills like adaptability, problem solving, and emotional intelligence, acknowledging that these are crucial for navigating the complexities of modern workplaces. As remote and hybrid work models become more standard, effective communication and collaboration skills are also in high demand to meet these needs. Many companies are collaborating with educational institutions and training providers to create customized curriculums that align with industry requirements. These can foster a more agile workforce ready to tackle future challenges.

JoDee 04:00
We’ve invited a guest to join us today to help us explore more options to assist organizations business leaders and the individual employees. Kourtney McCauliff is the director of consulting for Purple Ink and a SHRM-CP. She loves to cultivate cohesive teams and develop strong leaders to lead them.

Susan 04:26
Kourtney, why do you think upskilling and reskilling is so important today?

Kourtney 04:31
I think in so many of our industries, the roles that exist today did not exist 10 years ago, so we are now in high demand of new roles that require different skill sets that maybe our traditional roles did not have previously. So investing in employee development not only helps organizations stay competitive with their competition for employment, but also improves job satisfaction, job retention. I think there are also some skill sets, Susan, that are not taught in school today. Those would be known as our “power skills.” And so having a way that our employees can learn that and upskill their talent in today’s workforce is going to be very beneficial in the internal pipeline for leadership.

Susan 05:18
Oh gosh, Kourtney, I love that. Tell us, what does “power skills” mean?

Kourtney 05:22
So power skills are what some of us might know as soft skills. These are skills that are really essential for today’s leadership, so your communication and other leadership skills, but thinking about skills that are essential in the framework of them being “soft skills” wasn’t really providing organizations a way to know that these are essential and they’re, they’re leadership necessities. And so they’re now being dubbed power skills to show the importance of them in today’s workforce.

Susan 05:52
Thank you.

JoDee 05:53
Love that, and I was not familiar with that term. So I do think that I always cringe when I say it myself, the word “soft skills,” right, as if it’s not important. And yet, people know what that means. So new word for the day for me. So. And Kourtney, how can companies assess which skills even need to be developed? Like, where do they even start with this?

Kourtney 06:23
It starts with a thorough skills gap analysis. And what this means is having your HR teams and your key stakeholders identifying what your current skills are that you have in your organization today, comparing those with what’s needed in the industry, and then highlighting areas of development opportunities. You then can take that for regular feedback, performance reviews, employee assessments. This will help you pinpoint where additional training might be needed for those that are inside your four walls already. This also creates opportunities for your employees to be involved in the discussion about their career goals and helps further guide their decisions on upskilling and reskilling efforts.

JoDee 07:06
I love this. I think, you know, it used to be our tendency to just say, “Oh, we have to go hire someone with these skills,” and not even maybe consider helping our current employees, right?

Kourtney 07:21
Yeah, developing your internal pipeline is going to be huge in the way that our organizations are going to be able to continue to retain and develop their employees.

Susan 07:33
And what I like about that is that you understand who has good work ethic, who shows up on time, who’s dependable — you know that. And when you interview someone who might be a great interviewer, they, you don’t know any of those things. It’s almost like just taking a gamble. You know I love to gamble, but not on investing and hiring people. I think that’s why internal candidates are so attractive, I think, to most employers. So Kourtney, can you walk us through what are some the best ways to implement upskilling and reskilling programs? Any advice for us who really want to do it?

Kourtney 08:08
Yeah, I think successful programs typically blend formal training with practical on the job learning. So this might include utilizing online courses, you might develop a mentorship within your organization, workshops, job rotation so they’re getting crash training to really understand the full scope of the organization, and then project based learning. I encourage folks to leverage systems that they may have access to. You know, systems like learning management tools that can create tailored training paths for your employees. This is a great way to track progress, but also help ensure accountability of saying who’s gone through what courses and, and giving a timeline as when they need to do that. You also could partner with educational institutions that might have programs your team members could attend, or utilizing third party training providers, folks like Purple Ink, so we can enhance program offerings and bring that training to your organization. I would encourage folks to also look at their state. There may be funding available. I know budget is a top priority and concern for a lot of our organizations, and when you hear training, you think dollars, and there are some times that you have funding available for this. Indiana, as an example, has Next Level and Workforce Ready grants that really can help organizations offset these costs and benefit employees and organizations as a whole.

JoDee 09:32
I love that. I’m really glad you brought that up about the funding grants, because I know for years, I mean, I had read in the paper or seen on the news that some big manufacturing companies had gotten these grants to reskill employees or upskill employees, but they’re for everyone. Like, little old Purple Ink has gotten training grants. Right? To help our people go learn new topics and, and new trainings to then share with some of the organizations, and then they have used grants to pay for us to come as well. So it’s really… think, if you think you don’t apply or those aren’t geared to you, think about seeking those out and applying. How can companies create a culture that embraces this continuous learning?

Kourtney 10:35
This culture really starts with leadership. Leaders and organizations need to embrace a growth mindset, a mindset really, where learning is seen as a core value of the company. So this could be done by celebrating learning achievements or offering career development opportunities, ensuring that employees have dedicated time for skill development. It’s part of their daily job requirements, not just something they need to do in their own time or when you have downtime. We know downtime doesn’t exist regularly. And really being transparent about the skills needed for future roles, regular communication around learning opportunities, all of these things help foster an environment where people feel supported in their growth, and that their growth is an important element to their success in the organization.

Susan 11:24
Kourtney, I think it’s really clear that upskilling and reskilling can benefit not only the employee, but certainly the organization. Can you talk a little bit about, maybe, how, what’s the business case? How, what kind of metrics can we see actually impacted by upskilling and reskilling?

Kourtney 11:40
Yeah, when we are upskilling and reskilling our teams, organizations then develop a more agile workforce, this lowers your turnover rates, and this helps reduce recruitment costs as a whole. Employees are ready to then transition to their new roles when necessary, which helps them become more productive a little bit faster in those new roles, rather than waiting for a longer lead time for them to be ready for the position. I think employee satisfaction also tends to go up, and companies are able to see that if they’re doing regular satisfaction surveys, this will show how development opportunities really impact the overall morale of an organization.

JoDee 12:23
And Kourtney, of course, technology is so important in our daily lives anymore. What, what role does technology play in facilitating upskilling and reskilling?

Kourtney 12:36
JoDee, I think technology has made it easier and more easier than ever to really deliver training programs. It helps with the efficiency of these programs through online platforms, e-learning courses and mobile apps allow employees to learn really at their own pace, or as they’re available and as they have time in ways that fit into their specific schedule, not only depending upon or having a lunch and learn be available from twelve to one, it’s the only time this is going to be available for you. I also encourage organizations to look at artificial intelligence. AI is a tool that can help personalize learning pathways for employees. They might be able to help create recommendations around individual career goals or performance data for specific positions that they’re wanting to create this upskilling or reskilling path for.

Susan 13:28
What advice do you have for any employee that might be listening to us today about how to take ownership themselves, getting upskilled or reskilled?

Kourtney 13:39
Yeah, so we talked a lot already today on how organizations can play a role in this, but employees are not off the hook. They definitely need to be proactive in identifying their skill gaps, exploring resources that can help them grow, express an interest in that development or next step or path. They too can set personal development goals and discuss these goals and paths with their managers, so that it’s a two-way communication street. This helps them, really allows them to take advantage of learning opportunities that is offered, whether that’s through the formal training that we’ve talked about, maybe the mentorship program that they have, but it really ultimately empowers employees to stay competitive in today’s job market, the more they can upskill and reskill themselves.

JoDee 14:26
And then, how do upskilling and re skilling programs contribute to diversity and inclusion initiatives?

Kourtney 14:34
I love this question. I think first and foremost, it creates a more equitable career development opportunity for all, so it really allows organizations to target training and so companies can ensure that all employees, no matter their background, no matter their previous skills or education, are able to have opportunities to develop tools for their advancement. Upskilling and reskilling programs help address systematic inequalities that, that allow then empowering of underrepresented groups to move into higher level or more technical roles that they may previously not thought that they had that opportunity.

JoDee 15:12
Right.

Susan 15:13
Sure, that makes sense. So I know many of our listeners who maybe have not put a lot of emphasis on this up to now, want to for the future, they might want to explore it. What industries are leading the way, you think, on upskilling and reskilling and any particular companies that people want to go out look at as a case study?

Kourtney 15:32
Yeah, so when you think about roles that are here today that maybe weren’t here 10 or 15 years ago, looking at our technology industries, our finance teams, our manufacturing, those are industries that have particularly needed to be proactive due to just fast pace and innovation and disruption in their fields of changes from a decade ago to today, but we are seeing a rise in upskilling initiatives in our healthcare, in our retail, or even logistics, as they are forced to adopt to new technology advancements or even the changing of what our clients or customer expectations are, they’re needing to really redevelop their current workforce.

JoDee 16:15
I think if we just take the topic of AI, right, I would say most people globally right now could use upskilling or even reskilling to learn more about AI. And yet, you hear about so many people who are in fear that technology will take over their jobs, or, you know, there’s a union out there as we record this conversation who has said, we don’t want to allow technology to be involved in our jobs. Well, how about if the companies and/or the employees take the initiative to think about, how can I learn more about AI and/or technology to help me in my role, not to replace me, right? Seems like a simple area that we might be able to do this in.

Kourtney 17:12
Yeah, I love that. How to help me in my role. It’s not a replacement of my role, but it’s assistance.

JoDee 17:18
Right.

Susan 17:19
A friend of mine worked at Hearst Corporation, that has all of those magazines. And one of the things that they were doing that they realized they needed app developers terribly, and the ability to find app developers that want to work in New York City, very, very difficult. So they opened it up to their employees, and they actually started a program where employees could learn how to do this. They were taken off the current jobs, focused on it, and after so many months, they would be the feeder group into this really important job they couldn’t fill externally. I think companies that are really taking this seriously are devoting the time, the resources, and helping their employees learn the skills without any kind of a miss of employment or anything like that.

Kourtney 18:01
That’s a great example.

JoDee 18:03
Kourtney, we always like to ask our guests a question about JoyPower. So what was your last JoyPowered® moment at work?

Kourtney 18:14
Just one? This past week, I think, has all brought me joy. We have recently onboarded a new Inkster to the Purple Ink team, and I have been able to have the opportunity to mentor and train and develop a little bit in some aspects of her role. And anytime I get to mentor or develop, it brings me great joy. And so I felt JoyPowered® all week being able to do that.

JoDee 18:39
I love it. Love it.

Susan 18:41
Kourtney, if our listeners wish to learn more about upskilling and reskilling or just have a conversation with you in greater depth, what’s the best way for them to reach you?

Kourtney 18:51
Yeah, I would love to continue the conversation. So they could find me on LinkedIn at K. McCauliff. You could also email me directly at kourtney at purpleinkllc.com, and that is Kourtney with a K, or you can find me through the Purple Ink website as well.

Susan 19:09
Great. Thank you so much for being here.

Kourtney 19:12
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Susan 19:14
JoDee, we have a listener question today. “What was your experience going from a SHRM-CP to a SHRM-SCP? Do you have any tips for us?”

JoDee 19:25
Well, I have to admit, I didn’t go from a CP to an SCP. I just went for the SHRM-SCP. So I just wanted to make it clear to people who might be interested in this certification that you don’t have to take the CP first. You can just go directly to sit for the SHRM-SCP exam. Susan, was that the same for you?

Susan 19:59
Actually, I, I do have a SHRM-SCP, but I got it because I had originally had a an HRCI, the Human Resource Certification Institute, SPHR, the Senior Professional Human Resources. When HRCI and SHRM split a few years ago, they gave you an opportunity, a window to also get your SHRM-SCP without taking the exam. So I actually never was a SHRM-CP before I became a SHRM-SCP. But in reality, I didn’t take the assessment. I had taken the assessment to become a HRCI SPHR. I never took the PHR. So, long answer to that…

JoDee 20:43
No, that’s okay, and actually, that’s my story as well, too, that I was grandfathered in under that program. But I thought, since the question came up, that we would explain these two if people are thinking about getting SHRM certified. So SHRM-CP is for individuals performing HR or HR-related duties or pursuing a career in human resources, certainly basic work and knowledge in HR is recommended. If I hadn’t been working in HR first, I don’t know that I would feel comfortable just sitting for that, but good for you if or some of our listeners who want to just go straight to that. Now, the SHRM-SCP is recommended for individuals with a work history of at least three years performing strategic-level HR or HR really related duties, or more. It could be someone who has the SHRM-CP who has held that credential for at least three years, and they’re working in or are in the process of transitioning to a strategic-level role. If your current or most recent work in HR is operational in nature, you know, maybe you’re implementing policies, serving as the HR point of contact for staff, or performing day to day HR functions, and maybe even your work is more specialized versus general, you might want to consider the SHRM-CP. If your current or most recent work in HR is strategic in nature, maybe where you’re creating the policies or you’re executing all integrated HR operations, directing the HR enterprise, or lead the alignment of HR strategies to organizational goals, then the SCP is likely a better fit for you. And of course, you can find more information on this at shrm.org.

Susan 23:04
Sure, and I’ll just mention, if you are interested in getting another very popular credential, you can certainly go to HRCI, Human Resource Certification Institute, at hrci.org.

JoDee 23:18
In our in the news segment today, according to a study by Preston Partners, a developmental and consulting company, 41% of parents say that most days they are so stressed they cannot function, and 48% of them say that most of their days their stress is completely overwhelming compared to other adults who are non-parents. Those are crazy high numbers. The CEO of Preston Partners, Chantell Preston, shares hints for working parents on how to balance work, life, and parenthood. Susan, why don’t we go back and forth on some of her tips?

Susan 23:20
Sure, I think these are good recommendations. Number one, communicate your purpose. Share with your children why you work and why it’s important to you, helping them understand your motivations. A quick story I think I may have mentioned in a prior podcast. I can remember I used to, when I was managing employment and employee relations for a group of banks, I can remember coming home at night. At the dinner table, we’d all have to go around, how was your day? I’d be like, oh man, was it hard. Oh man, lot of… You know, I would be like, moving the sludge around every day. I mean, I came home and I, I’d kind of, like, vent about how difficult things were, and I realized my kids were getting scared, like, oh, Mom, I’m sorry you have to go to work. And I thought, I gotta have a mental shift here. I need to talk about the positives in my job, because they shouldn’t feel the stress that I was feeling. And I did. I changed up my dialogue very intentionally about, Ihad a day of challenges. I think I solved an issue or two. I changed my, my talk to being more positive.

JoDee 25:05
I love that, too. I think it can be very easy for kids to think of, you know, we get time with mom or dad, or they have to go to work, and that’s bad. And so sharing why you think that’s important. Now I will tell you, I think I’ve told this story a long, long time ago on the podcast also, but a friend of mine who had always worked when her kids were growing up, and she would tell them all the time, which nothing wrong with saying this, but she would always say, “Mommy works so that we can go on nice vacations and, and give nice gifts.” So one day when our kids were in high school, she was telling them that she was thinking about quitting work, and her oldest daughter started crying and, and my friend said, “Well, I thought you’d be thrilled that I get to spend more time with you,” and her daughter said, “Then we won’t ever get to go on vacations or get nice gifts.” Like, in her mind, that was, was the purpose, right, purpose of work. So anyway, our number two tip is think about quality time over quantity. And I think inherently we know this, right, but it doesn’t always help our guilt, feeling like we should be wherever we’re not, right? So focus on being present during quality moments, both at work and at home, rather than feeling guilty about not being at one place or the other.

Susan 26:48
I think that’s fair. It’s hard to do, but takes some self-coaching. Number three tip, integrate work and home strategies. You know, apply effective work strategies. The things that you’re doing in the workplace every day, apply it to the home, like good time management skills and being organized and setting, you know, an agenda. What are we gonna accomplish on the weekend? I think that can really help you take what the strengths are of home and of work and integrate them into each other. I can remember telling my kids I was thinking about putting them on a performance improvement plan when we were having problems at all with, with some behaviors, similar to what I did at work. You know what? They got it. They understood that there was going to be consequences, and here’s what I need to see you do by, in the next week for you to get to go to whatever party it was.

JoDee 27:36
I love that. That’s hilarious. Number four is leading by example, right? Help your kids understand the value of a strong work ethic and also passion for your career, right, doing things like showing up at work on time or getting a project completed, and show and explain to your children the value of enjoying and finding purpose in their work.

Susan 28:06
That is such a gift. I love that tip. The fifth and final tip in this article was leverage support systems. Utilize your support network to help balance the demands of work and family life effectively. I think we all do need to have a network of other parents that we can share rides, share on surprise snow days and different things where we, you know, have to stay at home. You know, having partnerships, I’ll do it this time if you could do it tomorrow, is really, really helpful, I think, to survival. But the same thing in the workplace. You know, there’s going to be times you want to leave early to go, to go to different sporting events. And it’s like, you know what, you know somebody else whose son plays soccer, yours plays football. How can I help cover you during that season if you can help cover for me? I think those are really good survival skills, and I think strengthens our ability to handle that stress.

JoDee 28:57
Yeah, love it. Love it. So thanks for listening today. Tune in next time and make it a JoyPowered® day.

Susan 29:06
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