Why it is vital to invest in upskilling your staff

Upskilling staff is vital to running a successful business, especially in a sector struggling to retain and grow its workforce, such as aged care. 

Studies show that staff training increases worker productivity and improves employee satisfaction and motivation, which means that they will be more likely to stay in their role.

With a worldwide skill and worker shortage in the aged care sector, many providers are feeling the pain and struggling to find and keep good staff. 

Organisations often look to fill specialist roles externally, instead of offering training and career advancement to their existing staff.

Renae Sullivan, Business Support Specialist and Consultant, has worked in agency recruitment for four years, both with and for aged care providers. Currently, she is a consultant for change management and growth and can vouch that upskilling your staff is a “no-brainer”. 

“Upskilling means you’re not only going to create the talent that you need internally, but it also means you’re more likely to retain your staff because they want career progression,” Ms Sullivan said. 

“Staff want to further their career and if their organisation doesn’t offer that then they will look elsewhere.

“So the benefits are to try and increase productivity and a higher standard of care, it’s a no-brainer to invest in your current and future staff because it’s all about the people.”

Ways to upskill

Ms Sullivan said ‘cross-pollinating’ care workers with more administration skills allows a business to work towards its goals while also providing opportunities to staff to upskill. 

Enhancing employee capabilities means staff feel more confident in conducting their daily tasks without supervision and may even be able to relieve other staff members of some duties, which will increase the overall efficiency of your team.

“It can be as simple as buddying someone up with a mentor in an internal mentorship program with someone more senior who can pass on that knowledge, or digital courses that can be done online,” Ms Sullivan said. 

“Leaders should really encourage self-training in staff, or even offer smaller training options that are embedded in the day-to-day jobs.

“It’s changing that mindset from ‘this is just a job that we do’ to ‘how do we upskill our staff and make it a learning culture?’”

Top five tips for upskilling your staff

1. Align training to individuals and target it towards closing skill gaps, particularly in those newest to the sector. 
2. Managements should look for opportunities to train staff as you go. This allows workers to 
3. Allow for mentoring. Capable staff should be encouraged to seek a mentor to develop their skills further. An internal mentor program where senior staff can help teach others can help foster a learning environment as a cohort. 
4. Allow breaks between learning modules. For information retention and to avoid burning out your staff, breaking learning up into manageable chunks or sessions are easier to comprehend and can facilitate a higher rate of understanding. This is best achieved through online learning.
5. Ensure online learning will be effective by breaking a learning module into digestible sessions that staff can complete at their own pace. 

The benefits will be tenfold

Ms Sullivan said an organisation should be constantly up to date with the full breadth of their staff’s resumes and “looking at a person rather than just a job description”.

“I think it’s important for aged care providers to be aware of that internal skill set because they’re often submitting tenders for services and they need to be able to provide evidence of the skills of their staff,” she said.

“Having it as a continual practice that people are upskilling, they’re keeping their resumes up to date, it means it won’t be a panic when you need to know if you’ve got that skill set within your organisation.”

Other benefits include:

• A higher level of productivity and efficiency in providing services
• Staff are in the best position to serve customers or the people they care for
• Upskilled staff can fill gaps in your company
• Build a competitive advantage above other businesses 
• Money saved on job advertisements, salary and training
• Staff are more capable of responding to questions, which will lead to a better delivery of customer service

In order to combat the current skills and worker shortage in the aged care sector it is clear upskilling current staff, by encouraging them to “cross-pollinate” between different roles, is not only beneficial but cost-effective to your business. 

Being aware of a cohort’s skillset and utilising their strengths in other parts of the business outside of their role can help them feel like their learning and development is valid and also reduces the need to recruit more staff to fill gaps.

Do you offer your staff opportunities to upskill? Let us know in the comments below.