January 2025 - Amy | Human potential platform
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Month: January 2025

Upskilling: How to Improve Career Development in Your Organization as an L&D Manager and HR

Posted on by by Mariia Shevchenko, CEO at Amy

Career advancement is driven by skills development. Employees build their expertise, take on new responsibilities, and stay engaged in their roles. Regular learning and upskilling is a win-win for individual growth and organizational success:

  • Employees with the right skills feel confident to face challenges, pursue leadership opportunities, and contribute more effectively to their team. They have a clear path forward.
  • For organizations, promoting a skills development culture boosts employee satisfaction, productivity, and long-term retention. By integrating career development into the company’s learning and development strategy, businesses prepare workers for today’s and tomorrow’s demands. 

This guide will give you actionable strategies to enhance employee career development and focus on how skill improvement can impact employee satisfaction and company success.

Why are career development initiatives so important?

Career advancement is a key motivator for employees, and the absence of growth opportunities is one of the primary reasons people switch jobs. Employees remain loyal to their current employers if provided with learning and development support. 

To retain top talent and build a thriving workforce, companies must empower employees to take control of their career growth, actively act on their feedback, and offer clear, structured roadmaps for career advancement. Well-defined career development within your organization is a strategic necessity in a competitive business environment. Career development translates to:

  • Higher retention rates
  • Increased productivity
  • More engaged teams for organizations 

As an HR or Learning & Development manager, you are central to shaping these opportunities with upskilling programs.

What does upskilling mean?

Upskilling is about learning additional skills to enhance job performance and be ready for new challenges. Upskilling equips employees with the mastery needed for the organization’s current and future success, bridging the gap between existing capabilities and organizational demands. 

Benefits of upskilling programs

  • Career progression. Employees advance within their current roles or explore new positions within the organization when they unlock their full potential and have the right skills. They aim for career growth and personal development. Cultivating a culture of continuous learning helps employees see the company’s commitment to growth, and they are more likely to take the initiative in their development, driving innovation.
  • Ability to adapt to change. As industries change, the workforce needs to keep up to stay relevant in a world that is getting more automated. Teams that constantly build new skills can adapt better when the market shifts. Companies with skilled, flexible employees are ready to handle unexpected challenges, remaining strong and competitive. This says that upskilling isn’t just about making employees more experienced at their jobs. A solid upskilling program helps create a workforce that quickly adjusts to trends, reducing the impact of sudden industry changes.
  • Increased job satisfaction. With better skills, employees can tackle tougher tasks, make the most of cutting-edge technologies, and simply feel happy by trying something new. This not only allows them to perform better but also brings big benefits to organization development, such as enhanced retention and employer brand strengthening. 

Upskilling helps companies adapt to changing market conditions, retain top talent, and build a more resilient workforce. By prioritizing and investing in employee learning and development, companies set the stage for long-term success.

Common mistakes of upskilling programs

Upskilling programs sometimes fail to meet expectations. Recognizing common barriers can lead to more effective HR strategies and L&D strategies that drive employee growth. 

  • Upskilling shouldn’t stand alone. It must connect with performance management and career development. When aligned, employees see how new skills advance their careers and fit organizational goals. Disconnected efforts leave them uncertain about their growth path. Poor integration with daily work, lack of personalized learning plans, and inadequate tracking can slow down or cause upskilling programs to fail. Addressing these issues ensures that initiatives achieve their goals.
    Amy human potential platform ties employee needs to business ones with customized self-assessments, ensuring every L&D investment delivers measurable returns.
  • Upskilling requires regular feedback. Without follow-up, employees might not fully integrate new knowledge, leading to weak outcomes. They might lose interest. Strong support from a manager reinforces learning and ensures development program success. Our platform helps you track progress through regular reports and check-ins to ensure employees are staying on course. With dashboards, data analysis, and ongoing feedback, we adjust goals and improve results.
  • Upskilling works better with support. Ongoing coaching is crucial for the process of defining and gaining skills. Amy human potential platform offers 1:1 coaching with experts based on your needs to support employees on their way. 

Overcoming these challenges requires a strategic approach. Upskilling should be integrated with business goals, supported by mentorship, and involve regular feedback. Personalized learning paths and real-time assessments are essential. As a result, companies can build skilled, motivated, and adaptable teams. Investing in upskilling is investing in your company’s future.

employee sitting at the table and upskilling

How organizations can upskill employees to enhance career development

  1. Assess skill gaps and priorities. Identify the critical skills your organization needs by conducting a skill gap analysis. Evaluate current abilities and future demands to ensure your upskilling efforts address focus areas. Set KPIs to measure the success of the upskilling program.
    Help your employees assess their skills if they are stuck. Use career coaching tools like the ones Amy offers—the Skill Development Plan and Skills Gap Analysis self-assessments to create a skills development plan, define gaps, and bridge them through courses and training programs.
  2. Create personalized development plans. Map skills to an employee’s career plan and develop training initiatives that target the specific skill gaps identified. Understand your employees’ career goals and align them with company objectives through tailored development plans. This ensures resources are directed effectively and supports individual growth. To provide a well-rounded perspective, incorporate various learning methods, including online courses, mentorship opportunities, or in-house workshops.
    Lengthy training programs without clear milestones can leave employees feeling frustrated. Companies should establish a clear progression path with defined performance metrics to prevent this. Employees can better understand their development journey if you outline the required competencies for various job levels.
  3. Provide resources, like access to training materials and software. While coaching is an impactful way to close skill gaps, boost confidence, and unlock potential, it’s just one of many valuable strategies and methods: e-learning, on-the-job learning, instructor-led training, gamification, and others.
    Use microlearning bite-sized modules to fit knowledge building into a busy schedule. Offer mentoring or internal subject matter experts for support. Create career opportunities for employees to work on projects outside their roles. Promote internal mobility to fill temporary roles. Looking at different areas of the business helps employees develop a broader skill set and understand how various functions work together.
  4. Allocate time for learning. Dedicate work hours to skill development, making it easier for employees to focus on learning without intruding on personal time. Dynamic learning options, like microlearning, can enhance engagement and flexibility.
  5. Provide regular feedback and career conversations. Train managers to have ongoing career development discussions. Use performance reviews to set development goals (skills including) and review progress. Regular feedback helps employees understand their strengths and areas for improvement.
  6. Measure the progress and adjust the process. Track employee development, gather feedback, and assess how upskilling initiatives enhance individual performance and overall organizational success. Regularly adjust your upskilling strategy based on feedback and shifting business priorities. Keep a pulse on emerging skills and trends to ensure your organization remains flexible and well-prepared for market changes. 

ROI, or how to measure career development initiatives

To measure upskilling program outcomes, here are some metrics to track:

  1. Employee retention rates. Monitor whether employees stay longer after implementing development programs.
  2. Promotion rates. Track the number of promotions as a result of skill development initiatives.
  3. Employee satisfaction scores. Use surveys to rate employee satisfaction with career development opportunities.
  4. Business performance metrics. Assess whether improved skills lead to better business outcomes, such as increased sales or customer satisfaction.

Upskilling delivers a strong return on investment (ROI) by creating a culture focused on constant improvement and building an agile and resilient workforce. While the costs in time and resources may seem steep at first, the long-term benefits—improved performance and higher retention—far exceed these initial investments. In the end, upskilling isn’t just an expense. It’s a contribution to the future success. 

Invest in your people with Amy

Companies that prioritize employee development see productivity increases, higher engagement, and lower turnover. This means that improving career development in your organization will pay off in employee loyalty and performance. Plus, retaining talent cuts recruitment costs as the cost of upskilling is smaller than the cost of hiring new people, shortens onboarding, and builds stronger teams. By nurturing a culture of development, you equip your employees with the tools they need to grow—and your organization with the agility to thrive in a competitive market. 

Amy can assist you on your way to defining KPIs, establishing goals for team members, monitoring progress, and supporting development initiatives that align with overall business objectives. Start working toward employees’ career development today. 

How Skills Development Can Help Your Career Growth

Posted on by by Nataliya Melnyk, Marketer at Amy

Skills power your career. They are what keep you moving forward to new opportunities. Think of skills as the fuel that runs the engine of career goals, driving you along the career path. Without them, you can’t get far. And the better you build skills, the further you can go. Keeping your skills sharp is essential to get promoted or stay relevant in a field. 

This guide will explain why skills matter and how to develop them effectively. 

Why skills matter

Today, professionals and leaders must adopt a growth mindset—an open, proactive approach to learning and evolving. This means consistently improving your skills and staying on top of industry trends. By committing to upskilling, you are not just keeping up but staying ahead. Without the right skills, you might find yourself stuck or moving slowly. With the right skills, you are accelerating in:

  1. Adaptability. The job market is constantly shifting, and so are the priorities of employers. More than ever, companies seek candidates with specialized skills tailored to their unique needs. The days when general skills could catch an employer’s eye are fading. By mastering the sought-after, industry-specific skills, you stand out as the best fit for your current or desired role.
  2. Value as a professional. To give yourself a competitive edge, identify what is in demand. Then, invest your time and energy in developing those areas. By focusing on the skills that matter most, you will not only enhance your career prospects but also position yourself as a valuable asset in an organization or in the labor market.
  3. Career advancement. Skills are the cornerstone of a successful career. They help you perform your job efficiently. But the real magic happens when you grow your skills—it can lead to a better salary, a leadership position, or the chance to take on thrilling projects. Skills development prepares you for future roles and opens doors to career opportunities you might not have considered. 

Consider the example of a mid-level software developer who had been stuck in their role for three years. Recognizing that many higher positions required knowledge of cloud computing, they decided to enroll in a cloud computing course, complete several projects, and earn a certification. Within four months, this proactive effort led to a promotion to a senior developer role with a significant pay raise.

Difference between upskilling, reskilling, and skills development

  • Upskilling means improving existing skills within your current role or industry to strengthen your expertise or take on new responsibilities with targeted training. An example is a UI/UX designer mastering a new advanced AI prototyping tool to work on more complex projects within their company.
  • Reskilling takes more radical action. It’s about building a new skill set for a role that entirely differs from your previous roles. Take an administrative assistant who becomes a project coordinator after training in project management methodologies. Another example can be an HR specialist transitioning into a Learning & Development (L&D) role by acquiring new skills in instructional design and e-learning technologies.
  • Skills development is a general, broader process of gaining new skills and improving existing ones. This approach refers to continuous learning and a wider range of skills across various areas. Imagine a marketing professional learning coding and data visualization to better analyze campaign performance and create interactive reports. While their primary role doesn’t require these technical skills, gaining them allows for more effective communication of data-driven insights. Another example for a marketer could be taking a project management course to deepen their organizational skills that serve well in various work environments. 

Transferable skills as a basis for expanding expertise

Transferable skills are the abilities and talents you can carry from one role to another, regardless of the industry. They are not limited to a single job but come in handy across different sectors. Basically, these are skills you can take with you wherever you go. Common examples are problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and time management skills, which are soft skills. Hard skills can apply as well. They make you adaptable to changes in case a career shift happens. 

How to identify your transferable skills?

  • Review past or current roles: what skills did you use or do you use that could apply to other roles?
  • Self-assessment tools: try career coaching services like the Amy human potential platform to help identify your core transferable skills.
  • Consider non-work experiences: skills gained from volunteering or hobbies can also be transferable.

Let’s review the success story of transferable skills—an English teacher transitioning to a tech writer. A teacher showcased their skills in English language, lesson planning, and mentoring. In addition, the ability to explain complex concepts clearly made them a perfect fit for a new role. 

Transferable skills can make you a strong candidate for promotions or new roles that require a broader skill set. Skills like tech skills—basic coding, data analysis, and digital marketing—are becoming valuable across many fields.

To sum up, seeking extra training in areas that complement your mastery can accelerate your path to career success. But how to figure out skill gaps?

employees upskilling

How to identify the right skills and map them to your career plan?

Before you start developing new skills, identify the ones that will have an impact on your career:

  1. Assess your current skills. Start by taking a good look at your hard and soft skills. Hard skills are the technical abilities you have picked up, while soft skills are things like teamwork and communication. The trick is finding out how these skills match the field you aim for. Ask yourself reflective questions. What skills do you use daily? Which ones are you comfortable with, and which ones need improvement? 
    Career coaching tools can be a big help here. For example, Amy Skill Development Plan and Skills Gap Analysis self-assessments can guide you in pinpointing what skills you have, what you are missing, and how to fill those gaps with courses or training programs.
  2. Look at job descriptions and industry trends to better define gaps in your skill set. If you have a specific role or promotion in mind, review the job descriptions for that position. What skills are repeatedly mentioned? What skills are you missing?
    Industry trends also support upskilling. Are there emerging skills or technologies becoming essential in your field?
    At this stage, don’t forget your transferable skills. By clearly connecting your experience—whether in a new domain or not—to your desired role, you can then focus on acquiring the additional skills needed.
  3. Seek feedback. Your colleagues or mentors might highlight talents you haven’t considered. You can ask a manager for a planned evaluation to spot skills together and map them to your career plan.
  4. Outline your upskilling strategy for learning. Look at various education and training opportunities to fill in your gaps. Once you have pinpointed the knowledge gaps, design a learning path to address them or ask your company’s HR or L&D specialist to assist. Decide which skills to tackle first, what will come next, and the best resources or platforms to acquire these skills.
  5. Map skills to a career plan. Summarize skill gaps for upskilling or reskilling by mapping them to your short-term and long-term career goals. Specify resources based on learning strategy and timing. Add educational and training options to close gaps. Outline a structured curriculum and expected results. Some companies provide access to career development programs or upskilling platforms. Ask your HR representative or your manager about any available offerings.

How to develop the skills mapped?

Skills for career development require actions. Here is how to build your skills:

  1. Follow your career plan and goals. Work towards your defined goals and measure your progress accordingly.
  2. Take professional development courses. Online platforms offer courses on many skills. Look for ones with good reviews and credible instructors. In addition, benefit from company training. Many companies have experts in different fields who train on specialized skill sets. Check with your manager about what your company offers and which courses fit best for your professional growth.
  3. Practice regularly. Skills are best built with practice. If you are learning a new tool, use it daily. If it’s public speaking, find opportunities to present at work. If you are someone who thrives with hands-on practice, dive into a project that lets you work on the skills you aim to develop. This can be an existing project at work or an initiative outside the office. This way, you will gradually build a portfolio showcasing your growing expertise.
  4. Find a mentor. A mentor can provide guidance as you look for relevant resources, share their experiences as they may already have the skills you are working on, and help you navigate challenges as you build new skills.
  5. Be active with networking. Networking with others in your field can expose you to new ideas and solutions.
  6. Analyze and improve. Reflect on what went well and what could be done differently for better results. 

Keep learning, keep growing—with Amy by your side

Your career is closely tied to your skills. By continuously improving them, you grow in your field, as enhanced skills make you a strong candidate for promotions and leadership positions. If you want to switch roles, learning the required skills for a new initiative can make the transition smoother.

Use Amy human potential platform to identify the skills that matter, commit to learning, and watch the career opportunities unfold.