One of the biggest headaches for business owners today is figuring out how to keep their employees’ skills fresh and relevant.
And in a world where it seems like a groundbreaking technological advancement is happening at each and every moment, this isn’t getting any less important.
What’s more, the pace of this change is not going to slow down – at least not anytime soon.
That being said, one of the best things you can do to counteract this is to build a workforce that can adapt to whatever comes next.
Because whether you like it or not, in today’s world, technology can transform overnight, customer expectations tend to evolve rapidly, and market disruptions can appear without warning.
And your employees – who were all perfectly qualified when you hired them – may not have all the skills they need to address these looming challenges.
At this point, many business owners struggle to decide whether to focus on upskilling vs. reskilling, as oftentimes, there are just so many things to consider.
Make the right call, and you’ll be able to build a more agile, engaged team that feels valued and invested in and gives you a competitive edge.
But if you make the wrong decisions in this department, you may find yourself watching your best talent walk out the door while struggling to fill widening skill gaps.
So, if you want to invest in your team, but you’re having a hard time comparing upskilling vs. reskilling, or you’re just curious about the difference between upskilling and reskilling, then you’re not going to want to miss this article.
What’s the Difference Between Upskilling vs. Reskilling?
When we talk about developing employees’ skills, the terms upskilling and reskilling often get used interchangeably.
But when you compare upskilling vs. reskilling, you’ll quickly realize that they represent fundamentally different approaches.
Upskilling is about enhancement, as it involves building upon an employee’s existing knowledge and skills to make them more proficient or advanced in their current role.
Think of it as vertical growth, which refers to deepening expertise in an already established direction.
When you upskill employees, you’re essentially saying, “We value what you already know, and we want to help you become even better at it.”
Reskilling, on the other hand, represents transformation, as this approach involves teaching employees entirely new skills that may enable them to take on different roles.
This is more like what we would call horizontal growth, which refers to expanding employees’ capabilities in new directions.
When you reskill employees, you’re saying, “We value you as a person, and we want to help you develop in an entirely new direction.”
Let’s consider a practical example: Imagine you have a team of customer service representatives who primarily handle phone inquiries.
Upskilling might involve training them in advanced conflict resolution techniques or teaching them to use a new customer relationship management system. Their core role remains the same, but they become more effective at it.
On the other hand, reskilling that same team might involve teaching them programming skills or training them in data analysis so they can transition into more technical roles where their fundamental job functions change completely.
The distinction matters because these approaches require different investments of time and resources, create different outcomes for your business, and address different types of skill gaps.
And they also impact employee experiences differently.
Upskilling tends to feel more like a natural progression, while reskilling might feel more disruptive, but is potentially more exciting.
In any case, now that you understand the difference between upskilling vs. reskilling, let’s dive in further and figure out the best way to invest in your most valuable asset – your team.
When Is it Best to Focus on Upskilling?
When it’s implemented in the right circumstances, upskilling offers tremendous value for both your team and your business.
With that in mind, let’s look at some specific scenarios where upskilling should be the focus of your employee training and development efforts.
When Technology Enhances Rather Than Replaces Roles
Many technological advancements don’t eliminate jobs – they just change how those jobs are performed.
So, when new tools or platforms emerge that can enhance your existing operations, upskilling helps your employees integrate these technologies into their work.
A perfect example of this is how accounting professionals haven’t been replaced by accounting software.
Instead, they’ve been upskilled to use increasingly sophisticated financial tools, so they can apply their expertise in more valuable ways.
When Deep Expertise Offers a Competitive Advantage
In knowledge-intensive fields like law, medicine, or engineering, the depth of expertise often matters more than breadth.
That being said, businesses that compete based on specialized knowledge will benefit tremendously from upskilling initiatives.
And if you build this kind of expertise, it will compound over time, as a team with ten years of continuously deepened knowledge in a specific domain will easily outperform newcomers.
When You’re Facing Skill Gaps
Upskilling is one of the best ways to deal with situations where employees have most of the necessary capabilities but need additional skills in specific areas.
For instance, if your team has 80% of what they need to succeed but requires additional knowledge in emerging areas, upskilling can help to quickly bridge that gap.
And while that extra 20% may not seem like a lot, depending on the situation, it could be the difference between whether your business succeeds or fails.
When You Need Things Done Fast
Upskilling typically delivers faster returns than reskilling because it builds on your employees’ existing knowledge.
And when market conditions require you to adapt quickly, upskilling is typically the better option, as it allows your employees to learn additional skills in a matter of days or weeks, rather than the months or years that comprehensive reskilling might require.
Moreover, because it takes so much less time, upskilling is particularly valuable during time-sensitive business transitions.
When Retention of Knowledge Is Crucial
Long-tenured employees carry invaluable institutional knowledge and an understanding of your company culture, customer relationships, internal processes, and historical context that new hires simply cannot replicate.
With that in mind, upskilling your employees can help you to preserve this knowledge, while also adding new abilities.
For businesses undergoing leadership transitions or entering new markets, this approach will be particularly beneficial.
When You’re Dealing With Budget Constraints
Upskilling typically requires significantly less investment than comprehensive reskilling programs.
So, if you’ve only got a limited professional development budget, upskilling is going to offer much more bang for your buck – allowing you to enhance your employees’ skills without the extensive time and resources required for complete role transitions.
When Employees Would Rather Enhance Than Replace Skills
In my experience, many people prefer to build on their existing expertise, rather than starting from scratch in an entirely new domain.
And when your employees demonstrate this preference, and have pride in their current roles, helping them to enhance rather than replace those skills aligns with what motivates them, which can improve engagement, retention, and learning outcomes.
When You Prioritize Specialization
For businesses that prioritize specialization, upskilling creates natural progression opportunities.
And if your company values and rewards this kind of expertise by offering things like promotions or pay raises, upskilling programs help to directly support these career development structures.
What’s more, this correlation between upskilling and career advancement helps to reinforce the value of specialization within your culture.
When Is it Best to Focus on Reskilling?
While upskilling builds upon existing capabilities, reskilling represents a more fundamental transformation of your workforce.
With that in mind, let’s look at some specific scenarios where reskilling should be the focus of your employee training and development efforts.
When Facing Transformation or Disruption
When your industry experiences significant disruption or your business undergoes fundamental changes, reskilling becomes critical.
For instance, many years ago, as their industry transformed, print media companies had to reskill journalists and production staff, teaching them the skills of digital content creation.
In these kinds of scenarios, enhancing your employees’ existing skills just isn’t sufficient, and entirely new skills are required in order to remain viable.
When Technology Makes Certain Roles Obsolete
Unlike incremental technological changes that modify existing roles, some innovations make entire job categories obsolete.
When automation, artificial intelligence, or other technologies eliminate the need for certain positions, reskilling provides affected employees with potential new career paths.
Having said that, comprehensive reskilling can help you to retain these employees, rather than having to let them go when their original roles are no longer required.
When Facing Talent Imbalances
It’s not uncommon for businesses to find themselves dealing with talent surpluses in declining areas and shortages in growth sectors.
In any case, reskilling allows you to address both challenges simultaneously by transitioning employees from overstaffed departments to those who are short-staffed or missing critical skills.
This approach helps you to preserve organizational knowledge while dealing with talent imbalances more efficiently than you could through external hiring alone.
When Brand New Skills Are Needed
When your organization makes strategic pivots toward new markets, products, or services, this may require access to skills that your employees don’t currently have.
In these situations, reskilling becomes essential, as it’s usually easier to build these new competencies internally rather than relying exclusively on external hiring.
And this approach helps you to maintain continuity, while also allowing your employees to develop whatever new skills are required.
When an Employee’s Potential Exceeds Their Current Role
Some employees demonstrate abilities, adaptability, and learning capacity that far exceed their current positions.
And these high-potential individuals often seek growth beyond what upskilling alone can provide.
That being said, reskilling can offer them new challenges and career paths, which can help you to retain these employees, who may otherwise get bored and jump ship.
When Creating Internal Mobility Pathways
Businesses that value internal mobility need structured approaches to allow for this kind of cross-functional movement.
And reskilling programs can help you create these formalized pathways for employees to transition between departments.
As I’ve seen firsthand over the years, these kinds of cross-trained employees often become your most effective problem-solvers and innovators.
When Mergers, Acquisitions, or Reorganizations Create Redundancies
If your business is being restructured, reskilling can allow you to avoid laying off affected employees, as you can transition them into new roles instead.
This approach preserves institutional knowledge, demonstrates your commitment to your team, and helps you to avoid the substantial costs associated with things like severance packages and subsequent rehiring when business conditions improve.
Are you struggling to choose between upskilling vs. reskilling? We offer more than 475 courses, including Microsoft Office training, workplace safety, customer service, and professional development training for managers and employees. Visit our online employee training page to browse our courses or contact me today for more information.
Career Management, Personal Development, Team Management