Maybe your business has developed the need for a new skill because you have a new client or are thinking of moving into another area of your industry? Or maybe there’s so much work in one area that you need a few different people who have the same expertise?
Your first thought might be to look for someone new to fill this skills gap, but isn’t that just so much hassle? Recruiters, interviews, commissions – and there are only so many times you can ask how the journey in was… So, let’s stop looking externally and look inward.
You already have a team who you’re proud of. They know what they’re doing, you trust them, and they even know how you like your brews. They’re also probably looking to keep progressing in their career and this is where upskilling is a win-win scenario.
Here are three reasons why upskilling is your way forward:
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Efficiency and cost-effectiveness
For the business-minded amongst you, you may be wondering whether it’s worth investing in your current team. Well, giving them additional skills can mean that they can be even more efficient in their day-to-day tasks. Instead of having a task bounce between multiple people with different skills, one person may be able to take one task from start to finish.This is not only more efficient and cost-effective, but also reduces the room for error as one person can focus on the task from inception to completion.For example, you may have a social media manager who can provide social strategy and recommendations and then a paid media manager who can set up social media adverts. Wouldn’t it be more efficient if the person with the strategic skills could also set up adverts? And isn’t it more cost-effective for your paid media manager to understand more of the strategy behind their paid adverts so that they can also make recommendations as they go?Then, should either member of the team be ill, or even leave the company, you still have a well-rounded team member with the necessary skills to keep your social media campaigns running as they should be.
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Confidence
The more skills that a person has, the more confident they feel in their role. This can only be a good thing for them personally and professionally, meaning that they feel boosted and ready to show off their skills. In an agency, where it’s always important to be able to upsell other areas of expertise into clients, extra skills and the confidence to shout about these skills can mean extra revenue.
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Team morale
A happy team is a team that isn’t looking to move on… If your team is learning new skills and continually feeling like they’re progressing in their career because of your upskilling efforts, they will feel valued. Why would they want to leave that feeling behind?Overall, upskilling saves you time and money across the board and leaves behind a highly-skilled, well-rounded team that you can trust to handle all kinds of tasks.Convinced in the power of upskilling your team? It’s okay if you need a little more convincing, as we’re going to be practising what we’re preaching and are running our own ‘CE academy’ internally to keep our team happy and skilled.Keep an eye out for blog posts on these sessions in the next couple of weeks… We’re sure there’ll be something useful for you. Or get in touch if you’re interested in hearing how we can upskill your team with you.