Apprenticeship Levy

It’s no secret that the UK is seriously lagging behind other countries when it comes to leadership skills. While there has been a gradual increase in hard skill development, core employability skills are falling by the wayside. And that’s proving a big problem.

Human skills, such as communication, problem-solving and career management, are the single most transferable skills in the workplace. The pandemic accelerated the already evolving workplace, and modern business looks very different than it did even a few years ago.

Employee retention is more challenging than ever. As employees demand more from their employers, business leaders need to reconsider their approach to hiring the best talent and keeping them on board. This dramatically affects the costs of hiring and onboarding — high costs that play a large role in guiding business growth.

Measures such as introducing more flexible and hybrid work, wellbeing strategies and improving workplace diversity are slowly being recognised as must-haves in the era of the Great Resignation. But far fewer firms are recognising the inherent value of offering learning, development and progression opportunities.

The result is that they aren’t keeping the staff they need. Those employees are searching for greener pastures, and if you aren’t providing them with the potential to grow as leaders, you’re not giving them the tools they need to succeed.

When you pivot to an upskilling mentality, you gain some serious advantages. Let’s look at some stats.

In 2020, 60% of CEOs said that a strong upskilling programme positively impacted company culture and led to greater confidence in their revenue potential.
The MIT Sloan School of Management found that a year-long workforce training programme focusing solely on soft skills delivered an impressive 250% ROI in just eight months after completion.
In research carried out by the World Economic Forum in 2020, it estimated that 50% of all employees would need to be reskilled within the next five years.
The same report by the World Economic Forum listed the top skills for reskilling or upskilling as: critical thinking, problem-solving, analysis, resistance, flexibility and active learning.
Millennials and Gen Z are dominating the workforce numbers, and 93% of them want their employers to deliver learning opportunities.
In 2019, 94% of employees said they would stay with a company for longer if allowed to upskill and learn.
In the UK, 22 million employees have said they don’t believe they have the necessary skills to unlock career opportunities within the next five years.
Way back in 2017, Deloitte predicted that occupations involving intensive soft skills would account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030.
In the last 12 months, only 29% of companies had taken steps intended to improve employee retention, although 70% of companies said that staff turnover negatively impacts their bottom line.

What does all this mean? It’s clear that investing in your team will only strengthen your organisation. When you improve the skills of your team, you can inspire new talent, maintain positive wellbeing and build a more skilled, more motivated workforce. That’s the key to boosting your productivity and driving a more potent level of performance.

As the war for talent can only grow increasingly competitive, smart leaders look inward, seeing what their employees need and delivering on those needs. While many leaders are watching technology as the future of the workplace, tech isn’t what makes for a workforce. Instead, it’s empowered leaders who can empower their teams — and by doing so, unlock their potential and the potential of their business.