Upgrade Your Skills: The Benefits of Upskilling for Employees, Sales Teams, Partners, and Customers

With disruptive technologies and rapidly changing market trends, employees and businesses must continuously upskill to remain relevant and competitive. Up to 50% of all employees will require some kind of training—upskilling or reskilling—in the next five years.

Upskilling, when framed as an upgrade to existing skills, can be a powerful way for employees, sales teams, partners, and customers to stay ahead of the curve in their respective industries and to fill skills gaps. As McKinsey notes, 87% of executives report a skills gap in the workforce, noting that the typical talent pool—new college graduates—often lacks the competency level in key skills.

Rather than emphasizing the need to teach and learn entirely new skills, upskilling can focus on improving and expanding upon your team’s existing skills. Through upskilling programs, individuals can become more efficient, productive, and effective in their roles. A PwC survey found that “93% of CEOs who introduce upskilling programs see increased productivity, improved talent acquisition and retention, and a more resilient workforce.”

Upskilling can also be a more targeted and cost-effective way to improve performance than trying to learn entirely new skills or hiring a new team. Rather than starting from scratch, individuals can build upon their existing knowledge and expertise, leading to quicker and more tangible results—and a more innovative and productive future for us all. And, of course, this has massive ROI implications. With room to improve productivity—McKinsey found there is an opportunity to increase productivity growth by approximately one percentage point annually until 2024—companies can improve business outcomes and streamline performance.

So think beyond the workforce. Companies can create upskilling programs for their entire network of learners, which is the key to generating interest and buy-in, as well as creating a positive experience for everyone involved.

Choosing the right LMS platform to host upskilling for every group your company serves is imperative. Each category of learner—and each individual learner—needs a personalized experience tailored to their existing skills and learning style. This, along with the ability to monitor the progress of learners, identify and respond to needs in real-time, and provide flexible, convenient, and engaging content, are the hallmarks of digital LMS software.

Benefits of Upskilling for Employees

First and foremost, upskilling can boost employee confidence and motivation. When employees feel that they are learning and growing, they are more likely to feel engaged in their work and satisfied with their jobs. This can lead to a more positive work environment and better overall job performance.

Employee training that involves social learning allows employees to connect and collaborate with their peers, mentors, and trainers. An LMS platform with social learning features can provide discussion forums, one-on-one meeting sessions, and other collaborative tools that promote knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer learning. In addition, upskilling can help employees stay relevant in their field and keep up with technological advancements by upgrading their existing skills. As new technologies and practices emerge, it’s essential for employees to stay up-to-date to remain competitive.

When employees have the opportunity to learn new skills and take on new responsibilities, they are more likely to feel that they are making progress in their careers, leading to greater job satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment.

Benefits of Upskilling for Sales Teams

Sales teams are the backbone of any business, and it’s essential for them to continuously develop and upgrade their skills to stay competitive in today’s marketplace. By upgrading their existing skills, sales teams can learn new techniques and strategies that can help them better engage with customers and close deals more effectively.

This ultimately leads to increased customer satisfaction by improving the quality of the sales team’s interactions. When sales teams have the skills and knowledge needed to effectively communicate with customers, they are more likely to build strong relationships that result in repeat business and referrals.

And with all those sales calls, sales teams need training that can be delivered in bite-sized learning modules to be accessed quickly and easily to refresh on the go. An LMS platform with microlearning features can provide short videos, quizzes, and other interactive modules that can be accessed anytime, anywhere. And, even better, ExpertusONE offers an extensible LMS app for Salesforce that connects critical learning information to the sales process.

Benefits of Upskilling for Partners

Upskilling is not only beneficial for employees and sales teams but also for partners who sell products or services on behalf of a company. In fact, upskilling partners can help organizations improve their sales performance, increase revenue, and build stronger partnerships.

When companies employ partner training, partners gain a deeper understanding of the products or services they are selling. This enables them to provide more accurate information and better support to customers, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. Plus, upskilling programs can help partners stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and best practices, enabling them to provide better guidance to customers and position themselves as experts in their field.

By investing in the professional development of their partners, companies demonstrate their commitment to building long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships. An LMS platform can provide customized training programs for partners tailored to their specific needs and goals—so no partner feels their time is wasted.

The ExpertusONE LMS also enables training managers to track learning progress and identify where partners may need additional training or resources. Using our Learning Record Store, training managers can track and measure every learning interaction (stored as xAPI statements) to understand which courses are most engaged with and which courses are not getting attention. With this data, managers can adjust partner training strategies and improve them constantly.

This, along with the range of training materials, product information, and sales tools at their fingertips ensures that partners receive the knowledge and skills they need to sell the company’s products or services effectively.

Benefits of Upskilling for Customers

Customers expect to get the most value out of the products and services they purchase. One way that companies can ensure customer satisfaction is by providing upskilling opportunities and customer training.

When customers feel confident and knowledgeable about a product or service, they are more likely to continue using it and recommending it to others. Providing customer training opportunities can help companies build stronger customer relationships and create a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

It is important for companies to provide easy-to-access customer training. A user-friendly interface is a must, and providing a range of training modules—from interactive or gamified training to video or text-based modules—allows customers to learn in their own way, at their own pace, and on their own schedule. The ExpertusONE platform offers an LMS mobile app alongside extensible apps, like an LMS app for Salesforce, Slack, or Microsoft Teams. An LMS that integrates with a customer relationship management (CRM) system can help companies to identify customers who may benefit from additional training and deliver targeted training content.

Upskilling can be a valuable investment for organizations looking to improve employee performance, enhance sales team effectiveness, strengthen partnerships, and increase customer loyalty. But rather than focusing solely on learning new skills, upskilling can be considered an upgrade to existing skills, enabling each individual interacting with your company to learn exactly what they need to know. Organizations can stay competitive and adapt to changing market conditions by continuously improving skills and knowledge.