In a recent Fast Company article, “More than half of employees don’t get a chance to upskill at work. Here’s how to help,” Dr. Anzelc shared her perspectives on cost-effective approaches to upskilling for companies to employ.
Set time blocks for professional development
“One organization I worked for implemented time blocks for individual professional development. Department-wide, everyone set aside a few hours per week to work on one of their skill development goals for the year.
“Some people pursued self-study, some took free or low-cost massive open online courses (MOOCs), some worked on a side project to learn a new coding language or try a new tool. Everyone loved this approach, and over the course of a year, not only upskilled themselves but also generated new ideas and approaches for their team members to use as well.
“The takeaway: You don’t need expensive training or massive resources to provide employees with upskilling opportunities. You can have those things and still not make progress if employees don’t have permission to use some of their work hours to pursue skill development. Authorizing team members to carve out and protect an agreed-upon amount of time per week or month goes a long way and empowers employees to take charge of their own upskilling and professional development.”
Check out the full article and Meghan Anzelc’s additional thoughts here.