Like other sectors, the civil society sector – third pillar of strength is experiencing an unprecedented time. A period that will be remembered for years to come and make it to every history book of the future. Commuting for work is no longer an option and the only way to keep developmental work up and running is remote working.

Apart from the massive stress of keeping themselves safe from this dreadful virus, employees are facing a unique challenge. The challenge of making themselves future-proof and elevating their skills to fast track the economy when the pandemic resides. Also, huge section of the workforce is vulnerable to reduced income, furloughs or layoffs as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend. The sudden shift has naturally hampered the overall productivity of most work. But on the other hand, people now have more time in hand. A lot of time is saved in commuting, socializing, and running errands which adds up to a couple of free hours every day.

The significance of Upskilling and Reskilling employees has increased by multi-folds. Organisations that do not take this time to upskill employees will soon find themselves in a vulnerable position.What exactly are Upskilling and Reskilling? Upskilling is the process of teaching current employees new skills that will help them in thriving in their job and help them in becoming more efficient. But, Reskilling focuses on teaching employees new and upcoming skills to do a different or more advanced job.

Reskilling involves training employees on an entirely new set of skills to prepare them to take on a different role within the organisation. This typically occurs when employee’s previous tasks or responsibilities become irrelevant, often due to advances in technology. Reskilling allows businesses to retain reliable workers and minimize turnover by investing in employee growth.

The powerful reasons for Upskilling and Reskilling employees in times can ensure, i) increase productivity, ii) future-proof organisation’s work, iii) retain top talent and reduce hiring costs, iv) cross-function teams, and v) boost employee motivation.

To accommodate traditional office-going employees in the digital world, it is essential to upskill and reskill employees from all generations. Digital competency is a fundamental skill now, yet only a fraction of the current workforce is digitally intuitive. The sooner we start to bridge this gap, the better will be the efficiency – increase productivity of the newer remote job roles. Apart, the rate of evolution in the digital world is quite higher. As we enter a new level of maturity in digital transformation, the need for new and more advanced skill sets will always be there.

To sustain and thrive in our organisational work or to make it future-proof, we must be early thinkers and early adopters. The economy is taking a massive hit as the pandemic continues to rise and it is going to take quite some time for the economy to bounce back even after the horror resides. In order to protect our work from the possible disruptions in development work, upskilling and reskilling employees should be the first and foremost step. Once we build a workforce of agile, knowledgeable, and tech-forward employees, we are in a much better position to tackle the upcoming challenges of the business world. We should take this time to explore what are the skills that our workforce lacks and define the skills gap. When we start preparing early, it will shield our work from possible shocks in the future and in terms save our ample time and money. It is the most economical step at this point.

Retain top talent and reduce hiring costs is another key areas should be seriously considered. One of the prominent employee engagement trends in recent times has been, the scope for career growth for employees. Although we were anticipating a huge shift towards remote working, what we have now is completely unexpected. Organisation’s top talents understand that in order to survive in this new world, they must equip themselves with skills of the future. Hence, there is no better way to retain our top than to encourage reskilling and upskilling.

Additionally, even if the organisation goes through hiring freeze, our knowledgeable and agile employees will be able to meet the work needs. Thus, retaining top talent through hard times is important so that, once we are back to development work as usual, we will able to scale up as quickly as possible with the best talent.

Also, Cross-function Teams are now more important than ever. How teams communication and work together will determine the chances of survival of a business in this crisis. It is time for the organization to bring all the departments together and formulate a strategy to overcome the Covid-19 crisis. Reskilling and Upskilling can help employees to better understand various job roles in the organization. This will then lead to strong cross-functional teams in the workforce.

Finally, boosting employee morale is need of the hour too. Employees are having a hard time adjusting to the new work-from-home arrangement. Lack of human interaction often leads to feelings of isolation and hopelessness among our people. Uncertainty about the future, personal, and financial safety are prevalent thoughts.

If an organization invests in reskilling and upskilling it can go a long way. It can build the right mind set, greater team collaboration, employee-loyalty and greater employee satisfaction.