Although the concepts of upskilling and reskilling both refer to improving training, they do so with different approaches: while the former refers to teaching a worker new skills to optimise the performance of their tasks, the latter refers to training a person to adapt professionally to a different position.
Before looking at how they differ, let’s see what each one consists of.
What is upskilling
Upskilling refers to the process of acquiring new skills and knowledge so that employees are able to increase and improve their performance and productivity, facilitating internal promotion within the company itself.
A concept that can be developed from two different strategies: training programmes with which companies seek to advance in a specific position, or personal development plans with each employee to improve their productivity and performance.
What is reskilling?
On the other hand, reskilling refers to professional retraining or relearning, which includes, as mentioned above, training employees to develop in different tasks.
Retraining for new roles in the same company with which companies seek to anticipate hypothetical unforeseen events, as well as the differentiation of skills.
The aim of this training is to familiarise employees with new areas or other new skills. Courses, qualifications or certificates are some of the strategies that form part of reskilling.
Upskilling and reskilling: differences
Now that we know what both terms refer to, let’s analyse their differences.
As we mentioned at the beginning, both differ in the objective of what they have in common: training.
Upskilling teaches an employee new skills while reskilling seeks to train an employee for a new position in the company.
In other words: upskilling creates employees with a higher degree of specialisation and reskilling with a higher degree of versatility.
Another difference lies in the approach. Reskilling focuses on the adaptation and diversification of new tasks, while upskilling focuses on specialisation and professional development in a specific field.
There are also differences in application. Reskilling prepares employees for different areas or roles, while upskilling improves efficiency or productivity in the same role or area.
Benefits of upskilling and reskilling
Both concepts do coincide in a series of advantages that apply to both working people and companies.
On the one hand, it promotes a culture of continuous learning that enables both companies and those who work for them to achieve a greater degree of versatility, as well as a greater capacity to adopt to future challenges.
It also means a reduction in costs by training employees and improving their knowledge and skills, which means that the company’s results can improve.
Talent retention also operates as an advantage, generating a high degree of commitment to the employee as they are aware that the company has made a commitment to them. This also improves the company’s image, as it shows that the company is committed to the professional development of its staff.
Implementation of reskilling and upskilling
The implementation of either of these two models requires a series of steps to be followed in order to understand how to implement them.
The first step is to identify the needs that exist and, depending on the urgency, prioritise them. This is followed by an evaluation of the skills of the workforce to identify both strengths and areas for improvement.
Designing training courses or incorporating tools that promote training are preliminary steps before measuring the results to determine the impact of the programmes.
Similarly, another way to advance these training models is to promote continuous learning within the company.
