August 8, 2024 - Companies must upskill their workforces as the world rapidly changes. But according to our recent survey of 1,000 business leaders at private companies, upskilling can also backfire.

Thirty-eight percent of companies said they have made significant progress on establishing upskilling programs (just 2% have not started, or do not have a program) Yet at the same time, 40% of those companies report that their top challenge is retraining upskilled workers.

Training and upskilling employees may make employees more likely to leave, and this has bosses worried. Why does so-called “train drain” happen and how can you address it in your organization?

Newly empowered workers need protection

Management is a vocation unto itself. It takes years to accumulate the skills and experience needed to motivate and grow an effective team. Yet nearly all bosses are “accidental,” according to a Chartered Management Institute study of 4,500 people. They found that although one in four UK workers manage people, only 18% of those individuals had been trained to do so.

In that study, half of workers rated their boss as ineffective at planning. One in three could recall having quit because of a bad boss.

One of the first areas you should look at when facing train drain is how your employees rate their managers. Do not wait until the formal annual review process — an anonymous pulse survey is more effective and can catch issues before talented people quit.

Properly trained managers will be your front line in understanding what those workers need to stay and continue growing. Your upskilling program should focus as much on teaching managers effective people management skills as it does on new tech, like how to work with AI.

Adapting to a remote work environment

Remote work has only made latent management issues worse. Managing people in a remote setting is completely different than managing in-person.

It’s become paramount to create an environment where interactions are intentional and both client work and internal learning can be done asynchronously. Workers value the work-life balance they’ve achieved and are reluctant to give them up. The non-linear workday has grown commonplace and talented employees are now demanding it.

If your company fails to adapt to this new work environment, it may fail to retain its top people. Especially in the present market, where finance professionals and accountants are in short supply and have plentiful options.

Newly empowered workers need new opportunities

Has your human resources team created and communicated career paths that match your workers’ new skills? Another challenge could be that once trained, workers feel underutilized.

Few things are more demoralizing to a worker to be trained in something they cannot yet do. Sixty-three percent of individuals who quit jobs in 2021 did so because of a lack of career opportunity, and 70% who find themselves applying to new jobs say they’re looking for greater advancement.

Investigate your company’s career paths and how they relate to your training programs. Do people have an immediate opportunity to use what they’ve learned and a realistic path to progress from there?

Consider outsourcing as an upskilling strategy

There is also the possibility that your company’s professional development program is not providing relevant enough training, nor giving workers the breadth of exposure they’d need to truly incorporate those skills. For this, consider outsourcing.

Citrin Cooperman is experienced in upskilling to equip existing staff with enhanced knowledge and skills for greater job effectiveness. Using an outsourced or co-sourced provider can be an effective way to introduce existing employees to new skills and processes, which helps them operate more efficiently, increases job satisfaction, and improves work-life balance.

Outsourced partners and fractional teammates with niche talents can bring an infusion of ideas and energy into your organization. Those effects often last after the outsourcing is over.

Keep investing in your upskilling infrastructure

It may be the case that resignations worsen as you upskill people, and that this is simply a phase on the journey to becoming a more mature culture. You must embrace the new remote work preferences and have the infrastructure and foundation to support people, which requires change. Not everybody wants to go through those changes. In the middle of it, some workers will leave. This does not necessarily mean your entire upskilling program is ineffective. Some of that churn could be positive, and the true results may not show for years — when outsourcing resources and your development program become even more common.

Of this we can be certain: As companies report more progress in this area, invest more in their people’s career paths, and train effective communicators and managers, they can be sure that they are creating a more resilient business. One that no longer drains the people it trains.

To learn more about how outsourcing can benefit your business and help to mitigate train drain, please contact Mike Zyborowicz or Kieran Higgins.

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